The est Obsession.

The TV is on the background and I have just heard them mention the worlds youngest guitar player - or was that ukulele? It got me wondering why people view it as being important to be the 'est' (ie, youngest, oldest, biggest, smallest, longest, highest etc). I consider this phenomena especially strange when attached to totally unrelated pursuits; and that would include the 'est' guitar player (of course this excludes Best as 'est' is not a suffix in this case).

Since a musical instrument is an aural experience, what difference does it make to the listening, whether it is played by the youngest, tallest, widest, person in the world? Contrarily, I would have thought it detracted from the experience as more emphasis would be placed on who was playing rather than how they played.

The est phenomena becomes increasingly ridiculous as the media (or individuals) try harder to create it. For example there was the first solo yacht sail around the world and then there was the first female solo yacht sail, then the youngest solo yacht sail, the youngest female solo yacht sail, then the youngest Australian solo yacht sail...infinitum.

What I want to know is when will the first pink-laced corseted Ethiopian male with 3 fingers missing solo yacht sail will take place. I will be there to wave him on as his sail can be seen on the horizon off Fijian territory - if I can afford to go to Fiji at that particular time.