If bigger is better, why is smaller better?

Monotors have been getting more resolution, the more expensive ones have more resolution, so more resalution is better. If more resalution is better, why is it that when I rase the resolution on my monitor, the stuff on the screen gets smaller? This means with monitors, smaller is better, why is smaller better?

 

Chris--If your question is serious, the simplest answer is that your monitor paints the window with pixels (little dots). The more pixels per screen the less space per pixel they take, but the sharper the image. (They are closer together.) So if you increase the resolution, each pixel will take less space, but since an individual image is composed of the same number of pixels, the less space an individual image will take.
More details here
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/crt/res-c.html
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q="monitor+resolution"&btnG=Google+Search
The size of the monitor is a different issue. And all monitors are capable of a range of resolutions. Newer monitors are little different in this respect than old. But if you get a larger monitor than you had before, the same image will be larger at a given resolution.

 

I look at it this way: Screen Area
The larger the resolution, the more I can fit on the screen at one time. Less scrolling, easier multitasking.
I'm fortunate enough to have excellent eyesight, so even 1152x864 on a 17" monitor is great for me. I do prefer 1280x1024 on my 21" though.