The Fastest Boy in all the Land

I didn't come up with this analogy but I think it works.

Imagine that you're a 12 year old kid and you decide you want to find out who the fastest kid on the block is. You run a race and there's this one kid smokes everyone else, his name is Mikey. You go home thinking with all of your 12-year old wisdom and logic that the way he ran, Mikey isn't just the fastest kid on the block. Surely he is the fastest boy in all the land.

The next day you run another race and you invite a kid from the next block to participate. The kid has Forrest Gump-like braces on his legs but not Forrest Gump-like speed. Still he is the designated representative from the neighboring block and once again Mikey smokes the field. You go home more convinced than ever Mikey is simply the fastest boy in the land.

You run 10 more races and Mikey wins all of them by wide margins except for one in which he tripped on a pothole and got beat by a nose on a day he was running a fever of 104. Clearly he's the fastest boy in the land.

Then one day a boy from some distant unheard of place shows up and challenges Mikey to a race. When the race is over and the dust settles Mikey is in tears trying to rebuild his ego after getting whipped.

Mikey's name could be BUCKY or BOOMER or whatever; it doesn't matter because clearly to your 12-year old wisdom and logic this stranger is the fastest boy in all the land.

Do you see how absurd this is?