People have a natural tendency to compare things. Comparisons lead to rankings. Rankings lead to a high-end and a low-end. The high-end is by definition the 'greatest.' Mohammed Ali proclaimed, "I am the greatest," and, for a time, he was -- but he was surpassed by others who came after him. Occasionally, an achievement becomes so well established at the pinnacle of its kind, that it comes to be regarded as the benchmark of its kind, as something unsurpassable. Shakespeare, for example, is commonly regarded as the greatest playwright of all time; no one has equalled, much less surpassed, him, and it is hard to imagine anyone ever doing so.
Originally posted by @ponderable I notice that there is a tendency tothis superlative.
But in reality we only can see the past, so "of all time" can' really be applied to anything.
Same with "best in universe" we only know about a speck...
Why need people to claim the very extreme? (Not reffering to the greatest leader of all time here)
Hyperbole of course.
The greatest exponent of all time in the whole universe being Mr Trump. 😉
This subject reminds me of a joke. A vacationer was driving through a small town in northeast Maine. He was "lost" so he stopped at a home where he found an older gentleman sitting on his porch. He approached the man and asked for directions to the nearest highway. The man thought for a moment and finally said "I have no idea,"Not yet". never seen one". The traveler then asked if the gentleman had lived all his life here to which he responded..."Not yet". Greatest of all time? "All time" has yet to happen.
Originally posted by @ponderable I notice that there is a tendency tothis superlative.
But in reality we only can see the past, so "of all time" can' really be applied to anything.
Same with "best in universe" we only know about a speck...
Why need people to claim the very extreme? (Not reffering to the greatest leader of all time here)
That's like the Miss Universe contest. Invariably a woman from Earth keeps winning......I say it's rigged.
Originally posted by @ponderable Two great posts full of philosophical insight.
So what is time anyway?
Time is the framework wherein processes have beginnings, middles, and ends. Therefore time had no beginning and will have no end; beginnings and ends apply only to processes in time, not to time itself; so, in a sense, time is timeless. Time is the metric of change, and is therefore itself changeless.
Space is the board on which the chess pieces move; it is not a move in the game, but is the framework wherein (or on) the game takes place. Time is the 'other' framework whereby moves in the game are limited and through which plans and strategies are developed and modified, brought to fruition or shattered.
Originally posted by @moonbus People have a natural tendency to compare things. Comparisons lead to rankings. Rankings lead to a high-end and a low-end. The high-end is by definition the 'greatest.' Mohammed Ali proclaimed, "I am the greatest," and, for a time, he was -- but he was surpassed by others who came after him. Occasionally, an achievement becomes so well established at the pi ...[text shortened]... ; no one has equalled, much less surpassed, him, and it is hard to imagine anyone ever doing so.
Greatest of all time
31 Oct '17 05:54
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