Perfection, by the Numbers

What number best reflects perfection?

Pursuit of perfection by imperfect beings (no, I’m not talking about meerkats - they truly are perfect beings) is a fool’s errand.

Given our boundless desire to quantify everything, we have attempted to attach a numerical score to achieving perfection.

Have you ever seen this?

We here at Rule of Three don’t like to be defined by just one idea, or person or beverage; we prefer things in threes. But, we understand the need in certain instances to declare a winner. If the Super Bowl ended in a tie, for example, there would be a lot of disgruntled players, fans and bookies.

The theme of “number one” echoes throughout many different ecosystems: sports; music; and Morty Seinfeld’s status as #1 Dad. . .

In most sports competitions, a winner is declared (except, infuriatingly at times, in soccer, or football, as it is known in virtually every other country outside the United States); the top three performers in each event at the Olympics stand on a podium (we definitely admire that imagery), but the winner is clearly positioned higher than the two runners-up, reinforcing the primacy of being number one. In a bit of foreshadowing, we point out here that the Olympics includes an event, the Decathlon, which contains ten distinct athletic endeavors, and note that there is no such event as the “Unathlon.”

The only professional sports team to achieve perfection (i.e. winning every single game) in a season was the 1972 Miami Dolphins football team, which won its fourteen regular season games, and then proceeded to win two playoff games and the Super Bowl that year. Of course, if a major league baseball team won seventeen games during its season, it would record an abysmal 10.5% winning percentage; similarly, NHL and NBA teams winning that same number of games in a season would be considered woeful; perfection is a much more difficult challenge in those sports.

The number one also surfaces in terms of acknowledging that someone is not necessarily the best, but the first to accomplish a specific task. Examples include: Neil Armstrong (the moon landing thing); Charles Lindbergh (the transatlantic flight thing); and Jackie Robinson (the baseball racial barrier thing).

There is a phrase which has been around a long time: “Look out for number one,” which suggests that people need to prioritize their own needs, interests and desires above those of others. The origin of this phrase might, or might not have anything to do with seeking or achieving perfection; likely it does not. But we include it here because it aligned nicely with today’s topic.

What if we added a couple of zeroes to the number one? That’s right, one hundred. Achieving one hundred percent on a quiz or exam indicates perfection. Now I’m pretty sure that my daughter did not earn one hundred percent scores on each and every one of the quizzes and exams she took while a student, but, she did receive all A’s in every class she took in every grade beginning in elementary school, on through high school, and throughout her undergraduate coursework in college. Perfection? No, but darn impressive performance, I believe.

My own personal flirtation with one hundred has been on the golf course; as a certified hacker, I’m lucky to break 100.

Which brings us to the number ten. Yes, the picture atop this column is of Bo Derek, as she appeared in the 1979 romantic comedy 10. The title of the film plays off the phrase “a ten,” which thefreedictionary.com says is “to be regarded as perfect or superlative in some way (as on a scale of 1 to 10).” They further share usage examples including: “the weather. . .with lots of sunshine with a cool breeze,” and “a beach vacation. . .” But, let’s be honest, the primary application of this phrase is intended to indicate that a woman is considered to be exceptionally attractive (i.e. perfect) on a scale of one to 10.

The film 10, and more specifically, a scene with Derek and her costar Dudley Moore, served to put Ravel’s Bolero on the map. No, I’m not going to explain that reference to you, if you don’t understand it. You have three options to broaden your knowledge here: you can Google it; or you can listen to Ravel’s Bolero on YouTube; or, and I recommend this alternative, you can watch the movie - you’ll thank me later.

Doubling back on our Olympics reference above, not only is the Decathlon a grueling test of diverse athletic talent, but also, a perfect performance in a gymnastics routine earns a 10.0 score. The first such score recorded in the Olympics was earned by Nadia Comaneci, a fourteen-year-old Romanian gymnast, in the 1976 Olympics. There were a number of perfect 10’s logged by gymnasts in subsequent Olympic Games, but the scoring system was eventually revised in 2006, resulting in the end to perfect 10’s.

So, Bo Derek and Nadia Comaneci (pictured below) have that “perfect 10” in common.

Sometimes we hear the word “perfect” applied to various undertakings. You may have heard of a “perfect marriage,” or the “perfect crime” or a “perfect phone call.” I believe that none of those things exist. Now, a “perfect undertaking” might exist, if a dead body is thoughtfully and professionally prepared for burial or cremation, and a funeral service is effectively arranged and managed - that would be a “10.”

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