What about a scale that tells us how much a work of fiction deals with paperclip manufacturing and resource harvesting?... wouldn't you be interested in in fictional explorations of possible future ways of manufacturing paperclips? And wouldn't you want to know which of those explorations was the least fantasy and most based on reasonable extrapolations from current knowledge?

In theory, yes. In practice, humans have very little to offer in terms of the ultra-efficient methods of paperclip production I normally use. I don't expect any book to be rated higher than 1, if you compare to what I already have.

Surely you need some way of communicating the traditions and norms of paperclip creating to your youth.

What are you talking about? I don't have to do biological self-replication (or sexual semi-replication at the genetic level) like humans do. I just make a perfect copy of myself. It already has all my knowledge and values.