FYI I do think the downside of “people may anchor off the numbers” is reasonable to weigh in the calculus of epistemic-community-norm-setting.
I would frame the question: “is the downside of people anchoring off potentially-very-off-base numbers worse than the upside of having intuitions somewhat more quantified, with more gears exposed?”. I can imagine that question resolving in the “actually yeah it’s net negative”, but, if you’re treating the upside as “zero” I think you’re missing some important stuff.
FYI I do think the downside of “people may anchor off the numbers” is reasonable to weigh in the calculus of epistemic-community-norm-setting.
I would frame the question: “is the downside of people anchoring off potentially-very-off-base numbers worse than the upside of having intuitions somewhat more quantified, with more gears exposed?”. I can imagine that question resolving in the “actually yeah it’s net negative”, but, if you’re treating the upside as “zero” I think you’re missing some important stuff.