Lilmod and Joseph,
As explained above and elsewhere, the relevance of who is “greater” is very limited, and even in that limited scope (of psak halacha) it is further limited, applying only in cases where there is no majority on either side of the issue. Furthermore, it should be pointed out that the “greater” with regard to psak, is greater in Chochma and Minyan (“minyan” in this context means who has more talmidim). What matters is who is the greater talmid chachom, not who is the greater tzadik. If one is in such a situation you have to make a call as to who is greater in Chochma. It is hard call to make, fortunately it is only rarely an issue.
Joseph, I don’t know what statement from Rav Shach you are referring to. However, there is a great deal of difference between choosing a rov for yourself (something everyone should do) and making an objective statement that Rabbi X is greater than Rabbi Y. Obviously, each of us can have opinions about who we think is greater, however ill-informed, and in deciding on who to take on as your Rov, you should pick an accessible person you believe to be the greatest. Why would you pick someone you thought wasn’t the greatest.
But in attempting to make an objective statement about gadlus in an attempt to convince others or to argue that the followers of Gadol X are more correct than the followers of Gadol Y (or Hashkafa X is more correct than Hashkafa Y), there is simply no way for most of us to know.
Please go back up above for my long-winded explanation for why it is difficult to judge Tzidkus and Gadlus, and explain to me where I went wrong and how you are able to judge the Tzidkus and Gadlus of people that you do not know personally. How do you know that you are not perceiving an ???? ?????