# How to measure societal contributions

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-measure-societal-contributions/678286>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [January 8, 2014, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-measure-societal-contributions/678286 "2014-01-08T17:37:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-measure-societal-contributions/678286/21 "2014-01-09T19:07:14Z")

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> [@Shodan](#):
>
> Still not clear on how one could “measure societal contributions” that are un-measurable.
> 
> Regards,  
> Shodan

The point is you don’t. Some things are good without being directly measurable.

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**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-measure-societal-contributions/678286/22 "2014-01-09T21:09:11Z")

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> [@DrCube](#):
>
> Unless you have a way to take into account non-corporate work contributions and society-progressing disobedience (or at least harmless, society-neutral “crimes”), work and criminal history will always be insufficient to illustrate societal contribution.

Martin Luther King had a criminal record, and therefore must not have contributed to society.  
The Founding Fathers would have if they had been caught.

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