When ‘Best’ Is The Worst

There is a word that makes me irrationally twitchy: ‘best’

I remember as a young girl in the 90s looking up chocolate caramel slice recipes on the internet with my dad. There were no reviews or claims of being the world’s best recipe. We simply chose one and tweaked it over the years to our taste.

Our obsession with the best [tool, method, thing] means losing:

- the opportunity to take good and make it better
- the opportunity to form our own opinions outside of what the majority says or the algorithm serves us
- the growth that comes from figuring stuff out via life experience

In a world where we can target the ultimate anything, what would it look like to seek good or great rather than best?

Best isn’t conducive to learning. This isn’t the best writing ever and it doesn’t matter. It served its purpose* just fine.

When we ask the majority to define the best, we rob ourselves of the gift of momentum that comes from experimenting and trying ordinary things over and over.

Like a baby sea turtle amongst hundreds racing toward the ocean, few of my ideas will survive the journey intact. But the act of creating and testing brings invaluable lessons that I carry forward. My definition of "best" evolves as I do.

* writing practice for me, (maybe) food for thought for you

P.S. This rantlette was brought to you by seeing yet another post titled “I’m moving to Perth, where’s the best place to live?” followed by “what is the best job for women?”. C’mon now.