“Imperfecting” the Perfect

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” – Albert Einstein

Perfection.

A seemingly unachievable state of being that has infected and corrupted modern society for centuries, more prevalent in the 21st century than ever before. Where technology is interwoven with the fabrics of civilisation, the interconnectivity between individuals has resulted in the rapid spread of the ideals associated with perfection.

The word itself can be defined as “being entirely without fault or defect”. More specifically, within the social sphere of society, perfection is portrayed as an overarching concept which implores individuals to uphold certain standards defined by positions of influence. In the context of the following essay, perfection is defined as the portrayal of being without flaw and maintaining the ideals of society.

American decision analyst, Russel Ackoff, distinguishes the three main types of complex problems. As it stands, the impacts of perfection fall under his “mess” category, defined as “a complex issue that does not have a well-defined form”. This is a result of the vast impact this issue has had on the world, being an essential part of many people’s lives.

The following essay will delve into the belly of the beast, seeking to unravel the fibres of perfection and how it influences mental health, specifically that of adolescence and young adults. It is hypothesised that the self-imposed concept of perfection is a key contributor to the sharp decline in mental health; that if not addressed, this issue will continue to plague the world for decades to come.

The Problem with Perfection

“Have no fear of perfection, you’ll never reach it.” – Salvador Dali

Understanding the core principals of the topic at hand is vital for investigating this issue. However, it was not out of blind curiosity that this specific issue was selected. More specifically, it came to my attention the desire to be more, have more, do more, and see more to fit into the mould of perfection as dictated by society.

Within the realm of logical thinking and errors, a concept known as the “survivorship bias” describes a scenario in which an entity focusses on the participants which pass a selection process or test, while also disregarding those that did not emerge successful. In this way, conclusions are made based on the criteria set by those in positions of authority and influence.

Relating this to the topic of perfection, it can be observed that much of humanity suffers from the survivorship bias, in that the ideals expressed in various forms of media, advertising and education, only reveal the qualities and traits that are dictated by a small portion of society. By saturating the world with continual depictions of what life should be like, people are faced with their own flaws and faults, thus impeding on their mental health and lifestyle habits.

When faced with the premise of not satisfying the social “standard”, a person may suffer increased anxiety, heightened depression, chronic body dysmorphia and other various mental conditions. This is highly common in adolescence and young adults, as a study conducted in 2013 found that the “prevalence of depressive disorders in students [was] 30.6%” and concluded that “depression is a common mental health problem in university students”. Furthermore, individuals who do not make it to the front of advertisements may hold some aspects of perfection, but are consequently seen as subordinate as they do not meet the overall view of what the world believes perfection looks like.

As the world enforces more pressure and stress on individuals to perform specific ways and uphold particular standards, our mental health is suffering; especially that of teenagers and young adults. In this way, the ideologies associated with the values of perfection are decaying society from the inside out, resulting in the self-corruptive world we live in today.

5 Whys of Perfection

“The only people who should have their head examined are those who never ask questions.” – Neil deGrasse Tyson

A core strategy in complex problem solving is known as the “Five Whys”, which utilises the interrogative “why” to assist in narrowing down a broader topic. After considering the spectrum of my initial issue, this being how perfection has an economic, politic, environmental, and social impact, I found it significantly more beneficial to focus on a single faction of perfection. Although the “Five Whys” are typically used to facilitate a larger problem, applying them to the specific topic of the negative implications of perfection on mental health in youth allowed for deeper understanding. The following process details the back and forth involved in the process of carrying out this strategy.

Initial problem: Perfection is damaging the mental health of young adults and adolescence, and by extension, shaping the way the world functions.

Why 1: Why is perfection damaging mental health?

Response: As it portrays unrealistic results that are highly difficult, and in some cases impossible, to produce, the ideals of perfection evoke an emotional response within the intended audiences, forcing them to confront their own faults without acknowledging their positive qualities.

Why 2: Why do the ideals of perfection portray unrealistic results?

Response: They portray unrealistic results because society has grown to glorify the individuals who emit success and positive traits that align with those of influence. Moreover, as many individual parties have influence throughout the world, each of their ideas of perfection have culminated into a singular unachievable concept.

Why 3: Why do we embrace this culminated concept of perfection?

Response: As each individual party endorses a particular trait that appeals to a selected audience, we are more inclined to share similar values with them. Thus, in their portrayal of ideal perfection, we adapt and sculpt our views based on our affiliation with them. Whether it be the perfect body and clothes, perfect family and friends, or the perfect job and financial status, our concept of perfection is typically centred around the ideals of others.

Why 4: Why do we base perfection on the ideals and opinions of others?

Response: As stated in an article on Nature.com, “Human beings are a social species that [rely] on cooperation to survive and thrive”. However, we have become overly dependent on others, specifically their opinions of what is right and wrong.

The final why: Why are we dependant on the opinions of others?

Final Response: This is no simple question to answer, as many have different reasons for depending on the opinions of others. It could be for validation, pride, personal habits, admiration, and other reasons.

Through observing the results of the above activity, it may be deduced that the solution to this mess is far more complex than the issue itself.

The Media Perfection Paradox

“Whoever controls the media, controls the mind.” – Jim Morrison

Media and technology have had significant impacts on modern lifestyle decisions and habitual practices. The abundance of technology and access to the internet (and by extension media) has allowed for a more connected world that has reached its most efficient state throughout history. However, what is the connection between media, perfection, and mental health?

As of January 2022, 57.6% of the world’s population uses social media, with 4.88 billion individuals recognised as internet users. With majority of these users accessing various forms of social media through their phones, our lives are constantly bombarded with numerous opinions, ideals, and life updates in the form of images, audio, video, and text. However, hidden within the tweets, hashtags, and profile pictures lies a behemoth that claws at the heart of every user.

Several studies have revealed strong connections between the usage of social media and prevalence for various mental illnesses. For instance, a study conducted in 2013 revealed that “Facebook users scored significantly more highly on all body image concern measures than non‐users”, thus suggesting an increased possibility for body dysmorphia in those using social media. Another study found that increased exposure to social media “contributed to symptoms of depression and anxiety” and accounted for the perfectionistic personality types present in the sample.

As any social media experience changes through user searches and showing interest in certain topics, the main feed displayed may only have up to 20% of material that contributes to a change in major lifestyle components of the user. This statistic is based on the Pareto principle, which dictates that 20% of the input produces 80% of the output and vice versa. In the context of perfection, the input pertains to the ideals associated with living a perfect life which produces the output of 80% of users seeing it feeling insecure and self-conscious.

It may be further observed that the source of perfection in media is paradoxical. Users are free to post their opinions of perfection and their endorsement of ideals associated with a perfect lifestyle. However, the viewing algorithm employed by many social media companies mimics Bayes' theorem, where viewing a subject increases the probability of the user wanting to see it again in their general feed. In this way, the media fuels the users by displaying specific content, but the other users supply the media with said content, thus creating a paradoxical loop where one source cannot exist without the other. Disrupting this cycle is essential in solving this mess.

A Perfect Premortem

“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!” – Benjamin Franklin

Although Benjamin Franklin might have had it right, what if the plan was meant to fail to begin with? Proposed by author and chief scientist of Klein Associates, Gary Klein explains that “the premortem operates on the assumption that the “patient” has died, and so asks what did go wrong. In this way, those working towards a solution may obtain a better-established understanding of the problem as well as produce a more effective plan for dealing with it should it arise.

Applying this concept to the mess at hand, it is proposed that the ideologies associated with perfection have indeed corrupted and divided society into the very few perfect individuals and the masses of worthless, imperfection-ridden creatures. How did this happen? As there are countless reasons for this to occur, I shall elaborate on the more probable sources:

a) A reason for this to occur is the increasing divide between those endorsing the ideals of perfection and those who are not financially or morally fortunate enough to keep up with the ever-changing image of a perfect life. To combat this, increasing the awareness of perfection and its possibility for harm, especially to mental health, could be a possible solution.

b) Another reason for this to occur is the increase of severity and prevalence of mental illnesses in younger generations, thus resulting in increased suicide rates, more frequent acts of violence and overall, a decreased mental and emotional stability amongst the populous. To deal with this, the media could be used to promote more adequate self-care and positivity, thus growing the possibility for those feeling the pressures of society to speak out about their experience and get the help they need.

c) In addition, a complete shutdown of all media and may also produce this outcome. The complete media blackout would be a result of those in positions of authority panicking over the harm that could be inflicted on the world if perfect ideals were allowed to continue spreading through various forms of media. To counteract this, closer monitoring of media and better feed filtering through an improved algorithm may assist.

By conducting this exercise, several key findings come to light: specifically, the common thread of spreading awareness of the issue and creating an environment that is safer for people to speak up and seek help.

The Perfect Pedagogy

“The purpose of education is to give to the body and the soul all the beauty and all the perfection of which they are capable.” – Plato

Cultivated in an education that enforces what to think rather than how to think, children, adolescents and young adults are being raised in an environment that values perfection. As a child goes through the traditional education system of kindergarten/preschool, primary school, middle school, high school and further on to university or TAFE, the subtle values woven throughout their experience favour the high-performers and praise those that exceed the expectations of authorities.

Countless studies conducted on the education system in western-based countries have found an increase in the prevalence of mental health issues in adolescence and young adults. For instance, when graded against the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism, many students in the final three years of high school struggled with perfection. A statement from this article confirms this as “adolescent boys are constantly struggling to define their self-worth in relation to the hegemonic ideal in various areas of their life”.

A news article posted in The New York Times in July 2015 detailed the harrowing experiences of a young Kathryn DeWitt and her battle with depression. This article further shared the story of a classmate at Penn State University, Madison Holleran, who had committed suicide by jumping off a parking garage despite being “popular, attractive and talented”. Hearing this news urged Kathryn to post her intentions of cutting her wrists in a suicide attempt publicly and began self-inflicting to prepare. Such a horrendous and dreadful sensation amounted to the “perception that one has to be perfect in every academic, cocurricular and social endeavour”. Although many pressures face students from parents and caregivers, friends, and even themselves, the education system is a key contributor to this pressurised atmosphere.

Moreover, after completing my secondary education, studying art-, math-, and science-based subjects, it has become apparent that the education system praises certain subjects over others, thus asserting the ideals of perfection through teaching pedagogy. In South Australia, the education system employs the use of scaling, “to allow the results for [a] subject to be fairly compared with the results of any other subject”. However, based on a table located on the SATAC website, a low A in one subject can be worth a high C+ in another. This further perpetuates a culture that stereotypes law, medical and engineering degrees at university as “respectable”, while all other degrees are the contrary. Enforcing these ideals and applying these pressures through the education system has created a significant increase in mental illnesses.

A Different View of Perfection

“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice that thorn bushes have roses.” – Abraham Lincoln

A key variable that supports the implementation of perfection-based ideals is the direction in which education is aimed, as many schools focus on the results of their students to promote the quality of teaching. However, consider a hypothetical state in which this variable was flipped, meaning that education was learning-driven rather than result-driven. Although some students may not be able to articulate their knowledge at an adequate level, everyone is capable of learning regardless of how fast or slow this is.

Altering the direction in which education is aimed would assist in promoting individuality and autonomy, and by extension, reduce the impacts of perfection. This would allow for increased mental and emotional stability and assist in counteracting a perfectionistic mindset. Students would be empowered by learning rather than plagued by it, desiring more knowledge that interests them rather than rote learning the expected standards. Over time, a more diverse society would result.

An example of this currently being implemented can be observed in the Finland education system. Running contrary to many western schools, Finnish education employs more emphasis on continual learning, more one-on-one attention to individual students, less defined structure, and fewer hours on campus. These aspects and more allow Finland to be recognised as having “one of the best [educations] in the world”. Therefore, it may be observed that a learning-based system of education has significant benefits when compared to a result-based system. Moreover, this education system is having a positive impact on the mental health of Finns, with their suicide rates becoming “half [of] what they were in the 1990s”.

Postulating this kind of scenario in which a change of focus results in a mass change in learning can significantly impact addressing the mess at hand.

Conclusion

“People who pursue an image of what they see as perfection are only striving to be someone else’s imperfection.” – Scott Bradbrook

In a perfect world, the earth would be free of problems. Every day would consist of nothing but perfection with all faults and negatives being abolished. But a life like this is not real. We live in a world of imperfection, one which is made up of highs and lows, twists and turns, bumps and bruises. Although we may desire perfection by the standard of society, much beauty can be found within the imperfections of life.

Within Japanese culture, Wabi-Sabi is recognised as the celebration of the imperfect and living a simple life. Dr Rachel O’Neil, an LLPC and therapist, states that embracing the imperfect allows us to alter our thought process “from striving for an impossible ideal to embracing our strengths [resulting in] a more positive and strength-oriented mindset”. Similarly, the Japanese art of Kintsugi is the process in which broken pottery is mended using valuable materials such as gold, silver, and platinum. As a result, the imperfections are highlighted and recognised as the most valuable part of the pottery. Hence, it is not our perfections that define us, but our imperfections that strengthen our individuality.

In the beginning, it was initially hypothesised that conceptual perfection has resulted in decreased mental health and that this issue will not change if left unaddressed. After conducting the research, it could be said that this is correct given that we are currently adopting negative habits in society. If further neglected, the trends of mental health would certainly lead to a major disruption in civilisation.

Although I may not have a definitive solution to the mess of perfection, a common thread between possible answers is increasing awareness that this, indeed, a problem. Only then can we work towards solving this issue. Venturing into the future, we should aim for “protopia”, an improved society, rather than utopia, a perfect society. Instead of measuring ourselves against what the public spectrum defines as perfection, we should define our actions and ways of life through our own morals and values, in a bid to make tomorrow brighter than today.