Perfection - A Discussion

[colbycheeze]

Whilst writing in my journal, I came to an understanding of myself which I then posted on Facebook. The post then sparked a bit of a discussion.

I am curious as to what you guys think?

Colby Williams
Perfection is such a pathetic concept. It is simply a cop out to justify failure. That is to say...those who seek perfection, are simply hiding the fact that they can't achieve something with the idea that if they were to do it, it would be perfect...but since they can't be perfect...they won't do it. I have to stop trying to be a perfectionist...*sigh*

Paul Pieniadz
I respectfully disagree...perfection has its price and side effects, but the pursuit of it can help shape someone's ambitions and aspirations for a lifetime. There are people in the world who live by the pursuit of perfection, and their drive towards it can help them stay motivated without needing anything else.

Colby Williams
The pursuit of perfection leads to disappointment. Nobody can be perfect, therefore anyone pursuing perfection...is in essence pursuing failure.

Paul Pieniadz
It depends on who you ask, an optimist or a pessimist. I am an optimist, this is why I disagree. I see only the positive value that people associate with finding things in their life to motivate them, which in some cases can be just simply pursuing the impossible.

Paul Pieniadz
Valid point though. Definitely something everyone should think about.

Colby Williams
So you are saying that by being an optimist you seek failure in life by reaching for goals that you know are unattainable? I disagree with that. Really you are changing the subject of what was originally said. The point of the message was that rather than focusing on perfection, you should instead focus on action. For example, a job done with fair results...is better than a job not done at all due to the fact that the person couldn't finish it to the "perfect" vision that was imagined of it.

[James81]

Gotta agree with Colby on this one.

And it sounds like Paul is the type of person that Colby is talking about.

[ZHereford]

Perfectionism can be used as a tool to strive for attainment of highest level of achievement in any endeavor. In that regard it is not a 'pathetic concept'.

Most of us, however, do agree that attaining 'perfection' in any one area is highly improbable, but not impossible. One can achieve perfect scores on tests, gymnastics routines, mathematical quizzes, etc., but if you seek perfection as a 'human being', that, by definition is impossible.

[BoneLazy]

Hello

Isn't this all just a bit reminiscent of Maslows' self-actualization (placed on top of his hierarchy of needs. That is it could be argued that aside from Buddha or Jesus no-one really has ever become completely actualized and statistically it is almost impossible for anyone to become so.
However the striving for that ideal is what matters, more or less recognizing that your human but working towards that ideal. As long as it is used as a goal or guiding light concept as opposed to a barometer of everyday life perfection could be seen as a positively shaping influence influence.
So its recognizing we are human and realizing a limitless potential and striving for that in the long-term can be very beneficial.

Wells that's my 2 cents

Cheers

[colbycheeze]

Well BoneLazy I certainly see where you are going with that. I agree with a life of continuously striving to improve, though not necessarily through the seeking of perfection.

Rather...Kaizen

That would be more appropriate in my opinion.

[ginkgo]

Are you perfect? Well are you your body that will die or are you an immortal, eternal soul as Socrates taught? You are really the soul that is perfect so you seek perfection. You are not your body that is not perfect.

The earth came into existence and will some day burn up according to physics. But there is a perfect place that will always be there. Jesus said "Seek you first the kingdom of heaven [that is perfect] and all things else will follow." Socrates said "Know thyself!"

[Chris_1977]

Originally Posted by colbycheeze

Whilst writing in my journal, I came to an understanding of myself which I then posted on Facebook. The post then sparked a bit of a discussion.

I am curious as to what you guys think?

Colby Williams
Perfection is such a pathetic concept. It is simply a cop out to justify failure. That is to say...those who seek perfection, are simply hiding the fact that they can't achieve something with the idea that if they were to do it, it would be perfect...but since they can't be perfect...they won't do it. I have to stop trying to be a perfectionist...*sigh*

Paul Pieniadz
I respectfully disagree...perfection has its price and side effects, but the pursuit of it can help shape someone's ambitions and aspirations for a lifetime. There are people in the world who live by the pursuit of perfection, and their drive towards it can help them stay motivated without needing anything else.

Colby Williams
The pursuit of perfection leads to disappointment. Nobody can be perfect, therefore anyone pursuing perfection...is in essence pursuing failure.

Paul Pieniadz
It depends on who you ask, an optimist or a pessimist. I am an optimist, this is why I disagree. I see only the positive value that people associate with finding things in their life to motivate them, which in some cases can be just simply pursuing the impossible.

Paul Pieniadz
Valid point though. Definitely something everyone should think about.

Colby Williams
So you are saying that by being an optimist you seek failure in life by reaching for goals that you know are unattainable? I disagree with that. Really you are changing the subject of what was originally said. The point of the message was that rather than focusing on perfection, you should instead focus on action. For example, a job done with fair results...is better than a job not done at all due to the fact that the person couldn't finish it to the "perfect" vision that was imagined of it.

What do I think of this? That it is a pointless debate rather typical for Internet forums. If you do not define words like "perfection" everybody has something slightly different in mind and in that case one is not even talking to each other despite appearances of the contrary.....

[colbycheeze]

Originally Posted by Chris_1977

What do I think of this? That it is a pointless debate rather typical for Internet forums. If you do not define words like "perfection" everybody has something slightly different in mind and in that case one is not even talking to each other despite appearances of the contrary.....

Fair enough. It can be a term that is interpreted different based on how each person views it. I can accept that.

[andrew112]

Originally Posted by ZHereford

One can achieve perfect scores on tests, gymnastics routines, mathematical quizzes, etc., but if you seek perfection as a 'human being', that, by definition is impossible.

So are you saying that achieving ethical perfection is impossible; or maybe overall perfection is impossible, meaning being perfect in every area of one's life?

[ZHereford]

I am saying by virtue of being 'human' overall perfection is impossible.

[SeanGolden]

I agree that someone can constantly seek perfection and, by doing so, will keep improving in many ways. However, is that really the goal? If you keep improving, but you are not "perfect", so you are still upset with yourself all the time for not being "perfect", then how can you appreciate how far you've come?

It's like a person who gets really rich, but to him, he is not rich enough. Therefore, he is no happier now that he is rich than before he was.

A better way to go about improving yourself is from a point of gratitude and to appreciate how much you are improving all the time, not that you are not "perfect".

Keep striving to become better and better, and focus on your progress. This will make you happier (isn't that what it's all about anyway?) and will give you more motivation to keep getting better.

Striving for perfection does work most of the time to improve yourself, but it leads to unhappiness very often and regret because you didn't do something "perfectly". IMO, there are much better ways to focus on improving yourself.