I recently took a couple of trips. It amazed me that every town had one of the top 100 hospitals in the nation. There must be at least a thousand top 100 hospitals. This might make sense to a mathematician.
I also noticed in airports that the best doctors have their pictures on the walls.
When I was in New Orleans my wife bought the best pralines. How did we know they were the best? The store had a sign “The Best Pralines.” That was the proof.
I once had a case against one of the best lawyers in Ohio. The lawyer had been out of law school about 5 years. It was pretty plain to me as the trial started, that the lawyer had not tried many, if any cases before. I hope when I need a doctor, I get a good one. I will pass on one of the best.
So I wonder when the list of best lawyers comes out each year, what happened to last years best lawyers. Did they die, or are they now second best?
UPDATE August 18, 2014: Last week or thereabouts the New York Times had an article by a physician. He was opening mail addressed to his brother-in-law. One of the letters congratulated the brother-in-law for being selected as one of the top 100 physicians in a particular practice area. Problem was that the brother-in-law had been dead 16 years. So that answers one question — specifically most of the best are dead.