Does perfection exist?

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In a practical, but not legal, sense -- yes.

It is the way the world works. I am sorry that you are upset by the realities of our existence.

ruveyn

And I'm sorry you have such a totally depressing view of the world. Your admiration for vicious crooks makes me wonder how you made your money. You do live in New Jersey, after all.

I made any money I have the Old Fashioned Way, by honest labor and value delivered for the agreed upon price. And I am only recently come to New Jersey because this is where my youngest grandchildren live.

You seem to think that I APPROVE of Evil. I do not. I acknowledge the reality and the power of Evil. Evil prevails in the world. I would rather it didn't but there is little or nothing I can do about it. I am outgunned. You confuse despair and approval.

ruveyn

Last edited by ruveyn on 27 Nov 2010, 3:05 pm, edited 2 times in total.

An example of everyday perfection in American society is the character of Homer Simpson (my view). It's my understanding that the Masons tended to promote the idea of placing at least one imperfect stone into a building which was symbolic of the idea that 100% perfection is an ideal but does not really exist. The Yin and Yang concept also implies a lack of perfection. Both Judaism and Christianity have tended to portray God as Perfection - at the same time - overlooking flaws in both how the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament act. Practically speaking, projects or pieces of art can be called masterpieces when it's clear they are inspirational. Men and women from every culture who have used their God-given gifts for good are often known as Masters/Living Treasures. During the Olympics over the years, a handful of athletes will receive all 10 scores after a performance which suggests their execution is quite extraordinary; however, twenty-five years later or less none of the athletes can ever earn that kind of extraordinary rating again due to the normal/natural aging process everyone goes through as part of being human.

As to this whole right/wrong/evil/good argument, define what you mean by 'right' and 'evil' before you argue any further. Note that you seem to be going far off topic here - just make sure what you say is relevant to perfection, otherwise I would suggest you start a new thread.

pgd, what you have said is very interesting, but you failed to explain why Homer Simpson is perfect, even if you explained why a great deal else is not perfect.

Personally, I would like to add that I do not see any purpose to anything, due to infinite regression; any reason one gives another could ask "why?" and they would have to give another one, so it is impossible for there to be one true purpose in existence. Since nothing is able to attain true perfection, perfection does not exist according to my argument. This does not rule out imitated purposes, like the hinge example I gave way back at the beginning. Although, when you think about it, those sorts of things become part of the problem when you keep asking why, so maybe not.

I don't think anything in nature is perfect. As long as it works, it's good enough. The animals will always be animals and you can't change that. Unless...forget it. It's not good to interfere with animal behavior.

"Perfect" is a normative concept, not a natural concept. Perfect does not exist in nature. It requires a sentient consciousness to judge whether one thing is better than another or whether one thing is best according to some criterion.

ruveyn