Is GOAT a meaningful concept?

[Mathman]

Fun for fan banter, sure. But…

What male singles skater won the most Olympic Gold Medals? This question is absolutleyyunambiguously defined and has has an answer that is incontestable fact: Gillis Graftstrom, 3. Greatest of all time?

An athlete can compete only against his contemporaries. He or she cannot skate against the ghosts of past legends, nor against yet-unborn stars of the future.

Well, humans do enjoy speculation and opinion regarding rankings. No harm — but is the question well-defined? Can we ever hope to come to agreement as to what the question means?

 

[Diana Delafield]

Not really. What was "so great a performance it can never be surpassed" will be "meh" in twenty years, in a sport like skating that constantly evolves. In other areas, like literature or art, the opinion is too subjective. You can declare "My GOAT, in my opinion" but not The GOAT.

 

[4everchan]

If it's goat cheese, it's meaningful. If not, it's useless.

 

[TontoK]

The only redeeming quality about GOAT debates is that they remind me of great skaters (or other athletes) that I've forgotten about for a while.

But those debates must be good-natured and fun. Not caustic death matches among participants. No patience for that. At all.