What they actually mean is rather “these two things are very dissimilar”, or “these two things are unequal”.
I guess in most situations “cannot be compared” could be replaced by “cannot be equated”, with less lingual inaccuracy and still the same message conveyed.
To come to the conclusion that two things are very dissimilar, very unequal, one necessarily has to compare them. So it’s rather odd to come up with “cannot be compared” after just literally comparing them.
For example, bikes and cars. We compare them by looking at each’s details, and finding any dissimilarities. They have a different amount of wheels. Different propulsion methods. Different price, and so on.
When this list becomes very long, or some details have a major meaning which should not be equated, people say they cannot be compared.
An example with a major meaning difference: Some people say factory farming of animals and the Holocaust are very similar, or something alike. Others disagree, presumably because they feel wether it’s humans or animals being treated, the motives or whatnot make a difference big enough that the two should not be compared equated.
Can you follow my thoughts? Are ‘dissimilar’ or ‘unequal’ better terms? I’d be especially interested in arguments in favor of ‘compared’.
Judging the relative merits of two things, and noting the differences between disparate things, is fundamentally the same thing.
You can define a car as a steering wheel and an engine and a gear box etc.
Or you can define a car as a generic object and one of the first fundamental properties of all generic objects is the list of all other features and properties that that object has.
So noting the differences between two things, is really just judging the relative merits of their collection of properties.
I would argue that @Spzi@lemm.ee is correct, and people often use “can’t be compared” incorrectly, or they intentionally use it that way to be over the top and dramatic, like saying I love you to infinity.