@Anonymouswrote:OK. I guess I was just thrown by Expat's use of the word practical to describe his concern. The way most of us use that here, it means that there is some clear way we want to use our score to achieve a concrete credit end. E.g. someone is asking about how the mortgage scores work because he is buying a house (rather than just curious for curiosity's sake).
I suppose in this case the practical concern could be I will have a panic attack if my EX score drops below ____ and I would like to stay out of the ER next month. That's very practical!
Panic attacks (or milder versions of them) are by definition not rational -- they are not amenable to someone giving you some hyperlogical sermon. Still, it's important to at least be aware at least on a "meta" level that one's score drop phobia might be pronounced enough to cause one to take actions against one's financial interest. That should be a concern. The whole point of credit and scores should be so that you can use it any time it makes sense to do so.
I am a good example of that in the area of savings. Because I got into financial trouble once in my life, I ended up developing extreme habits of austerity that are now no longer fully rational, to the point where I realize I am never going on vacations or in other ways using my saved money to bring myself happiness. Saving money is good, but one's savings are there ultimately to be used -- again, something I need to work on a bit.
Let's agree to disagree. I'd assert that maintaining green FICO scores is decidedly practical. One never knows when one's fortunes will change and one may need to obtain a loan, or simply wants to take advantage of a SUB. Having scores north of 740 makes pursuing these courses less problematic.
And in any event, I'm going on a vacation in 2 weeks. 
I prefer red to green but, I'm not going to drop my score for a color change. 