I think the biggest issue by far is that many of the different contextual uses for dB are all in the same domain, or very close.

When you're talking about the loudness of sound, in the same exact context you might care about SPL, perceived loudness, AND gain.

If it was just a matter of "in electrical engineering / physics, dB implies this unit + baseline, when dealing with acoustics, it implies this other unit + baseline", it would be less problematic.