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To this day I cannot accept that A+ is better than A-. Clearly the ordering is increasing in value with each letter and so a smaller value is better, and “-“ / minus gives you a slightly smaller value.

We accept that “A” comes before “B” so therefore “A” is better. “A-“ is smaller than “A” therefore “A-“ must be better!

  rank = [A- A A+ B- B B+ C- …]

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I remember reading a funny eBay user feedback (of a seller, not of me :) that said something like: "F+++++++++ This seller is a scammer." Like you, the user felt that the many plus signs would make the F stronger, i.e. more negative.

> Clearly the ordering is increasing in value

Here's your mistake. Alphabet ordering is decreasing in value.

Yes you are right but I think you’ve found a bug with my cack handed description of my logic, not with the logic itself!

We value things highly by assigning them symbols with low values, so a symbol with a postfix modifier that gives it a slightly lower value means we value it higher! Or something :)

- 1-10

- bronze-silver-gold-platinum-diamond[1]

- Military patches get more ornate with increased rank

- etc.

Its a nice theory but it doesn't really follow.

[1] Tangential, but I have particular annoyance with how game deal with sub-ranks. Some games indicate the highest tier within a rank with the highest number, whereas others use the lowest number.

Ah so what you’re saying is a - should represent moving the score toward the start of the alphabet (the 1st letter) and a + should represent moving toward the end of the alphabet (the 26th letter)

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