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> What are the top dogs you’ve met? What are the best streets in your town? Who are the worst people you love? What are the ten best instructional videos in you
by bambax 10y ago
> What are the top dogs you’ve met? What are the best streets in your town? Who are the worst people you love? What are the ten best instructional videos in your discipline? What are the worst colors? What are the five best musical instruments?
top best worst best worst best: what's with all this obsession with ranking??
I don't love many people but it would be impossible for me to rank them from "best" to "worst".
I don't even know what it would mean to rank musical instruments. According to what criteria? If the best instrument is the piano, or the clarinet, can you have an orchestra of 100 pianos? Or 100 clarinets?
And colors...? Ok maybe it's a joke and I don't get it.
The problem with ranking from "worst" to "best" is it's uni-dimensional; as you add more axes it makes less and less sense.
It takes a very narrow mind to even ask such a question.
- mikestew 10y agowhat's with all this obsession with ranking?? It said so right in the article: you learn what you care about. Best musical instrument? Easy, mandolin. Maybe the violin. Both are tuned in fifths, so scale and chord patterns are transferable up and down, and across the fretboard/fingerboard. Far better than that bastardized tuning of the guitar. Play a melody, play rhythm (on the mandolin) if you have to, though not as good a choice as a guitar. And don't get me started on all the keys of a piano. But that's what I care about in a musical instrument, mainly because I play one. YMMV, and it likely will if you don't play anything.
- bambax 10y agoYou're answering the question "what instruments do you like to play the most", which is different from "what are the 'best' instruments". The last question implies some kind of absolute value system, not just your own personal taste (even if you're the one making the ranking).
- chomp 10y agoI think you're thinking about this too hard. It's a subjective question, and will be colored by your experience.
- jdmichal 10y agoI think you're reading objectiveness into the question. If it makes you feel better, replace "best" or "worst" with "most favorite" and "least favorite". The essence behind the question is still there, but it removes any interpretation of objectiveness. However, I would argue that it also loses some impact. It removes the idea of a person having to decide what "best" or "worst" actually means. Instead, you would need a follow-up question of "why?" to clarify that particular point. For instance, I would have answered French horn. That instrument can single-handedly cut through an entire orchestra, and there is no mistaking it when you hear it. The harpsichord would be a close runner-up. So I'm probably looking for unique sounds that are easy to pick out of a crowd.
- mikestew 10y agoYou're answering the question "what instruments do you like to play the most", which is different from "what are the 'best' instruments". The best instrument is the one I like to play the most, duh. Yeah, "that's just my opinion, man". Which was kinda the point. I don't know what else to tell you. You ask "what the obsession with ranking" was, I gave you the answer straight from the article. Is it "best" for you? Probably not. Again, duh, that's not what the answer said.
- kybernetikos 10y ago> And don't get me started on all the keys of a piano. Have you come across the Jankó keyboard? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jank%C3%B3_keyboard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jank%C3%B3_keyboard
- agumonkey 10y agopiano keys layout delayed my musical epiphany by 20 years, for better or worse
- pvg 10y agoOr it takes someone reading things far too literally to think a narrow mind is asking these questions.