Scope Insensitivity, explained.
Scope insensitivity is weak responsiveness in valuation to the scale of a benefit or harm, relative to the comparison or decision criterion being considered.
Why it happens
A concrete story can dominate an abstract count. But limited scales and values beyond total outcomes also matter: a five-point rating cannot represent an unrestricted proportional willingness to pay.
Valuation can respond less strongly to changes in the size of a benefit than the stated decision criterion would suggest.
Read the result
Rate both projects and compare the responses. Cost and success are stipulated equal, while outcomes rise from ten to one hundred. Interpret the bounded rating cautiously and state the criterion you want an actual allocation to follow.
A worked example
Comparing equally costly projects
One invented rescue saves ten birds; another saves one hundred with the same certainty and cost.
Under a criterion of maximizing birds saved, the second supplies ten times the outcome.
Other legitimate considerations would need to be specified; an emotional response alone does not state the allocation rule.
OPTIONAL DEEPER DETAILGo deeper: inside the model
Inside this model
Two 1–5 ratings are recorded for otherwise identical invented projects. Their scales are then compared without asserting that ethical value must rise linearly.
Where this idea is useful
A practical use
When maximizing a stated benefit under equal cost and certainty, count the outcomes as well as responding to an individual story.
A common misconception
“Every ethical valuation must rise exactly with the count.”
Values can include urgency, distribution and duties. Also, a bounded rating cannot express tenfold value.
What this explanation leaves out
- A bounded rating scale cannot express ten times as much value. Moral priorities can legitimately include considerations beyond outcome counts.
What does this activity measure?
Only your two local ratings. It illustrates the comparison while avoiding a claim about moral correctness or a diagnosed bias.
Which outcome count belongs in your decision, and which other values need to be stated explicitly?
Associated thinkers
Further reading
Explore the original research or the teaching reference behind this experiment.