Given that any society can not exist without its member, the greatness of a society should be fundamentally determined by the levels of the welfare of the members. However, some people may argue that welfare as an abstract term is almost impossible to properly evaluate. According to their opinion, it is excessively difficult to estimate levels of welfare, and even if evaluations are made, the results can not be reliable, because they vary depending on methods of research.
Therefore, some people may believe a better indicator of the greatness of the nation is the achievements of a few outstanding figures from society. They may think the achievements of politicians, artists, athletes and scientists are comparatively easily and objectively estimated. For example, any salient successes of athletes can be easily evaluated by the numbers of winning in competitions. And usually, people have a huge interest in these results. Scientists' achievements are also objectively recorded and evaluated by the number of papers and the degree of contribution to their fields. Each field has its widely accepted way to evaluate these factors. Although the achievements of scientists also frequently fail to attract people's interest, at least people can enjoy the developments based on their scientistic outcomes. As we have seen above, the achievements of a few members who have the outstanding ability can be estimated through reliable ways and have practical effects on the others of society. However, it seems that the general welfare of the people can not relish these advantages.
Even though the level of welfare is a kind of thing difficult to objectively grasped, it is not impossible to be known at least indirectly. In fact, diverse factors are being used to estimate the level of welfare. For example, economic condition, medical facilities, expected longevity are widely accepted as a factor to show the welfare of the nation. Furthermore, many research institutes are reporting the levels of societies using a variety of methods. If the reports secure efficient reliability, there are enough reasons to refer to the results. Moreover, people have more interest in the level of welfare of a nation than any other achievements made by a few people. Because the welfare of a nation is directly their issue. For example, in 2020 when coronavirus attacked the whole world, people concerned mainly on the level of a medical system which is immediately linked to their health, which is one of the important factors of welfare. The emergency had shown that people fundamentally more concerned about their welfare than a sports games, science, or even politics.
To sum up, some people may disagree that the welfare of people should be the most important indicator of greatness based on the idea that the welfare can not be reliable sources, and that people do less concern the welfare than salient achievement. However, it is not true. the welfare can be known with enough objectivity and people fundamentally think welfare more important.