The perfect man does not exist

"To be or not to be perfect" is a question that has had its answer since Antiquity. Both religion and science have shown that perfection does not exist. The perfect man does not exist.

In Christian tradition, the concept of the seven deadly sins — also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins — classifies the main human vices. These are pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, and sloth. Each of these is placed in direct opposition to the seven heavenly virtues. But the Christian Church itself acknowledges that it is impossible for anyone to avoid committing these sins, as they stem from the most natural human tendencies.

For instance, being reluctant to get out of bed in the morning is already a sign of sloth. And if you lie in bed long enough, you might end up committing yet another sin: lust. Even the faintest stirrings of sexual desire fall under the sin of lust. Nature made lust the second most powerful human instinct — the first being self-preservation — precisely to ensure the propagation of the species.

Understanding this, the Christian Church designated fornication as the original sin. By doing so, it guaranteed that no one could escape sinning. The very fact that we exist is the result of a sin — the original sin. The first man to sin was Adam, because he wasn’t satisfied with the life he already had. He wanted something he didn’t yet possess: a woman. And so he sinned for wanting and then having a woman, for carnal pleasures.

Lust, after all, is a disordered desire for sexual pleasure. Adam was expelled from the Garden of Eden because of this sin. Along with Eve, he committed not just one but at least 23 sins, according to Genesis. The lesson here is simple: being human means being flawed, imperfect.

This idea was also illustrated by Leonardo da Vinci. His drawing of the Vitruvian Man — inspired by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius — was intended to be a perfectly proportioned depiction of the human body, inscribed within both a circle and a square. It represented a harmony between art, science, geometry, and human anatomy.

However, after all the measurements, da Vinci discovered something crucial: the square and the circle could not share the same center. The navel — supposedly the center — did not match. Mathematics, with all its precision, showed what the ideal proportions of a man should be. But not what any actual man looks like. That, in itself, is proof that perfection — even in geometry — does not manifest in the human body.

In 2011, biologist Laura Cuthbert highlighted in Slate the work of Hutan Ashrafian, who proposed that a strange bulge in the groin area of da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man might be an inguinal hernia — a relatively common condition in men. Even the supposed “perfect” man may be hiding flaws.

Yet, despite all this, I believe that we, as human beings, have a duty to strive for perfection — in everything we do. The idea that perfection doesn’t exist is often just an excuse used by those who don’t want to try, those who are satisfied with the minimum, who have no ambitions, no goals, no values.

In many cases, the pursuit of perfection can lead to incredible achievements. Trying to achieve perfection is not about actually becoming perfect — it’s about giving meaning to life. Living just to survive, to work and eat, brings very little satisfaction. And living just to get married and have children? That’s one of the stupidest reasons to exist.

Even in love — yes, even there — you need to do a damn good job if you don’t want to be dumped by your partner.