I think my biggest problem with EL's argument is the use of the word "perfection," so maybe it's all semantics on my end. I think people should endeavor to achieve all that they can, but I don't think perfection is a standard by which we should measure ourselves. We should try to be the best people we possibly can ("Be all that you can be!"Avatar wrote:Great posts folks. Personally, I don't think there's anything wrong with striving for the unattainable. Striving is what life is for. There's no meaning other than what we decide to confer, so whether you attain your goal or not is pretty unimportant I think. *shrug*
), but we shouldn't compare our end results to perfection. Neither should we set specific limits on ourselves, because if we did, we might take no further action to improve upon ourselves once we'd reached those predetermined limits/goals. However, if someone is striving toward perfection and then falls short of his/her goal (even if s/he is already prepared for it to happen), I would think that it would lead to frustration and disappointment (and life is already sufficiently disillusioning, as it is). Comparing your achievements to impossible standards casts a somewhat negative (for lack of a better word) light on all of your accomplishments: they pale and appear insignificant next to your failures. But I suppose as long as one has realistic expectations (of him/herself and others) and doesn't feel diminished or depressed by the fact that s/he will never achieve perfection, s/he should just go for it... It's true that an attempt to reach the classical ideal of perfection would theoretically produce a number of results which would be very desirable -- on the road toward perfection, one would hope that other goals, which are valuable in their own right, would be reached. It just seems unnecessarily harsh and pointless to couch it in those terms. I just try to do as much as I can, while keeping in mind that I can probably do even more if I work harder -- simply a matter of trying to surpass myself each day. If I could do that, then hypothetically I'd always be moving toward the ideal state, which probably comes to the same thing as seeking perfection. As a side note, I guess another reason I have a problem with the use of that word is that my views regarding perfection are contrary to those of most people. In a way, it's an abstract concept to me, and I'm not sure how to explain it. I think the dictionary would disagree with me, but my interpretation of perfection is "flawless balance." It would be stupid of me to attempt "perfection" by my definition because on an individual level, it is probably undesirable, especially in regard to interpersonal relationships.
I don't know whether any of that made sense. Haven't slept in a while.
