Do you know what I hate? I hate it when people try to determine what is the “best” without establishing standard by which to measure how good something is.

For example, somewhat frequently on Reddit, a person will post something like, “I am going to college and I need a laptop. Here is what I want to do with it…” At first, the posts are all really well thought out. One guy will say get a mac if you want the support. Another guy will point to a deal on a cheap Acer. Then, it quickly devolves into a fanboy hatefest. Everyone starts listing reasons why one make or model is better than the other, or how everyone else is a bunch of idiots.

I have to admit that I am guilty of once acting like this. Until recently, I was a devout Apple fanboy and never wanted to touch a PC again. Now I have a Mac and 2 PCs running Linux and Windows. Each one is good for a different purpose. No one computer is the best.

The same thing goes for athletes. No one can be the “greatest” or “best” athlete. You can be the richest or the fastest or the tallest, but not the best. Best is meaningless. Without a benchmark, how can you prove that something is the best?

So in the future, before you say that something is the best, reconsider what you mean. Maybe you actually mean to say that something is your favorite or that it is the best based on a measurable standard.