Analysis Of Christopher Bergland's 'Cheaters Never Win'

One of the famous short stories that Richard Edward Connell wrote remains “The Most Dangerous Game”; it was published in 1925. His short story had become popular in 1932, they made a movie called The Most Dangerous Game and The Hounds of Zaroff. Connells nature of violence, cruelty, and the ethics of hunting for sport supported his writing style and made his writing extraordinary (“Dangerous game”). Analyzing “The Most Dangerous Game” displays a hunt that is between two men, every twist and turn through a gruesome tale.

It’s been three hours while I sit here and stare at the blinking bar, symbolizing the fact that I have nothing. My page is blank, but I promise you, my thoughts are not. Thousands of ways to start this essay have run through my mind, but none of them are sufficient. Which, I suppose, is where I will begin. Perfectionism, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is, “a disposition to regard anything short of perfection as unacceptable” (“Perfectionism”). It is a trait that numerous people might regard as desirable or something to be proud of; a word used to describe oneself on a resume to impress employers. However, I see it much differently. Perfectionism is a fight for something unobtainable, a cyclical trap in which disappointment reigns, and

Perfection? Can any one person be perfect? Benjamin Franklin believed that he could accomplish this task. Benjamin Franklin was known for being a cognizant and diligent perfectionist. During his lifetime, many people were concerned with correcting themselves of any fault that they may have had. Benjamin Franklin did have an interesting way to proclaim how he, could show everyone how to be perfect. He believes that he can make himself perfect. Even though his ways of being perfect are not the same as everyone else's ideas, he still tries to show them he can be perfect. In his essay "Arriving at Perfection" Benjamin Franklin tries to tell everyone how he will be perfect and how he is going to actually accomplish this task.

From the time children are entered into preschool, they are expected- for the most part- to do their best and be proud of it. One child’s best could be another child’s worst, and that other child’s best could be totally impossible for the first child. If everyone is doing their version of the best work possible, then could perfection ever possibly be achieved? It is a generally accepted truth that the answer to this question is an obvious and resounding no. By definition, a perfect human does not exist. However, humans are constantly striving towards this goal despite their knowing that it is impossible. The constant striving brings people closer and closer to the impossible goal but leaves them just shy of reaching it. This close-but-not-quite-there ending means a life that it is almost perfect. A life almost straight.

When you strive for perfection, failure is inevitable. Some things are unattainable, and a perfect appearance

Society experienced to achieve perfection in many ways, almost since the beginning of humanity, and is almost impossible so many attempts fail and cause severe consequences. In “the perfect match” by Ken Liu, short story and “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, short story. Perfection is people ignoring what really matter. People are not unique anymore because society is limiting with an idea of what is not accepted or normal is not perfect. Societies’ desire of perfection makes people go desperate and feel alone.

Perfection is always what people seem to strive for, but what Yao mentions in her article

This may seem impossible because we are all human, no? He circles back to his first assertion that we should all “seek perfection”. Though he believes that perfection is a goal we should all try to achieve, he understands that mistakes happen. It’s not that we can’t fail though, it’s that trying our best and doing the bare minimum has become a popular trend. We have given up on growing and becoming better. We have stopped trying to make the margin of mistake smaller and eliminate mess ups and miscalculations. This attitude of trying to complete something rather than finishing something has flooded the masses. It has created a world full of “tryers” and marginalized the “doers”. When Jon graded his drivers and most ask him why his class is so difficult. Like c’mon it’s just driving, right? Jon knows that a slight imperfection can be the difference between a child dead or a child alive; a driver dead or a driver alive. He uses a combination of cold hard facts and the rhetorical device logos to show his listeners the drawbacks of tiny mistakes. He elegantly floats over and changes the subject from fact to and logos, to ethos. By making this transition we receive quite an inspirational view of his message. In the middle of his speech he says, “So how do we change?

“Strive for progress, not perfection” is one of my favorite inspiring quotes because sometimes we get so caught up in an unachievable goal because of how society perceives perfection. Toned abs, strong arms, or overall strength doesn’t come overnight (took me looking in the mirror every morning to figure that one out). Countless times I have fallen into a trap of setting high expectations to achieve a certain look. I finally learned that good things come in time, and working hard is most important in order to see progress. This can be related to the fitness world, education, or life. I’ve learned to balance a health lifestyle, and everything else going on around me (I’d like to think). No one should try and be perfect, we all have different

Perfection is impossible. There is no one in the world who has not failed at least a hundred times. However, the hard part is learning from that failure and growing from it. People tend to bury their failures and try to hide them almost like a time capsule, hidden inside for a long time until someone finds it again. They are afraid of someone finding that time capsule and expecting treasures and spoils, but to be disappointed to only find worthless failures. We view failure as something that is worthless and disappointing and see success as a treasure. We expect something good out of anything we’ve worked so hard for and are returned with disappointment, as we can’t always succeed . We need to learn to realize is that failure is good and allows you to achieve success, if you let it be a learning experience. You need to overcome the fear of failure, persist your way through challenges, and know where you want to be in the end.

A perfect society. Something we long and hope for, and work towards to achieve for our future. We picture this society in many different ways, including things like equality, no poverty, and everyone being taken care of among many things. However, we have not become this perfect society yet. This makes you start to wonder, what is preventing this perfect society that we all share a vision of? The perfect society would contain things like equality, happiness, and unity. However, these things are counteracted by greediness, other’s misery, and the fight for power.

What he meant by this is that people must achieve their full potential as human beings and that nothing else is worth more that becoming the best you can be. Theory Y employees spend their working lives striving for self-actualisation, which is the ultimate source of motivation. It stimulates the desire for more once experienced.

As well as there is people who believe perfection is not attainable, there is also people who believe that it is possible to reach that, when they give everything they have. It is a much divided opinion, which will perhaps never come to one only general conclusion. To succeed in life people must always work hard and sometimes sacrifice some things they think are important, but putting them in front of another type of situations they would not be taken as a priority. The majority of these people who believe in perfection

Perfection is a deadly sickness. It is a wicked plague which clouds the mind, destroys focus, and eliminates any value you may hold for yourself. We are all told that perfectionism is, well, perfect. A flawless way to live where you make no mistakes, avoid any challenges, and are loved and cherished by everyone around you. But this cruel mindset is like a collar that chokes fun and kills passion, constricting joy and creativity in favor of the one and only best decision. The decision that will get you perfect grades, a perfect reputation, and nary an ounce of criticism. Now, while this might seem good, I can tell you for sure that it’s not. How? Because I’ve tried it.

Humanity would not be improved if all were to strive towards utter perfection. When we try hard to be perfect, an unattainable goal, we are bound to fail. Therefore, this inevitable “failure” shall lead to frustration and anger at ourselves though we have done nothing wrong. Should society not be taunted by this impossible goal, society as a whole will be happier and live fulfilled lives. Whereas if everyone were to be reaching for perfection, everyone’s lives would be the exact opposite. The core of our society would be filled with more stress-more than what already exists at least- as well as less contemptment with our actions. These negative emotions would result in the implementation of bad means as a result of hopelessness. People will be lead to believe that after failing so many times, the only thing left to do in order to be perfect is to not play by the rules, because when they did, it didn’t work. According to mid-twentieth century sociologist Robert Merton, “The moral mandate to achieve success thus exerts pressures to succeed, by fair means if possible and by foul means if necessary”(Robert Merton in Allenby 17). This leads to not only corruption of the individual, but corruption in society as a whole. This is due to the intense level of competition in society that is due to everyone feeling as if they must be the best and outdo those that surround them. These high levels of competition and little room for success leads to stress, depression, and people resulting to loopholes to make their way up to the top. Not only that, but even at a young age, children are being pressured to be the best. Christopher Bergland, ultra-endurance athlete, writer, and psychologist, additionally addressed cheating in his Psychology Today column (2012) when he stated, “We live in such a competitive world. From a very young age our children are taught that if they want to ‘succeed’ in life that they have to finish in the top percentile in just about every challenge they face. But not everyone can be a champion.”(Begland 6). Therefore, not only are adults affected by the pressures of competition, but children are too. If the stress piles up at an early age, then so do the bad habits which will all carry on into their