Perfection Paradox

In the game of golf, if I could hit a hole in one on every shot I hit, how long would I keep playing golf before becoming bored? Point is nothing is perfect or even should be perfect so if you screw something up it's really ok - just fix it. Even mathematics isn't perfect, e.g. ImpossibleSet

As a real example, there was the PerfectGameOfPacMan. The person quit playing soon thereafter.

Well, if you got that good at golf, you might try playing with one hand, blindfolded. It's never difficult to make things too hard to perfect, just takes a little imagination.

You gotta watch out for that "it's really ok" thing. First of all, does saying that make you feel any different? Second of all, if you believe it enough, then you've reached perfection again, just via another route.

The problem with exhausing game after game (by perfecting your play) is you have to keep starting from scratch with the skills. It's much better to find a durable game that keeps going forever without forcing wholesale re-toolings. But the durability isn't just in the game, it's in the player too. One rule is that the game domain must be "alive" with complexity. Another rule is that players must believe (falsely) that perfection is achievable, and continually strive for it.

Software can be like that.

-- WaldenMathews

CategoryIdealism