[the_omegist]

> We often strive for perfection when we're well-past optimal and far into the region of diminishing returns.

Agree with all you've said but you're too generous putting all this under the noble quest for perfection. It is just that modern western societies freak out at the mention of death. If simple car accidents make the headlines for hours/days, it shows that what is really driving all this is not perfection but a paranoid fear of death.

[aeternum]

Do car accidents (other than Tesla :D) drive headlines though? Seems like we are extremely sensitive to certain classes of sudden death (terrorism), much less sensitive to others (car accidents), and completely dismissive of slow death even when it kills huge percentages of the population (obesity and heart disease).