This is an age of marketing.
Buy from us!
Get the best!
Our product is No. 1!
It helps if we only use a single rule, contest, criterion or variable.
Ours is most popular! (in the continental US during 2016)
Our is most durable! (if used every other week)
We sell for the lowest price (today only)
I wrote a master's paper on Herbert A. Simon's idea of satisficing, as opposed to optimizing. Maybe we don't seek the all-out BEST. Maybe there isn't really a single best except under special circumstances, measured in a given time and place. Who is the best batter? The best quarterback? It may be better to aim to have a good product that serves us well, to have a good batter and a good quarterback.
You may have heard the statement that 98% of statistics are made up on the spot. I just made up the 98%. I chose it. Truthfully, I doubt that fake or unfounded numbers are quite that common. I don't doubt that there are claims of numbers and of quality ("Ours is the best!") that have little or no evidence behind them. I also don't doubt that what's best in one setting may be "sub-optimal" (less than best) is another.
