We've all seen "best of" lists, where different groups of people inevitably choose the same films/plays/games/albums/artists/athletes of the year/decade/century/millenium/forever. You've seen and heard them before -- "And the best film of all time is, well what do you know... Citizen Kane! That's right, Orson Welles' classic is #1 again! And ummm, what can we say that hasn't already been said... about this masterpiece, uh this icon of... Hey! Call my agent and get me the hell out of this job, will ya?!?"
The lists are largely useless. Once they've been done, there's no need to do them over and over. You could make the case for redoing them once a decade for categories that are still vibrant and growing. Anything beyond that is a waste of time and energy.
But there's a deeper problem with these types of lists, and it lies with the word "best." A person who declares something the "best" is naturally in a position to defend that choice. So it's safer to choose Citizen Kane than Weekend At Bernies. That's why so many different groups come up with the same list. After all, any group or person who chooses something other than Citizen Kane as the best movie of all time you might never live it down, and will have a lot of explaining to do.
To make this stuff more interesting, I humbly suggest substituting the word "favorite" for the word "best." I think "favorite" opens up a whole new way of discussing things, and that discussion provides a much deeper and clearer window into the person or people involved.
I am always much more interested in people's favorites than in what they think are the best. People usually have some basic understanding of why something is their favorite, but the fact that it's "a favorite" (and not "the best") means they don't have to defend the choice. A favorite is about emotion and feeling, not about logical constructs and groupthink opinion.
The lists are largely useless. Once they've been done, there's no need to do them over and over. You could make the case for redoing them once a decade for categories that are still vibrant and growing. Anything beyond that is a waste of time and energy.
But there's a deeper problem with these types of lists, and it lies with the word "best." A person who declares something the "best" is naturally in a position to defend that choice. So it's safer to choose Citizen Kane than Weekend At Bernies. That's why so many different groups come up with the same list. After all, any group or person who chooses something other than Citizen Kane as the best movie of all time you might never live it down, and will have a lot of explaining to do.
To make this stuff more interesting, I humbly suggest substituting the word "favorite" for the word "best." I think "favorite" opens up a whole new way of discussing things, and that discussion provides a much deeper and clearer window into the person or people involved.
I am always much more interested in people's favorites than in what they think are the best. People usually have some basic understanding of why something is their favorite, but the fact that it's "a favorite" (and not "the best") means they don't have to defend the choice. A favorite is about emotion and feeling, not about logical constructs and groupthink opinion.
And with 6.7 billion people and thousands of topics to cover, that's a lot of interesting opinions and ideas. Sounds like a lot more fun than 6.7 billion lists with Citizen Kane at the top, doesn't it?
I'll submit a separate post to show you what I mean, and you can join in when you get the hang of it.
- Scott
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