Infinity Debunks Perfection

Have you ever thought about infinity? The very concept of something uncountable, unending. I never read The Fault in Our Stars, but my sister gave me a detailed rundown of it and the one part that stuck with me was that some infinities are larger than other infinities. It is so true and so ignored. We take for granted that we can count from one to two without needing to go through the infinite non-integers between. Doesn’t that break your mind when you really think about it? You can just jump past an infinite number of numbers while assuming they’re all accounted for! It’s amazing!

Now here’s the problem. If you’re a perfectionist who acknowledges the infinity in even the smallest things, then you’re screwed! You know that every task has an infinity contained within it and that in order to do it perfectly you must evaluate each of those infinite options in order to find the sole perfect option. This means that even the simplest task becomes an unending ordeal for you to accomplish. It’s debilitating!

For example, taking a picture. Assume for a moment that there is a water droplet on a blade of grass. Imagine whatever background you wish but I hope you lean towards something pretty. Now imagine that you have this innate desire to capture a picture of this shimmering droplet on the vibrant green blade of grass. Now imagine that rather than just any old picture, you want the perfect picture. A picture you know exists because you can practically see it, feel it, even taste it and you aren’t leaving until you have it! Now imagine that you start taking pictures, one after another, but none of them are quite right. You keep slightly adjusting the angle, the distance, the light intensity, and everything else you can but that perfect picture that you know exists is still out of reach. Because infinity is too large for you to pluck perfection from it. That picture will never be yours no matter how long you snap your camera for. Doesn’t that suck?

This brings me to my final thought. If infinity exists even in a droplet of water, then perfection is impossible.