Observations about perfection in humans

I recently bought a cyclamen flower, and I of course researched how to care for them. But, partly because of my inexperience with plants and partly because I was irresponsible and took the job of caring for a plant granted, its leaves began to go yellow. And in turn, I had to cut the yellow leaves so that they wouldn’t spread to the other parts of the plant. My irresponsibility caused the overwatering, and in turn death, of some parts of a beautiful plant. This took me back to a discussion we had at school, in philosophy class: Are humans perfect, flawless? Or rather, were humans created perfectly in the eyes of God, or gods, or whichever higher power you believe in, or did they evolve to be perfect themselves? Was me irresponsibly overwatering the cyclamen flower God’s intention, flawless? Or are we simply not perfect, flawed?

Today, I’m going to take up a number of answers to this question of whether humans are flawless. So whether you thought “yes”, or “no”, or “I’m not sure”; if you want to learn about what the answer you gave suggests, or if you simply want a brain exercise, feel free to read. (Disclaimer: things might get a little confusing, but if you want to get into it, I suggest you keep a pen and paper close by and write down the thought train that we’re going down on.)

1) “Yes. Humans are perfect.” This begs the answer to the question: Are some perfects more perfect than other perfects? This question doesn’t make sense, so let me ask you another question: just like some infinities are bigger than others, could some perfects be more perfect? The infinity between the numbers 1 and 3 is bigger than the infinity between the numbers 1 and 2. So, for example, could the “perfection” of someone like Malala, or Ruth Bader Ginsburg, or Buddha, be more perfect, more all-encompassing than the perfection of Hitler, or Jeffrey Dahmer, or Kim Jong-Un?

1a) If your answer to this question is no, that we, are fundamentally all human and are therefore equally flawless or equally flawed, that basically suggests that regardless of the actions we take, whether those be murder and theft or leadership and kindness, we’re all the same. This is most similar to nihilism, the belief that everything we do as humans is pointless, that our entire existence, the systems, countries, languages, books, machines we have invented, the actions we take and the good we try to do, are arbitrary. (If this interests you, I would suggest you read “Fathers and Sons” by Ivan Turgenev.) And if you, as a now-nihilist, still find some point in reading this blog entry, please continue!

1b) If your answer to the question is yes, that some humans are in fact more perfect than others, then does God play favorites? Does God, or do gods, create certain individuals to be more perfect than others (other than prophets, if you believe in them)? Or do you believe that we are created equally but then mold ourselves into perfection, or imperfection, for that matter? But when it comes to this notion, you have to consider that we, in fact, can’t mold ourselves, most of the molding is done by our parents, friends, or surrounding environment from when we’re between the ages of 0-7, way before we’re even aware of the complex and intricate philosophical discussions surrounding our existence and perfection as humans. Of course, you can perhaps mold yourself in a different way to a certain extent after the ages of 0-7, when you gain awareness of topics such as this one, but the foundation that is established by then will have come to the point of ceaselessness. You can become a different version of yourself, but you’ll still be yourself, the foundation of who you are is very, very unlikely to ever change. I’m not saying this in a hopeless manner, you can change yourself to the point to which you’ll be satisfied by who you are as a person (RDJ quit drugs and became a world-renowned actor, for example), but just as becoming the best, or worst version of yourself looks different for everyone, so will the in-between stages, therefore proving that everyone has different foundations. But if we choose to belive that the majority of a person’s core is shaped by their surrounding environment from ages 0-7, does this means that the cruelty of Adolf Hitler can be blamed on his dad, who was a customers officer, or his mom, who was a homemaker her whole life and passed away because of cancer? This creates a more psychology than philosophy related debate, and I would suggest you introduce yourself to the topic with this article, if you’re interested. Moving on; if you believe that some people are in fact more perfect than others, how do you measure perfection? For example, if you don’t consider hunting animals a necessary step towards growth and perfection, that’s because you were raised in a different culture than the Maasai people. In their culture, hunting a lion is a rite of passage, and therefore equates itself with growth and in time, perfection. Their definition towards perfection is not included in yours, and thus, the people of this culture perhaps aren’t as perfect in your eyes. While you believe this, the people in that culture believe that you, an individual who perhaps doesn’t even have rites of passage, is less perfect than them. So who’s right in this scenario? Who are we to say that hunting a lion doesn’t create the optimisation of an individual? Or are you both right? But how could two things that contradict each other be right, then? I’m going to leave it at that for you to think about, and move on to if your answer was “no” to my first question.

2) “No. Humans are flawed.” Honestly, I don’t have many arguments against this one. Not because I agree with it, but because it’s harder to prove the nonexistence of something than the existence of something. But one thing that this notion does suggest is that the entity you believe in (which is traditionally God, normally depicted as an all-knowing, omniscient being who makes no mistakes) is flawed themselves. Because why would a greater entity purposefully create individuals whose flaws lead to discrimination, war, death, and destruction? This argument is not, however, valid, if you’re a deist (someone who believes that although there is a god, there is no religion, i.e. no communication between humans and god) or atheist (someone who doesn’t believe in god or religion completely), so it only applies to a certain population. Other than that, yes humans are flawed. It’s way more difficult to show that humans aren’t flawed than to show that they are: even the best of us mess up: some rulings of Ruth Bader Ginsburg related to indigenous communities harmed them, for example. And according to Buddha (and Buddhism), we should deprive ourselves of momentary gratifications, and therefore suffer if necessary.

So where has these discussions taken us? Of course, we haven’t landed on a single conclusion as to whether humans are flawed or not. Humans are both perfect and imperfect. They are whatever you wish to view them as. I just hope that the observations I’ve provided you with guide you in your quest to find an answer to one of the mysteries of the universe. (A&D reference, for fellow book lovers!)❤️