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Following is an excerpt from 「涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱」. My questions concern the last
sentence.

> 世界の物理法則がよく出来ていることに関心しつつ自嘲しつつ、いつしか俺はテレビのＵＦＯ特番や霊特集を熱心に観なくなっていた。
>
> いるわけねー……でもちょっとはいて欲しい、みたいな **最大公約数的な** ことを考える **くらいにまで** 俺も成長したのさ。

There are two points of confusion, marked in bold.

  1. 「最大公約数的な」

I realize that it is not used in a mathematical sense (right?), and according
to [this 知恵袋
post](http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q129563692), it
seems it can also mean something like "looking at the points of similarity or
compromise between multiple opinions or opposing parties," but I am not sure
how this definition applies here. Perhaps it just means "rational" here?

  2. 「〜くらいにまで」

I haven't seen this construct before, but I assume it can be interpreted as
"at least to the point that ..."?

I am wondering what に is doing here though. I haven't seen くらい・ぐらい used with
any following particles. Is it optional?

In fact, would it be okay to replace this with just まで?

I would appreciate help understanding this phrase as well.
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grammar meaning
trouble with comprehension: 最大公約数的な and くらいにまで
My interpretation of the "最大公約数的な" part is that he is talking about making a
compromise, or middle ground, between those who totally believe in UFOs and
ghosts, and those who don't believe at all.

While I haven't seen "くらいにまで" used very often, from the context I am pretty
sure it means that he has grown to the extent where he can think about the
above.

So to sum it up, here is a guess at a (very rough) translation.

> いる分けねー……でもちょっとはいて欲しい、みたいな最大公約数的なことを考えるくらいにまで俺も成長したのさ。
>
> There's no way they exist... But actually I kind of hope they do exist, at
> least a little. I think even I've learned to be able to see both sides of
> this and take a middle ground stance.
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In mathematics, 「[最大公約数]{さいだいこうやくすう}」 means the " ** _greatest common
divisor_** " and naturally, the meaning is very clear and concrete.

Outside of math, it has a pretty much established definition of " ** _common
ground_** ". It is still highly related to its original meaning in math.

The "problem", however, is when people make an **_adjective_** out of it --
「最大公約数[的]{てき}な」. It suddenly becomes a few steps more colloquial in feeling,
if not quite slangy. It becomes a pretty fuzzy buzzword without a clear-cut
definition.

(Adding 「的な」 to random nouns and noun phrases is just a new trend in the
language. If you listen to older people carefully, you will notice they
rarely, if ever, do that like their children and grand-children do.)

「最大公約数 **的な** 」, in my own words, can mean: "neutral and not extreme",
"noncommittal", "grey-area-ish", etc. Now you know why I said "fuzzy" a while
ago.

**In the context in question, the speaker is saying that he has grown and
learned enough to not be so extreme in his thinking. Regarding UFOs and
ghosts, he now thinks they may actually exist and he wants them to exist to an
extent instead of completely denying or completely believing their
existence.**

Moving on...

「～～く(or ぐ)らいにまで」 is a fairly common phrase. It is much more common than you
appear to think, I assure you.

**_"(up) to the level where ~~ happens"_** is what it means.

The 「に」 turns the phrase into an adverbial form that modifies the verb
「[成長]{せいちょう}した」. Is it optional? Informally, yes, I must say, but it sounds
"nicer" if you used it.

Would it be Ok to use just 「まで」 instead of saying 「くらいにまで」? Grammatically,
yes, but you will look like either you wrote in haste or you do not know how
to speak/write naturally.
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answer