I realized though that I didn't link to the best video to convey my point. Here is a more specific talk on inflation given by him and his wife to a room full of economists: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwiHv7xVQ_c
Notably, the economists in the room point out that the inflation problem has already been tackled from a theoretical angle which does incorporate calculus. However, they say the resulting idea (the Divisia index) isn't practical for nation-level inflation measurements.
So, yes, measures of inflation aren’t perfect. But it’s “not perfect” in the most trivial sense: even some well-chosen single item (Big Mac?) gets you a measure of inflation that will be close enough most of the time. The actual basket improves it from maybe 90 % perfect to 98 %.
You should join some of the Telegram groups. My experience has been generally the opposite.
Checkout the channel for LN support group PlebNet or the PirateChain channel for example.
As a side note, this mistrust of the CPI is something Eric Weinstein loves to bring up, too, with the same narrative about CPI being designed by politicians. After watching him try to convince economists [0][1] of the points made in this article (and avoiding questions that get specific or complex), I'm unconvinced I need to care.
[Edited to add second, more relevant video]
[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5gnATQMtPg
[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwiHv7xVQ_c