Freedomain Radio - The Perils of Perfectionism

[jonaskoelker]

I look forward to any video podcast about n-dimensional logic trees :-)

[straker2]

I've watched this twice now and I think it's the best video about communication and success that I've ever seen in my life. I think I know why logic and perfectionism is a waste of time. Whenever someone writes a story or makes a film where, say, the ending, makes no sense at all, is totally bonkers, people spend years writing essays and analytical articles about what it supposedly means. Hamlet hesitates to kill his Uncle...why? It's never explained properly and people are obsessed by it!

[straker2]

It's true that Shakeapeare had a higher vocabulary than that used in the King James Bible. However, he only wrote 37 plays. Probably a third of his plays are commonly produced. About a dozen.

[ThusIsBrad]

LMAO DON'T DROP THE JUICE!!!

[lFlash4]

straw man; perfectionists don't really see the world like that

[ThusIsBrad]

@lFlash4

What is the perfect explanation of how perfectionists think?

[lFlash4]

@ThusIsBrad I am fallible and will make mistakes if i attempt to explain... sorry perhaps you should read a comprehensive book on the subject if you wish to understand.

[ThusIsBrad]

@lFlash4

My question was about your straw man comment. Did you write a book about your straw man comment?

[CellPhoneMern]

I´m extremely guilty of perfectionism, yet I´ve always seen it as using cheats in video games. You eventually end up winning everything, killing everyone, and just steamrolling through content...taking away the challenges and making it boring.

[beatrixtarantino]

Charles dickens is not a great writer is well known but is style is far from perfection. He's more appreciate for the contents and storyline.

[beatrixtarantino]

Charles dickens is not a great writer is well known but is style is far from perfection.

[InVINCEab13]

I find you longwinded and cobbled up at the same time - I won't be watching.

Consise your s up.

[djangotrane]

Very, very helpful video! This one and the one before it have been very eye-opening. I've been reading up on perfectionism and watching videos, but I've yet to see the logic and soundness from other people. You've been a great help, I'll be sure to check out more of your videos.

[schnullihealth]

lol @ 26:29 - 26:51 :)

[broadpete]

Get out of your own backside and cut to the chase. I'm struggling to maintain the will to live while you build up to something that may possibly be worth waiting for. This is the internet age. PLEASE, summarise your argument / proposition first, then flesh it out further later for those of us that want to stick around. NOT the other way around.

[drew335533]

Why are you making Philosophy videos instead of stand up comedy?

[aazz2020]

I listened to what you said. I agree with you for the most part. Unfortunately, there are many people out there trying to enforce those imaginary standards on other people and, yes, as you mentioned, they really come up with the excuse: we do it because we love you! If I'm going to be "im"perfect, then I feel I might become lonely. Maybe it's just an excuse or an irrational fear, but I'm afraid of those majority people in the society trying to instill their harsh judgments and criticisms...

[toddmorrow1]

What's even more ironic, is that in a video on perfectionism where you point out the percentage of someone's work that resonates as their success rate, you observe that the success of the very best was a low percentage, yet your personal works resonate with me 100%. I won't be alive down through the ages, but you are a great success in these days.

[misdelivery]

LOL. It's true, which is why I wanted to get what you had to say! Please tell me the overarching point.. its too long! How do we get out of our own way?

[Kevart1208]

That was amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am a perfectionist on some levels (relationships and social) And this really opened my eyes. Thankyou

[misdelivery]

God, you are losing me. People don't care about proper nouns. Its garbage to try and make you look smart. I'm looking for substance and I'm missing it. You could cut the first 5 minutes down to 2. Also, your point at 6 minutes wasn't worth the build up. Its not really strong.

[Kevart1208]

@misdelivery your obviously a perfectionist lol

[misdelivery]

You are losing me. You could cut the first 5 minutes down to 2 by making it shorter and simpler.

[menonfire12]

truth 

[dotsona07]

As a perfectionist, you have helped me free myself. Thanks so much for your videos!

[mobspeak]

that just your opinion ..prove it

[samtenney]

Great video. I will, however, defend perfectionism with the qualification that it be relative to the proper standard. The type you criticize is relative to a standard divorced from reality, life, and happiness, focused on becoming some disembodied image that can always be traced back to the perceptions of others. If the standard is one's own life, demanding constant action toward the achievement of values at whatever level time and ability allows, I think perfectionism is great.

[LibertyJedi]

Bad audio not worth listening to....

[smackay91]

On the whole, this was a very well done video. I agree with most of your conclusions even if your argument has faults. 5 stars.

[stefbot]

Thank you for your interesting arguments and kind rating! :)

[vtran31]

@stefbot but it is literally impossible to accomplish or act towards perfectionism in anything!

[smackay91]

I'd also like to point out that your concluding words suggest that perfection does exist, even if it is unattainable. You say that we should live with confidence and passion and forget about perfectionism, implying that accepting our imperfections is a step towards perfection.

[smackay91]

saying that one cannot use others as an objective means of determining one's own qualities. Secondly, the content of the bible isn't usually regarded to be perfect because it only assembled by human beings who allegedly received divine inspiration and guidance. God did not write the bible, people did. We can reasonably interpret the bible differently because both the writers and our communication system is imperfect.

[smackay91]

I think that there are some flaws in this, although I agree that perfectionism in human endeavors can be debilitating. Firstly, even if Shakespear or Dickens were perfect writers (ie having cogent and fluent prose and having universal and timeless themes), they still would likely not be perceived as perfect because the people who read their works are less perfect than they. It would take a perfect critic to determine whether or not an author is perfect. I could broaden this by

[atlantoon]

mmmm... I wonder what he'd look like with hair and a mustache?

[ferdo621]

thank you so much for this. My mind feels at ease now and I can be myself.

[menonfire12]

@ferdo621

That easily. Amazing. Good for you!

[serotoninoftheartist]

I thought long and hard about how to respond to this in an appropriate and "worthy" fashion, ironically. However, instead of attempting to be masterfully poignant and articulate, I'm just going to thank you sincerely. Your insight on this terrible mindset really broadened my perspective on how to deal with it.

[yadsik]

I do agree that Communism in the capital C sense is illogical, but is essentially a state capitalism. I would not agree with you if by communism you implied Marxism in the plainest sense, to be inempirical, it is quite straight forward and scientific. The problem with Marx is that he jumps from bouts of perfect sense and consistency, to a more dynamic approach, which is the more listened to approach and more misunderstood approach.

[ScorpoSRO]

very nice, but how you upload 10 min +++ ? pls tell me :) tnx...

[woutvsas]

Thnx for the video very interesting and helpfull. I think almost everybody in our western society is an perfectionist. (supposed) Perfectionisme is projected all around us, tv, adverts, etc...... Almost everybody grows up with a tv. Everybody picks his own perfectionist or bits from other diffrent people, tv teaches you or should i say indoctrinates.

[Sotanath86]

thankyou

[combatleague]

i can tell you from experience, all the best athletes are perfectionists. they ae never "happy" with thmselves, usaully make an unreleistic standard of acheivement whci becomes a slight or mega addiction. every perfession, inclusing steffons has a high level of perectionism, i bet he is driven to find "the truth" which drives him slightly mad, like all philosophers. in the human sense, people are attracted more of the confidence which comes from this which desires progress, and not mediocraty

[combatleague]

and this is something, pure logic cant explain. its passion! a much stronger force than reason. its not logical for most girls to love the asshole guy who is a ladies man, but they keep coming back, why? because hes confident, and she feels passion, and if there wasnt some sort of natural reason for doing this it wouldnt exist. Nietzche talks alot abut emotion, and passion as with reason. i think it makes more of a wholistic argument.

[MomoTheBellyDancer]

Athletes training hard is not perfectionism. That's wanting to become better, so you win matches. Also for athletes it's a bad idea to try to reach the unattainable, like wanting to tun the 100 meters in 3 seconds.

[jmitch7]

thank you so much for this, sincerely... you have helped me more than you know, i appreciate your passion and conviction, and you have helped to liberate me. i just wanted to let you know that your work really means something.

[frankola1972]

thank you , well said

[Asiyahbopz]

Thank you for making this video..

[hyroglyphx]

Very interesting video. What prompted me to find this video in the first place is that I have discovered that I'm, at least slightly, a neurotic perfectionist. This ultimately lead to a lot of heartache, which I have internalized as a failure on my part. I am coming to the realization that I probably need some counseling for it. As much as I could speak good words about a strong work ethic and personal drive, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. I have reached an unhealthy stage.

[soundwave86]

the fairytale of perfection is definetly demoralising and unquantifiable.

but does that mean excellence is not motivating?

thanks, great vid

dan

[AdEthos]

There is intelligent life on YouTube! YAY!

[stefbot]

haha thanks!

[InstantGradual]

Chuck Norris is the flaw in this theory of perfection. That's such an imperfect joke

[gmgauthi]

So... um.... where's the video on procrastination? HAHAHAHA :D

[stefbot]

oh yeah, right, it's on the list... :)

[papackar]

Of course, if an objective basis for ethics is impossible in principle, then any so-called proof of such a basis is necessarily going to be imperfect. It would not in fact be a proof at all.

[SixMillionDollarAcid]

Aah... very enlightening:)

[adorianvlad]

it seems that neither Einstein, nor Newton or

Shakespeare were trully the authors of the stuff they had supposedly created.

They had their own sources of inspiration from other ppl. These goes way further for the discoverers of the DNA, and on and on.

It seems luck plays a role, too; and other factors.

[Naijagalca]

Great vid, 5 stars. I will no longer try to achieve getting and always failing to get a 100 percent on a physics test

[1tinsoldier]

Well done, Stef, and a great point. A loose standard for me has always been Stan Musial. In his 18 seasons with the Cardinals, his batting avg. was .333! And he's a legend. No matter what I do, if I can succeed one third of the time, I'm gonna be just fine. Great vid.

[HC4D]

This, as well as some previous podcasts on a related note, have really set me free from feeling I needed to be perfect or trying beyond what I can possibly do. For that I thank you Stef, this really did give me the sense of relief.

[stefbot]

I'm so glad! :)

Freedom is everything...

[IShitOnYourGod]

Absolutely wonderful video, Stef. I'm trying my hardest to just love the ideas, but I can't help loving the vessel as well. ;)

[stefbot]

Haha, thanks, I do take donations as well! :)

[Daghita]

I'll admit, I truly due suffer from perfectionism and you hit the nail on the head. I feel that I'm running in circles, that there has to be a level of standard in which to achieve something. But now, I'm wanting to undo what I've done. It's kind of circular I suppose.

[ghost74surfer]

fantastic video Stef

Thanks for all the time and effort you put into your broadcasting. Much appreciated

[stefbot]

Sorry, a few seconds of sound is missing from the source file...