The essence of perfection, and the impossible challenge (Pt. 1)

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  A proverb of which the origins elude me, but poignant and necessary in this day and age.  Some would argue that the American Dream is long-gone, part of a by-gone era which included things like modern appliances,  the unskilled labor-force, hula-hoops, tiki-bars, getting ahead in life when one starts out with literally nothing, and doing "better" in life than your parents did.  When did that go away?  Unless there is some seriously extensive research done, I couldn't tell you that answer, and even then, it could only be speculative.  I think that a much more important question that more people should be asking is, why did it go away?  This is an incredibly complex and nuanced situation that has been culminating for centuries.  Why the discussion of the "American Dream", because it is a lifestyle of beauty, perfection, ideals of aesthetics.  The dream has left these shores and sailed across the Pacific to India and China.  There, the people have hope that if they move from the countryside to the cities they will live a life that is "easier" or "better" than their parents'.  Does that story sound familiar?  How about the story of the United States around the turn of the 20th century?

We, as humans, seek an "easier" and "better" life.  I say however that one must be sure that they know and understand what it is that they are declaring to be "easier" or "better".  The concept of a utopia is in fact a universal concept.  Most would agree that an "ideal society" would be good for all.  However, everyone has a differing opinion as to what is it that would make that society "ideal."  In this era, a majority of people would cite things like a nice house with a garage to hold their nice car, a yard, a stocked pantry, equitable access to healthcare and education, public safety capabilities which assures everyone a restful night's slumber, essentially all the things that money could afford.  Within this framework of what money can afford, one must also examine why those things are appealing to begin with, or rather, immediately appear to be appealing.  Well, they are all immediately aesthetically pleasing.  A nice house and car look "good", equal access to healthcare and education are "good" ideas to have.  More or less, the utopia of this description is "pretty" or "beautiful".

I'll take this opportunity to transition the discussion from the concept of "beauty" to "perfection".  I think that it is fair to say the word "perfect," is used quite often in our contemporary society.  I'm sure all of us at some point or another (myself included here) have made a comment about the perfection of one thing or another.  "This cocktail tastes perfect," or "Those mashed potatoes are perfectly cooked," or "Today is just going perfectly!"  In fact I'll go so far as to say that the words "beauty" and "perfection" can be used interchangeably.  Of course, the literal meaning of each word is different, but within this particular context of something which is very pleasing to the senses, I am going to use the words "beauty" and "perfection" interchangeably.  It should be noted, however, that one can say, and has said in the past, that an object's "beauty" is perfect.  Here is the dividing line, a sort of razor-blade division in the way we look at the world around us.  Beauty is now the thing that is aesthetically pleasing, but it is something that can exemplify perfection.

Perfection is something for which we all strive.  It is a point of transendence, where the object or concept in question takes on a divine characteristic.  The essence of perfection used to be reserved for the Gods only.  To be perfect meant that traits were displayed which were divine in nature, and not created by mortal men.  Since this recognition of the divine link to perfection, the human race has been hooked, and chasing it to this day.  It is in our nature to wish to be one with the Gods, with the divine, and it is through this desire that humankind has come to think of itself as controllers, or Gods, of the natural world, and through our plethora of technology and knowledge we have been trying to recreate perfection.  

But is the re-creation of perfection even possible?  Let's look at a specific example for this one.  I'm a cook by trade so we'll use a food example, that should be easy enough for me to explain.  As a cook I've heard many, MANY times how we should be working towards achieving that "perfectly" cooked product.  We'll look at broccoli.

The process begins with a large heavy bottomed stock-pot or deep sauce-pan, one that can hold 2-3 quarts of water.  Place this now water-filled pot on the burner and crank-up the heat all the way.  Now we'll turn our attention to the broccoli.  Most grocery stores in my area sell them in bundles of three stalks, so we'll imagine that you're working with one of those.  First you'll separate the bundle, and take one of the three stalks.  Next you cut off the large, thick stem as close to the florets as possible without removing any of the florets.  Now, rotating the top of the stalk, the "tree-top" end,  remove any florets one by one starting on the outside and working toward the inside of the "tree-top".  If a large portion of the center "trunk" becomes exposed, simply cut it off, and begin the rotating "tree-top" method again, until you've removed all the florets from the stalk.  After that, trim off any extra stalk on the individual florets to your liking, if you like lots of stalk on the florets, then you don't have to do any trimming.  Now do this for the remaining bundles.  Next get some ice in a mixing bowl (big enough to accomidate the broccoli and enough water to submerge them) and fill with cold water.  By this point your pot of water should be boiling.  Working in batches, put some of the florets into the boiling water and allow to cook for 1-3 minutes.  Long enough that they are chewy, but not mushy, still have a small crunch, maintain their shape and haven't become an olive-green color.  Basically to assure this, simply remove one from the water every now and then and try it to make sure it's cooked to your liking.    When the batch is cooked, remove from the water with a slotted spoon and deposit to the ice water.  This sudden shock in temperature will assure that they stay a bright green color.  Finally cook the remaining batches in the way you cooked the first.

When everything is said and done you now have "perfectly" cooked broccoli.  Now take a look around your kitchen.  Hopefully you'll notice that in the pursuit of this perfection there was an awful lot of waste created.  There is leftover broccoli stalks, some really hot and green-tinted water, broccoli-flavored ice water, dirty rags to wipe down your cutting board, green florets that fell off of the broccoli during the cutting.  All of this discarded to get to perfection.  Which really is not even perfected yet.  Now you have to finish the broccoli (reheat) probably with some butter and salt and pepper.  The whole idea of what we called "perfect" in this case was a completely man-made definition of "perfect".  However, perfect broccoli, in the divine sense of perfection, is that plant growing from the soil.  There's a connotation of natural causes and effects with divine perfection.  And actually, broccoli (and all vegetables) are much better for you raw, or natural.  During the cooking process essential enzymes are broken-down in the boiling water, and important nutrients are lost into the water.  So while we spent all that effort to create "perfectly cooked" broccoli, it would have been divinely "perfect" if we simply plucked it from the ground and ate it sight-on-scene.  Instead we created a lot of waste (some of which can be used again by nature, and some which cannot) and little bit of usable product.

Perfection, in a universal sense, does not exist.  It's defined differently from person to person, place to place, and from moment to moment.  We will all end up with a different "perfectly" cooked broccoli, just like we all have a different "perfectly" decorated home, or neighborhood, or whatever.  Perfection, as we know it, only exists within our own heads, because that's the only way we have ever experienced it.  The reason why "perfect" varies so much is because of our point of view, and that our minds are locked in this body for this brief period of time.  So we are only able to have an idea of the world around us based solely on the inputs we have available to us (five senses).  However the mind exists in a different realm than that which we touch, taste, smell, hear, and see, and so now the problem is not that perfection doesn't exist, but that language is an inadequate tool to describe the true interpretations of the senses, it is an inadequate tool to describe the mind.  More on that to come . . .