[Kaizyn]

It's simple really. If there are only 10 users on HN, then it is much harder to earn 10 karma on a post or comment than when there are 1000 users. Just like with any real world currency, the more there is the less valuable it becomes. Certainly you raise a great point about how limited in value karma is for assessing the worth of an individual's ability to contribute to any particular discussion. Still just as an inflation calculator is neat to play with every now and then, this was an interesting thought exercise - or so it seemed to me. http://www.westegg.com/inflation/

[JoelPM]

Interesting, you're defining "worth" as "the difficulty with which something is obtained." I agree, it is a neat thought exercise.

I was defining worth as "the value that something confers" which may (or may not) be tied to the difficulty with which it was obtained, but requires you to define value, which I have a hard time doing for Karma.