In my opinion, life is almost always about choosing among imperfect alternatives. People who think they can/will get 100% of their way 100% of the time are delusional.
This delusion, however, has permeated American politics. What used to be the great American art of compromise has disappeared. Each side wants all of its policy prescriptions implemented now with no debate, no deviation. Once again, I think the only solution is dissolution.
******************
In an automotive context, this design exemplifies imperfection for me:
From Hemmings a picture of a Ferrari 575 Superamerica that was for sale. To me–and yes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder–that hood scoop is too obtrusive and ruins the face of the car. Otherwise, I think the car has nice lines and proportions.
What do you think? Is chasing perfection a noble goal or a fool’s errand? Is it something in between, perhaps?
******************
I don’t know how many days are in the countdown, but my days as a WordPress blogger are numbered. They have made using the Classic Editor even more difficult to find/use, with a second change in just the last week or two. They have even published “guidance” that states using the Classic Editor is not recommended.
I predict that WordPress will lose about 20% of their bloggers when the Classic Editor is no longer available. I guess they don’t care. Those software developers have to “earn” their keep. <end sarcasm> Oh, the choice among imperfect alternatives can always be not to choose, but to bow out.
#Imperfection
#Ferrari575
#SaveTheClassicEditor!
#somanycarsjustonelife
#disaffectedmusings
If you like this blog please tell your friends and share the blog URL (https://disaffectedmusings.com). Thanks.
Disaffected Musings 
The pursuit of perfection should ALWAYS be encouraged. Is it achievable? Yes, but typically at a great cost. I’ll give an example;
In our line of work, precision installation of machinery, we have installed paper converting lines. Think of a machine that would make spiral bound note books. At one end of the machine you start out with a roll of paper 5′ to 6′ wide that is fed thru the machine at speeds up to 9,000 feet per minute. Thats not a typo, 7,000 to 9,000 feet per minute is normal running speed. Alignment of the rollers is critical otherwise the paper will tear. Tolerance is a maximum of .001 inch difference between rolls over a 6′ wide roll. And they need to be level to the same tolerance. There are times where 3-4 days have been spent aligning two separate components, out of 70 to 90 components. Same issue when get to the print heads, cutting heads, stacking heads and collators. One misalignment will cost many yards of paper in a VERY short period of time. Obviously we can NOT have technicians with an “ehh, good enough” attitude. It has to be perfect, or as close as is humanly possible.
The same holds true in many other types of work. Many years ago I worked in a shipyard building submarines. Welding was critical, to the point that all seams that would be under pressure, either from onboard systems or from the sea, were x-rayed for flaws. Certainly NOT a place where less than perfect would be acceptable.
I could go on, and I’m sure you could add other jobs to the list, but I’ll end there.
So yes, the pursuit of perfection should be the goal, and sometimes it’s a requirement.
LikeLike
I understand your perspective. I think in a wider context, perfection is unattainable.
LikeLike
I agree with your assessment that the hood scoop does not fit the lines of the car. That gaping maw is a distraction from the otherwise beautiful lines of the car. The Commendatore would be unhappy.
LikeLike
Thanks, Philip. Even Ferrari doesn’t always get design right. They made the FF, remember?
LikeLike
Perfection is a noble pursuit. Of course, getting everyone to agree what perfection is… that’s the elusive thing.
As a graphic designer, I have to admit I gave up on achieving perfection a long time ago. Accuracy in terms of no typos, that I can strive for. Consistency in margins and other parameters, yes.
But the rest, a lot comes down to just preference. Some people will say perfection is perfectly justified columns of text. To achieve hard lines on both sides means the letter spacing varies line to line… that variance for some makes it imperfect. Personally, I don’t like hyphenation, as I feel it’s also imperfect. Frankly though, I’d never get any projects done if I couldn’t have trade offs.
And that doesn’t even begin to cover purely aesthetic things like colour or font choices lol
LikeLike
I’m sorry, I don’t know about any change at WP. I just posted yesterday morning and checked again now and there is no change. Going from the dashboard to ‘all posts’ still gives (me) the easy option to choose between 2 editors. You do it differently?
LikeLike
I now have to go to WP Admin to that main dashboard and the link to the total number of posts gives me the option to use the Classic Editor. Two previous methods of using it are now no longer available to me.
Maybe I’m just an old fogy, but I really can’t stand the Block Editor. I find it counter-intuitive and user-hostile. Composing posts should be like using an older version of Microsoft Word.
LikeLiked by 1 person