When we look for a traditional scale (the same thing, more people), we look for a common denominator. What is the most legible and sticky version of my idea and thought? This system runs on clarity and seeks sameness. Economically, it is of fixed value, made to move as far from the creator as possible, amplified and rehashed by marketing.
Vertical scale seeks to bring people into an orbit of living ideas as they form and develop, never at a point of full legibility. Because of that, ideas cannot move too far from their creator but will keep becoming, adding to their meaning in new and emergent ways, growing in their economic value for a slowly growing group of people.
Axiom: living ideas grow in meaning over time.