India, Oct. 31 -- Is it time to retire those Best Of, Top 10, Greatest Hits and Worst Ever rankings? Think about it. Every magazine and blog has one. They started out fine, recording what's cool, what's been added to the canon, what's no longer the mood. Now, they're largely troll bait, an opportunity for online engagement as fights break out in the comments: "How dare you insult India by calling upma the worst dish; what about poha?" "Why is Zendaya's Joan of Arc/Cinderella/Mugler bodysuit/blue sari not among her Best Red Carpet Looks?" "Why was the 2003 edition of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time dominated by old American rock dudes?"

Make no mistake: Lists are wonderful, useful things. They create order from chaos. A li...