“Absolute sense” and “accumulated choices”

“Intellectually or morally more valuable in an absolute sense”

“Absolute sense” means:

judged as more valuable independently of a particular person's preferences, institutional priorities, historical circumstances, or practical goals.

For example:

“Colonialism is absolutely more intellectually important than medieval taxation.”

That is a much stronger claim than:

“Colonialism currently receives more scholarly attention.”

The latter is an empirical observation.

The former is a claim about intrinsic importance.