Hm, when I wrote the post and decided on the term “the best”, I didn’t actually think too hard about whether that is literally true. What I had in mind were things that are very, very close to the best. I’m not sure exactly what that means. Where is the bar that you have to pass to meet my operational definition of “the best”? I can imagine situations where things pass the bar and they aren’t even in the top tier of things. But these things are still very close to being “the best”.
Thinking about it now, I still believe that “the best things” is a more accurate choice than “great things”. I’m trying to point to things that are pretty damn close to being the best. I don’t see it as much of a problem that they aren’t literally the best. But on the other hand, “great” feels to me like it doesn’t have a strong enough connotation.
However, you make the point that perhaps I was trying to point at the wrong thing. That seeking out the best things is a losing strategy. I (can) agree with that for certain categories, like money or achievement. But for the things I’ve mentioned in this post, and even for the thing I used as a counterexample, food, I think that “the best” (operationally defined) actually are accessible enough to be worth pursuing.
Hm, when I wrote the post and decided on the term “the best”, I didn’t actually think too hard about whether that is literally true. What I had in mind were things that are very, very close to the best. I’m not sure exactly what that means. Where is the bar that you have to pass to meet my operational definition of “the best”? I can imagine situations where things pass the bar and they aren’t even in the top tier of things. But these things are still very close to being “the best”.
Thinking about it now, I still believe that “the best things” is a more accurate choice than “great things”. I’m trying to point to things that are pretty damn close to being the best. I don’t see it as much of a problem that they aren’t literally the best. But on the other hand, “great” feels to me like it doesn’t have a strong enough connotation.
However, you make the point that perhaps I was trying to point at the wrong thing. That seeking out the best things is a losing strategy. I (can) agree with that for certain categories, like money or achievement. But for the things I’ve mentioned in this post, and even for the thing I used as a counterexample, food, I think that “the best” (operationally defined) actually are accessible enough to be worth pursuing.