What is “The Best”?

 

We often hear people asking for a recommendation for a product or service and wanting to know what “the best” product or service is that they are looking for. Another component to this question is an additional statement relating to price such as “Where is the best place to get my windows tinted……for cheap?”. This is obviously a contradictory statement and defies the common law of business balance as laid out by John Ruskin:

“The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot — it can’t be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.”

Merriam Webster defines the word best as:

“of the highest quality, excellence, or standing”

It’s important to understand that everyone’s interpretation of what “best” has come to mean is probably different and making sure that your expectation of what that means to you is on par with people that you might be asking for recommendations from.