The perfect solution fallacy & Kintsugi - the art of embracing imperfection
The Perfect Solution Fallacy
“Perfect is the enegy of good” ~Voltaire
You’ve probably heard this quote at some point in your life. Maybe you’ve even given the advice yourself. But like all good advice, it’s much easier said than done. How much time have you spent re-reading / editing an email to someone that is going to spend under 30 seconds glancing at?
The perfect solution fallacy consists of comparing a viable, realistic solution to an idealized, perfect solution. It suggests that a solution is only worthwhile if it fixes every part of the problem. Examples of the perfect solution fallacy in the real world:
Rejecting vaccines because they are not 100% effective
Drunk driving laws don’t work because people still drink and drive
I’m already going to be hungover tomorrow, so I don’t need to drink this glass of water
In all these examples, we reject a solution that represents a clear improvement over the status quo in favor of some unrealistic “perfect” solution or unattainable ideal. Doing so only promotes inaction and inertia. In some cases, you might find a better solution, but it’s unlikely to be worth the incremental effort and very rarely is there ever a perfect solution. Most of the time, progress and improvement are far more important than solving every single issue.
Perfectionism, like everything, exists on a spectrum. There are genuine positive elements of perfectionism, many of which are correlated with high achievement – a drive for excellence, self-awareness to identify and improve weakness, etc. Striving for perfection as a goal isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But you need to learn to balance those positive traits before they become hindrances to progress or actively hold you back.
You Gotta Get Your Shots Up
I’ve struggled by perfectionism my entire life, a trait that is partially rooted in my upbringing, where every B on a report was seen as the gravest of sins (to be clear the only B I ever got was in art). If I brought home a 99 on a test, the focus was always on the one problem I got wrong.
I carried this mindset into college where I graduated Summa Cum Laude with over a 4.0 GPA (nbd). This was a product of hard work, my natural aptitude for test taking (a pretty useless skill IRL), large amounts of Adderall, and the [occasional] liberties with the honor code...
I also ruthlessly optimized my schedule by picking the easiest classes and professors. The goal was always to do the least amount possible to get an A so I had more time to drink and do the other degenerate stuff I was doing in college, rather than truly challenging myself or learning something new. Some examples:
I [used to] speak mandarin fluently but dropped down from a 300-level course that would’ve helped me improve to a 200-level course that was far too easy for me.
I dropped Psych 101 multiple times because I couldn’t get more than a B on the first exam (a 100-question multiple choice test of rote memorization). I now find psychology fascinating and spend a lot of my time reading about the same topics that were covered in that class.
I didn’t take a single class over my 4 years at Rice out of genuine curiosity. That’s crazy in hindsight. I could’ve taken any class for zero additional cost. Like not going for seconds at an all-you-can-eat buffet.
I ended up succeeding in that short term goal but at what long-term cost? College should’ve been an opportunity to explore and learn about the world. Instead, I was held back by some false belief that maintaining a perfect report card was the most important thing.
To make the most out of life you must be willing to fail. Life is a numbers game – you want to get off as many shots as possible to maximize your chance of success. It’s hard to do that if you spend all you time trying to make everything perfect.
Perfectionism prevents you from even trying. You’re so worried about doing a good job that you forget to do the job at all.
Imperfect action always beats perfect inaction.
Kintsugi - Embracing Imperfection
Kintsugi, “joining with gold”, is a Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by using a lacquer dusted with gold, silver, or platinum. Rather than restoring the piece to its original state, Kinstugi creates something brand new, something even more beautiful by accentuating the break.
As a philosophy, it’s about embracing your imperfections rather than hiding them. We’ve all gone through our own struggle and challenges. You’ve already failed more times than you can count. What defines you is how you overcame these failures.
Embracing imperfection is just embracing what it means to be human. Keeping up the facade of perfection is exhausting. You’re always looking over your shoulder, worried that you’ll be “found out”. The doubt, anxiety, and stress eat away at you because deep down, you know it’s a lie.
It’s much easier to accept that perfection is an impossible ideal. Once you do that, you start moving without that weight on your shoulders. You realize that the world doesn’t care about you being perfect or your past failures.
The only thing that matters is what you’re going to do right now.