Most things I am rating do not have a uniform distribution
The distribution of your ratings does not need to follow the distribution of what you are rating. For maximum information your (integer) rating should point to a quantile -- e.g. if you're rating on a 1-10 scale your rating should match the decile into which the thing being rated falls. And if your ratings correspond to quantiles, the ratings themselves are uniformly distributed.
We have different goals. I want to my rating to reflect the items relative position in its group, you want a rating to reflect the items value independent of the group.
Is this accurate?
This thread is for asking any questions that might seem obvious, tangential, silly or what-have-you. Don't be shy, everyone has holes in their knowledge, though the fewer and the smaller we can make them, the better.
Please be respectful of other people's admitting ignorance and don't mock them for it, as they're doing a noble thing.
To any future monthly posters of SQ threads, please remember to add the "stupid_questions" tag.