The worst of the best

Take a look at a list of top X anything: top books, top music albums, top athletes. Intentionally or not, it imposes order. The list starts with the best, and it ends with the best. But here a funny thing happens. The list is finite. In most cases you only see things that made the list. And as it happens, the very last items on the list appear to be the worst. They are the worst of the best? You are more likely to put more hope in the things on top, even though the thing at the bottom might be just as good.