To what extent is the pursuit of perfection a desirable goal?

To what extent is the pursuit of perfection a desirable goal?

Natural selection is weeding out the incapable and weaker from the strongest and fittest. This has led to Man having an innate desire to attain perfection, to be the best at whatever he does. However, in today's age, perfection is not only defined by personal standards and expectations but also, by being better than others who are competing against you. Though the pursuit of perfection may be empowering for some, I largely believe that this endless pursuit has more negative consequences than benefits and is ultimately undesirable.

Perfection often entails being the best amongst the crowd, which has undeniably invoked unattainable expectations. In the field of Academia, students often find themselves studying not for personal fulfilment and the enrichment that learning brings but rather, to prove that they can get better grades than their peers. Singapore alone is a country driven by excellent academic standings. official reports have shown that the leading cause of suicide amongst youth is academic pressure, be it from their teachers, parents or peers. The same report also revealed that an astounding 17% of students have contemplated suicide because of this pressure. The numbers on paper also translate to the youth culture of Singapore which views the purpose of studying as merely to attain top spots in one's respective school or institution. It is common to see students berate themselves because they got a near-perfect score but it is still not what they or their parents expect of them. Societies often place this unattainable goal and standard on students and drill into them the notion that if they are not of a certain academic standard, they are subpar. This pursuit of perfection is an everlasting conquest with an end that is simply too difficult to achieve even by the students with the highest IQs. This unnecessary pressure often crushes the hopes and dreams of youth who cannot fit into this ideal form of academic perfection and causes a degradation of self-esteem and confidence in their ability to learn, hindering further growth and development. Hence, because of this lofty and unreachable goal perfection presents, the pursuit of perfection is an undesirable goal.

The relentless endeavour for perfection has also incentivised people to use unlawful and dishonest means to attain perfection. The very desire to achieve has inspired some to adopt underhand methods to "beat the system", often resulting in serious consequences. In sports, more and more athletes who train tirelessly day by day but are still not achieving the finish they want, look to the administration of synthetic performance-enhancing drugs and steroids to boost their abilities. During the early years of the Olympic Games, a Russian team of female swimmers did astoundingly well for the event finals, smashing a world record at the point and winning the gold. However, their performance was deemed by some to be too good to be true and sure enough, urine tests proved that they did use steroids to bulk up their physique.  Their gold medals were stripped from them and the Russian community looked at them with a new sense of disgrace on the athletic stage, the gold medal has led to the disintegration of the moral fabric that sports has for so long held strong. It undermines the efforts of the athletes who work hard and train honestly without cheating to achieve their goals. This desire for perfection fuels the relentless desire to attain perfection at the expense of morals and sportsmanship. Thus, the pursuit of perfection has caused people to go beyond moral and honest reasoning to get what they want and is definitely undesirable.

The consequences of trying to attain this perfection are also manifested physically, leading to the gargantuan problem of people abusing their bodies and health in search of perfection, The media has constantly portrayed the image of the perfect female body with ideal proportions and has prompted an increasingly large group of women to undergo surgical procedures to "enhance: their appearance. Recent surveys by magazines largely focused on women, like "Elle" or "Cosmopolitan" have shown that almost 73% of females feel that their body is not "adequate enough" for them. This has undeniably led to more cosmetic surgeries, with doctors filling and injecting bodies with synthetic materials like silicone. It is known that all surgeries have the possibility of complications. This is definitely true for invasive surgeries, like the use of implants, leading to an increasing number of deaths arising from cosmetic surgeries, according to the latest figures from the American Medical Association. What is even more tragic is that women who cannot afford professional surgeries choose to go to unlicensed doctors and undergo back-alley surgeries, which due to the unsanitary environment and lack of professional skills of the 'doctors' cause even more deaths. When the pursuit of perfection leads not just to a singular death, but the deaths of a large group of people. it becomes time to question the necessity of perfection. This desire to fit the ideal physical form has caused so much tragedy that it cannot be evaded anymore. The quest for perfection undeniably led countless people who lack self-esteem to feel even worse about themselves and harm their bodies willingly. Thus, the pursuit for perfection influences the way we see our own bodies and ourselves and paints a distorted, unnatural and unattainable image of how we should look, harming people both psychologically and physically, rendering it undesirable.

However, the pursuit of perfection nonetheless can empower people to do their best. Athletes such as Oscar Pistorius, who had his legs amputated when he was a child, have frequently established that the need to achieve has often propelled him to overcome the odds. He was the first person to both compete in the Paralympic and Olympic Games in 2012, which is astounding given that those with disabilities are usually considered "weaker" than their able-bodied competitors. Even though he left the Olympics without a medal, his mere presence and participation served as a reminder and affirmation that the desire to achieve great success can be a strong compelling force of motivation. Artist Leonardo da Vinci spent years painting the portrait of Mona Lisa and despite criticism from critics who said it was good enough, refused to acknowledge them and only saw more flaws to correct. The product of his commitment to perfection has propelled his work into one that is internationally acclaimed. Indeed, the Mona Lisa is widely heralded as one of the greatest pieces of art ever produced. Both these men displayed an insatiable thirst for perfection and by following their innate desire for greatness, have indeed produced greatness. Thus, the pursuit of perfection can be an extremely effective mechanism for motivation.

When one ultimately considers and evaluates the path to perfection, one can see that it does have the ability to unlock the key to success. However, more often than not, the pursuit of perfection can also turn into a detriment to different aspects of life and cause societies to regress rather than progress. Thus, I believe that only by acknowledging both sides and finding the right balance between oneself motivated and setting unreachable goals, will Man be able to pursue perfection to his advantage.