We can't help it, not without conscious effort. We are naturally drawn to superlatives: the BIGGEST! The smallest! The fastest, most beautiful, strongest, etc. What are the ends of the scale? Who is the most-est?
We all came from inside Mom. From then on, for years and years, bigger, more powerful people at home, at school and everywhere were all around us. Our nerve systems seem built to be on the outlook for super big, little, fast, etc. http://fearfunandfiloz.blogspot.com/2009/06/our-minds-and-reality.html
So discussing football players, foods or famous actresses, it comes naturally to ask Who? Who is best? What tastes best? What is your favorite? Who is most beautiful? Most, most, most!
In today's world, we have tools that can be used to investigate a little deeper. We can check out the best player or the favorite German food. Even if we find that Yogi Favre had more hits, we can find other variables that promote Brett Berra to the top. It may hurt but a bit of reflection shows us that in nearly any field, on nearly any list, someone not at the top can be awarded an outstanding place, given the title of the best X.
With modern spreadsheets, it is easy to sort a list by a variable. Who had the most hits? Who had the least? Top and bottom. Just for fun, who is at the median of the list? Who is right in the middle, below half and above half? Often the middle is a bit crowded and several of those listed may have the median score. So we fold the list at the median. Now the median people are at the top and the extremes straggle out to the bottom.
There have been people who wondered if the processes of nature and the will of the Almighty were actually aiming at the median but maybe luck and error and good breaks and bad raised some and dropped some. Maybe the median, steady players are the backbone of the activity and the ones of most value.
When I slip up and ask you who is your favorite mystery writer, pivot. Deflect me with the comment "Favorite, schmavorite, I like Ian McEwan but sometimes I prefer Michael Connelly." Don't let me force you into some sort of ranking or contest. Just note which writers come to mind as good ones. You will broaden your thinking and mine.
