Nirvana Fallacy

Also called the Perfect Solution Fallacy

“Even with proper road planning, we won't eliminate traffic, so we shouldn't bother.”

You commit the nirvana fallacy when you reject a realistic option because it isn’t perfect. It’s expressed by the famous proverb, “The perfect is the enemy of the good.” If we compare achievable actions to an unrealistic ideal, and then reject them for falling short, nothing gets done.

Examples:

• “I don’t budget my spending because something unexpected could come up and ruin it.”
  A budget won’t make your spending perfectly predictable, but it still makes overspending less likely.
• “Why bother exercising today? I don’t have time to do my full routine.”
  A shorter workout won’t be ideal, but it’s still better than nothing.

Demanding perfection blocks progress. Small improvements make things better even if some problems remain. If we wait for a zero-flaw solution, we typically preserve the flawed status quo.

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