The Perfect Purr of the Porsches at Princeton
Perfection’s Perception
No man is an island; everyone must occasionally seek shelter from the storm. This metaphor is easy to apply to oneself, the disconnect seems to occur when we apply it to the lives of others. The envy we feel toward others’ lives removes our ability to empathize with them. For instance, from a literal and a metaphorical view, the Porsche is the emptiest car on the highway. It literally leaves almost no room for anyone or anything else other than the driver. Yet it remains a bastion of perfection and a barometer by which we measure success.
The allure of the luxury automobile is it’s perception of mechanical perfection and how that perception is projected onto the driver. This projection creates a veritable loophole in the “actions speak louder than words” argument, allowing the driver to straddle the material and ethical fence between humility and arrogance. Do the purrs of the Porsches’ engines detract from the driver as much as champion his/her worth? If perfection were an achievable or even worthwhile goal, those perceived to be closer to that end would seem more at ease with themselves and fulfilled in their pursuits. But are perfection and happiness mutually exclusive?
Perfection in Princeton
To explore the relation of perfection and personal happiness, we look to the prestigious institution of Princeton and it’s students’ struggles with both. A student article in the Daily Princetonian explored the growing trend among students to seek plastic surgery. The article polled the students, and found that although students enrolled at Princeton are more likely to have plastic surgery, they are less likely to admit to it. These inverse relations suggest an interesting contradiction in the pursuit of perfection. That is, if the pursuit of perfection through materialism is the road to happiness, why be embarrassed or ashamed of the tools of that pursuit? The inverse relation of honesty and plastic surgery at Princeton is teaching us that perfection, as a tangible experience, is a shallow and empty lie.
A New Hope
However, admittedly perfection isn’t the goal of the majority of individuals seeking plastic surgery. Plastic surgery can be a positive, proactive change in a person’s life. Changing a particular perceived deficiency in your physical appearance can liberate you to remove other, less tangible, deficiencies as well. However, it can also become a self-destructive focal point. Remember that when dealing with something as altering as plastic surgery no matter how we look on the outside, we will always be who we are inside. The sooner we become content with that, the sooner we can begin helping others to that same end.
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