ABSTRACT
The good news is that we are able to see and hear finer musicians, artists, writers, athletes, or whatever entertains or interests us. The bad news is that if we are a musician, artist, writer, or athlete we may never acquire an audience. Until fairly recently, as human history is measured, a person might be the best singer for miles around, and many listeners might in their lifetimes never hear a better one. That was not good for the audiences, but it was good for the singer. Applied over all activities, this meant that a person who wanted to excel could usually find something to excel at, something at which he or she could become "the best in town." Small-town or small-city people who were overly impressed by such a distinction appeared provincial to their neighbors from larger urban centers, but nevertheless they could attain a degree of personal satisfaction that only a much smaller percentage of people can achieve today. A father and mother could
encourage their child to become the best debater in the local school. Today that child's children or grandchildren are disappointed and may consider themselves losers if they don't win state or national championships. Psychologists can no doubt tell us what it does to our psyches when, no matter how good we get to be at doing something, nearly all of us can flip the switch on a television set and see someone do it better.
