World records can’t be un-broken. Breakthroughs can’t be reversed. This would seem to be a good thing, and for the most part, it is. Someone being the “GOAT” is inspiring and motivating to nearly everyone. However, this one-way ratcheting of standards can have some consequences. Much like living in Manhattan, it is out of reach for mere mortals. This is because we as a society have always put a premium on the Winners.
In 1954 Roger Bannister was the first person to officially run a mile in less than four minutes, something previously deemed to be impossible. Now college athletes do this all the time. While this is an unavoidable situation, it brings up two questions. Was Bannister just a mediocre runner? (He is by today’s standards.) Are todays’s college athletes who exceed his achievement any less impressive than he was? It was the state of the art that changed. (I’m ignoring better shoes and training technology that weren’t around in the 1950s.) We have already seen that Olympic medals are dominated by athletes from prosperous countries that can afford to train them full-time at massive cost, not to mention steroids and other cheating.
Classical piano competitions have now advanced to the point where a split-note, small mistake or hesitation is a fatal error. Only flawless performances can advance in the rankings. Once somebody played the piece perfectly, nobody is ever going to get away with any less. The giants of the 19th century could possibly have flunked out of school today, or at least been considered “mediocre” based on this ever-advancing standard.
I was listening to some vintage jazz recordings, and quickly noticed what would today be regarded as sloppy playing. It was still great, even iconic music, but whether we like it or not, the “goalposts” have been moved since then, and I know I would not tolerate those imperfections in my own playing today, even though I don’t see myself as being on the level of these musicians of the past. Imagine the beginner or aspiring young musician confronting these standards as a price of admission.
Celebrating “winning” is very important, but much like how at the current rate, the world will overheat and choke on the carbon dioxide we create and drown in a sea of single-use plastic containers, we eventually risk losing excellence in a sea of perfection and World Records. We also risk making greatness increasingly inaccessible.
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