THE IDEA OF PERFECTIONISM

Do we really want to be ‘COMPLETELY PERFECT’???

To initiate, it's necessary to give a picture of what I imply when I use the word 'perfect'. This word, in its very sense brings into picture something idealistic, something highly favourable and stable, practically unattainable, something beyond which nothing is there. It describes a system which cannot be improved further, and the system is said to have achieved perfection. In reality, though, we use the word mostly as an approximation to the concept of perfectness. 

You must have heard them say- "Stop chasing perfectionism, and start living a happier life." I think in the context of life, it's true to a great extent. How much can you do to be 'perfect'?

In my opinion, the domain of perfection always keeps growing and redefining itself, its boundaries pushing further as the human race advances. Maybe what used to be perfect in the past is real today, and what's perfect today may not be so tomorrow. Our perception of perfection keeps changing, pushing the limits higher as we go up. So realistically speaking, at any given time, irrespective of how much we develop, we always visualise perfection to be yet farther. That's why it's called unattainable. In this article, we will see what happens if any such state of complete perfection exists and whether we would want to step into that perfect universe.

Well, you must have heard the familiar saying- everything always tries to attain a state of stability.Scientists over the years have echoed the same principle. Perhaps the two major poles on which everything rests are the two S's- symmetry and stability. With a little insight into the matter, you would say that the only major pole is stability, because symmetry is just a way or an ‘orientation of being’ required in order to manifest stability. The most beautiful example of symmetry [I would say it is the best three- dimensional object form I have ever seen] is the perfect sphere (an ideal case, of

course), it just closes onto itself, from every side. Anyone who has a good power of imagination can appreciate the beauty of the sphere, the perfect symmetry. And yet we have scores of others ymmetrical objects all around us. Therefore, you must think that symmetry is a mechanism of trying to achieve stability. And that symmetry is necessary for something to be stable. But is this symmetry the type of symmetry that a layman understands? The symmetry of physical appearance about any assumed point or line or plane of symmetry? Or is it something which is not so easily visible to human eyes but can be perceived by our brain?

A ponderous child may ask you- You say symmetry is required for stability. Then how is it that thecuboidal walls that we build for our houses fall easy prey to earthquakes but the centuries old roughill-prepared looking walls of old forts stand still? How? To quench his thirst of curiosity, you say- Noson, it is not just physical symmetry that our eyes can see. The walls of forts may look likehaphazardly placed stones (with most not even requiring cement or plaster), but their builders knewwhat they were building when they built them. They relied on the symmetry- The symmetry offorces – a state better determined in the scientific world by a word –Physical Equilibrium. Equilibrium- a word used to refer to the state of having attained complete stability. But is it complete?

I have always been tormented by the (ideal) concept of a state of absolute stability- a condition that will remain flawless and constant under every circumstance. Mostly people attach another English word with this state- perfect. Most probably because they think that everything that attains complete stability is perfect. Science describes this as ideal- a state which can never be realized practically. But is it what everybody wants- a state of complete stability?

Try to realize what will happen if there is complete stability- I know you will never be able to imagine it minutely and scientifically as it is out of the scope of our brains. But you can get very close to it regarding our day-to-day life. In our daily life spheres, I don’t want you to confuse stability (dynamic equilibrium) with complete inactivity (static equilibrium, as in mechanics). This means I don’t want you to imagine the world as if we have turned into stone carved structures, OK? So now, what do you see? You have got a very very steady life, a steady job, almost everything around you is as steady as you could never imagine…. But you must notice that life is mundane. You don’t catch up a disease because the world has turned ‘perfect’. Each day of yours does not have a new story now because you are not finding problems in anything. People don’t have energy concerns because there is endless energy (never try to realize this term scientifically) for everyone. We have machines for everything and we are capable of solving all our problems and there is not a single reason to worry about. There is no accident.(Life is beautiful because of accidents, try to imagine a life sans accidents.)There is no breaking news on the news channels because there is no fire accident, no crimes, no matters…as all matters have been solved wisely and there is nothing which is to be done in the future. We are at the zenith. So, what’s next?

Think over it. When nothing more remains to be done, then what would you do? Your existence does not make this world a better place to live, simply because it can’t be better. It’s the same whether you are here or not. Does this state of full stability still seem PERFECT to you? In my opinion, the answer is no. this is according to a philosophical approach based on daily life. It might serve the purpose to make you understand what I am trying to say but only superficially.

Now let’s take a bit scientific approach to the same. Consider our universe. We all know it can never be judged as stable if we consider it relative to the life spans of stars. [Yes, if we consider it relative to our life spans, then obviously it is more stable than anything else, as we never see the numerous changes that the universe undergoes over vast periods of time.] The question is- Is the universe moving towards being stable? No one knows the answer. May be yes, may be not. But if we study the relative movements of galaxies and super-clusters of stars, they are nowhere near trying to be stable. Galaxies ripping past each other, storms affecting the surfaces of planets over years and decimating vast stretches, stars undergoing birth and subsequently burning out, black holes gobbling up huge celestial bodies pulling them inside at monstrous speeds and millions of collisions all over suggest a more live and hugely unstable picture of the universe. So where are we heading?

Astrophysicists are still trying to find answers. A pioneer in this stream and one of the greatest minds of our century, Mr. Stephen Hawking has pointed out, that our universe has come into origin because of imperfections. He argues that if everything had been PERFECT at the time of creation, the moment which defines the birth of space and time itself, then we would not be here. The universe would have been an entirely different picture today, and may be no one would have been here to see it. If Hawking is correct, at the Big Bang, the universe was the size of an atom. Hawking has been trying to explain enormous density and immense gravity at this level. Thermal radiation left over since the Big Bang is still cutting through space. And they have been known to exist since the 1960s and have been studied too. Their patterns are found to be totally non-uniform.

So as minute particles are always found to be random, in case of universe also, the differences had

 started since the start of everything. The minute universe had been erratic and fuzzy, like atoms. The radiations and energy released at the Big Bang were never uniform. This explains the no- symmetry state of the observable universe. Everything is still moving in its own way. Our sun will also become a black hole someday. It’s predicted Milky Way will be ripped apart by sister galaxy Andromeda someday. A new face of universe might show up, with black holes probably playing a vital role in all this. New kinds of life forms may emerge, which we might never be able to imagine. Maybe earth won’t be there to witness all this. But one thing is certain; the universe is never trying to tend to be stable. It’s believed that one day quantum mechanics might be able to unravel the mystery and explain the state of universe at the beginning when it had been of a size small enough to fall in the domain of this ‘theory of the very small’ and we might get to know how we came into being.

But when people say that even God is not perfect, and when evidence suggests that we ourselves and this whole universe have been born out of imperfections, the question still lingers on in my mind...

IS OUR GOAL STILL TRYING TO BE ‘THE PERFECT’?

THINK . . . but don’t think perfectly... : )