Doesn't your adopted philosophies bleed over into other areas of your life? Could adopting an inability to exhibit a perfect morality bleed over into your professional life?
If I had a real lax moral standard that only included the principles of never killing anybody and never raping anybody then I would be perfect by those standards. Why not add a third one once you managed to exhibit perfection on those two friends? Why not a fourth, fifth and sixth tenant to your code of ethics?
It seems to me that perfection is obtainable but I hear that suicide is prevalent amongst Mormons, Japanese or other cultures that demand perfection/excellence. That is the downside of believing in perfection. Isn't there also an upside to believing that you can obtain perfection?
Is there an upside to believing that "Nobody is perfect"? Is there a downside to believing that "Nobody is perfect"?
You know what? Under an extraordinary amount of stress -- the kind that makes stuff like eating and sleeping kind of a task -- I have missed letters in my own name. Granted I have a long name, but still -- it's my name. I've also given the wrong address, the wrong number, and even sounded mildly intoxicated while speaking, even though I was dead sober. A sufficient amount of strain has a serious impact on your brain. Hell, under enough strain, it can kill you.
Nope, nobody is perfect. Not even with the mundane things.
I think whether one uses "Nobody is perfect" as an excuse to get away with things is dependent on the person. I certainly don't. For me, "Nobody is perfect" is actually something that sort of saves me from picking myself to pieces and allows me to instead focus on doing it right next time. I'm not easy on myself when it comes to ethics, and I shouldn't be; I know through experience I am capable of living them even under very trying circumstances. There's no excuse for not doing that as much as humanly possible.
But I'm just not going to be perfect all the time. And in some scenarios, even the most I am capable of at a given moment isn't quite as much as what I wish I was capable of. Sometimes other factors simply take some of it out of my hands, and I can't do everything I think should ideally be done. Sometimes something is just a bit outside the league of my experience or threshold, and first times are never perfect. At some point, I just have to accept that I know I did the absolute best that I could at the time.
If I let myself, I'd ride my own ass about that stuff for ages. But why would I? What good does that do me towards being ready for whatever comes next? And what was I supposed to do other than the best I could with the information and skills that I had?
And yes, there are other people who just use it to get away with anything. They repeat the same bad or hypocritical actions over and over and use their humanity as a reason not to change. But that's not inherent to the concept, just like being a criminal is not inherent to owning a gun. The ability to accept yourself can be used as a way to make yourself better, or a way to excuse being a crap person. It's a tool, and it depends who's wielding it.
For "Nobody is perfect" to be implemented correctly, one also has to be instilled with the belief that improvement is always possible, and that improving makes the world a better place. They have to be instilled with the belief that it's ok to be happy with yourself with doing the best you can, but that isn't necessarily synonymous with the best you could possibly do under different circumstances or with more experience.
It's another one of those things that sort of defies the simplicity of the hero/villain narrative I think it common in our culture. We tend to look at others that way too, but the reality is that sometimes there are bad situations where no one is evil. They just are what they are. Perhaps they're even deserving of some amount of empathy. But you have to calm down enough to see that.
Very few of us are heroes or villains either. As far as your average person goes, the best of us are doing the best we can and the worst of us aren't doing much of anything. We both use "Nobody is perfect" to justify either one of those things, but how it turns out is dependent upon not the concept itself, but rather whether we think that releases us from trying.