Are ratings meaningful? Musings of an outsider.

I ask myself: should I rate anything at all? I can express my likes and dislikes through rating, but what use is it for anyone? I’ve got no credentials. Anyone can join here whether they know anything about perfumery in the technical sense, historical terms, have sufficient experience or aesthetic development. If the gates are not kept, how important are all those competencies? Apparently not if anyone can rate.

Conversely, what do I do with ratings that come from people with alternative tastes? Some perfumes, I will detest no matter how illustrious their history may be or how rapturous and reverential opinions of veterans (and those who defer to their authority). Some may advise to learn from one’s betters to refine and elevate one’s preferences. But what if one doubts the superiority of such preferences? Can someone who is accustomed to classical scents do justice to a gourmand, for example? Are classical scents intrinsically superior to gourmands? Are older traditions necessarily superior to new trends? Or are they just different, and maybe those who are partial to a certain genre should not rate outside of their favoured genre since their negativism is too predictable?

Another uncertainty of mine. Compare the ratings for individual fragrances here and on alternative websites. They are all over the place. Some fragrances are rated high here but apparently only because just a few people have rated them so far. The more people rate, the likelier it is that the rating would go down. How many votes are needed in statistical terms to reflect something of an objective nature? How useful are ratings that are provisional and discrepant across platforms?

To conclude, should rating be viewed like a game which has no meaning outside of itself?

I’m new to the website. If these matters have been brought up and thrashed out before, I apologise for the redundancy.