Musings on Perfection

[pgsongy]

Often, you hear people talk about the “perfect knife” when discussing a particular make or model of blade. I don’t think that such a thing exists. My reasons for this belief are both philosophical and practical.

Let’s start with the philosophical one.

Thank goodness the “perfect knife” doesn’t exist. One of the reasons perfection is so valuable is because it is unattainable. Perfection, in its very untouchable nature, serves as a life-long fuel for any creative endeavor. No matter what any designer achieves, as the product of a human being, it will inevitably have flaws. Thus, there will always be something to improve. Human progress is built on the fact that we just can’t leave “well enough” alone.

Some of us have built our lives around that very human quirk.

To claim that something is “perfect” is to mothball it and stymie any future progress its design might make. One of the reasons I am so fond of this particular company is that, in their constant refinement and research, it is obvious that they agree with me on this point. While I am confident no one will achieve the “perfect knife”, I hope that Spyderco never stops trying.

That said, the more practical reason that I don’t believe in the “perfect knife” has to do with the limitations of language. In my opinion, the word “perfect” is fairly meaningless unless it modifies something fairly specific.

The perfect what? Perfect for what?

“Knife” is an extremely generic term. What is a “knife”? A cutting instrument? Cutting what? Different things are best cut by different types of tools. Your cat’s claw sharp pocket knife will tear through paracord like a hot knife through butter. It will not do well if tasked to cut a piece of steel rebar. There is a different tool that does that job well. A knife designed to be discreet and comply with strict laws banning weapons will not make a very good weapon.

That is the way of things.

Thus, if you want to come close to defining the perfect “anything”, you need some parameters in place. In essence, you’ve got to figure out what the “job” is before you figure out how well any particular tool performs the “job”.

Is the job general or specific? That presents a dilemma in and of itself.

Often, in design, you can create something which is extremely well-suited for performing a specific task. Nothing wrong with that at all. If you look at a lot of the cutting implements in surgery, you will see good examples of this sort of design. A scalpel is particularly well-suited to its function. There is, however, a reason that most of us don’t carry scalpels for our day-to-day use.

The challenge faced by most knife-makers is that the blades make are often applied by users to a variety of different tasks. Thus, as more “generalized” tools, they will not possess that perfectly suited characteristics that highly specialized tools do. The challenge is to figure out where exactly you want to “cut the pie” in terms of your application. You want a tool whose use is broadly applicable, but not spread so thin as to render it useless.

Where exactly do you “cut the pie” in this respect?

There isn’t a “right answer” to this question. I think task for any designer is to decide where on the “generalized job spectrum” they want their knife to perform, and then evaluate how well it does perform in that general spectrum. That evaluation, in and of itself, presents a whole host of difficulties because you have to determine what criteria you are going to use in evaluating the performance of your tool.

And then there is finally what I call the “non-performance” points of analysis.

Think about this: what if we could create a knife that was as close as a human being could get to perfection. All custom-engineered with draconian tolerances, using space-age materials that cost more than your average sports car. If you’ve created a close approximation to the “perfect knife”, and it runs $70,000, have you hit your mark?

Depends on what you are aiming for. If your only criteria are performance based, then you are in good shape.

If you are out to help society (or even just run a business), you have to start thinking about the resources you are utilizing to make your creation, and how accessible it is to the common man. There are certainly some inventions, like nuclear weapons, that have changed society without widespread use by mankind. I think these sorts of “game changers” are the exception, not the rule. Most of the inventions that change how we live as a species tend to be widely available (think the printing press and books, the electric light, or the internet). The common use of these innovations, how they change day-to-day life, is what makes them so powerful.

This is the reason I think Spyderco “cuts the pie” in the right place with their products.

As near as I can tell, Spyderco tries to develop knives that, despite their high quality, are really aimed at the masses and available for use by the “everyman”. I think Mr. Glesser and co. really do walk that fine line between demanding excellence in their product, but still making the strategic decisions to make those products something that we can afford to have in our everyday life.

Either one of those aspirations (quality or affordability) is a harsh taskmaster. Trying to do significant justice to both at the same time is maybe just a step short of crazy.

But it’s a good crazy.

Of course, I’ve omitted aesthetics. Many designers really want something that is beautiful. Now there is a sticky wicket. Good luck analyzing what is and isn’t beautiful. If you think perfection from a utility standpoint is challenging, it has nothing on art. That said, I do think that there is a definition that I adhere to, and I think the people in Spyderco do as well. It goes something like this: the beauty of any thing is revealed in its action. I think this is just as true for human beings as it is for designs.

I’m reminded of my teachers in martial arts. Many of them are very quiet, unremarkable, humble people. They almost fade into the woodwork, unless you actually get a glimpse of them in those moments where their honed excellence comes out, and you get to see the craft they’ve devoted their entire lives to. One of the most moving parts of those displays, to me, is how they return to that quiet, unobtrusive state once the action is done.

I think there is a beauty in something that quietly, unassumingly performs its job exceptionally well. I think this “elegant utility” is an aesthetic in and of itself. I think many Spyderco offerings embody it quite well. So, while many Spyderco knives don’t have that classic beauty (my wife said of my Dragonfly 2 - “That thing looks like a science project!”), I think their aesthetic and their utility are often the same thing. (My response was, “This science project cuts like a freaking lightsaber!”)

As a result, I think “perfect knife”, while an interesting concept to explore, will ultimately impossible to define. If there is going to be a dialogue about a knife, maybe the better way to frame it is, “What was the design aimed at doing, and how well did it do it?”

Leave the definition of perfection up to philosophers.

[Evil D]

"Satisfaction is the death of desire".

So, when the perfect knife is created, there won't be a need to ever have another on ever again. In my mind, perfect is only the closest thing you have found to actual perfection. For the longest time, the Para 2 was the perfect knife for me, and it's still just about at the top of my list, at least of all the knives i've owned and handled. In the end, variety is the spice of life...I buy different knives for different needs. Someday i plan on taking the best of each knife that i really like and collaborating with a custom maker and seeing if i can actually build myself the perfect all around knife.

[dbcad]

Welcome pgsongy :)

I enjoyed your essay :) and I think you'll find most of us here agree.

Spyderco makes terrific knives for the price. The sentiment you express for the company is felt for myself everytime I carry a Superleaf, PPT, D'Fly, Balance, Delica and so on to work or pick one up to accomplish a task. I can say Spyderco is a producer I can trust. I keep on telling folks at work that with Spyderco you get more, in design and materials and thought, for your money :D All we the users have to do is keep them sharp :D

Enjoy the Forum :)

[dbcad]

Just have to ad that no complex system can be perfect in this world. To do so would violate the second law of thermodynamics.

Sal and Spydercrew come pretty close given the constraints they operate under

[The Deacon]

When someone says they've found the perfect knife, what they almost always mean is that they've found a knife that works better for them than any others they have tried for a specific purpose. That purpose may be something as broad as "everyday carry", or something as specific as peeling apples. No one knife can do everything well, and our bodies vary enough in size and shape that the one which fits my hand like a glove feels like a stick of firewood in your hand.

[fliktrik]

Often, you hear people talk about the “perfect knife” when discussing a particular make or model of blade. I don’t think that such a thing exists.

Sorry... you're wrong. Here's proof...

[Ol' KL]

Perfect would indeed be a little boring, but there is something admirable about the guy who has made one solid knife do it all for decades...a device that partially defines the person. Not very common these days.

I have learned one thing: the "best" steel is always the one you don't have.

[xceptnl]

Welcome to the forum pgsongy. Great post and insight on a struggle that all us knife lovers wrestle with mentally day in and day out.