Perfectionism is anti-scientific. Often disguising itself as some kind of hyper-Emersonian doggedness, it is in fact a refusal to recognize inconvenient data. Out of self-defense, you've taught yourself you have to have an answer for everything. Therefore, you have an answer for everything; you're not crazy, after all! Therefore, when evidence sneaks up (or bellows in your face) that maybe in fact you *don't* have the answer, or *aren't* in fact, after all, perfect, you, out of self-defense, **find ways to avoid facing that evidence, ways to deny it, ways to bludgeon it out of existence—** eventually you learn never to go near those parts of life that illuminate your vulnerabilities. But those parts are the parts where stars are born. You have cut yourself off from your universe. (2015)