110%!

“Wow, he left it all out there. He gave 110%!”

“We all know how important today is, and so it’s important that we go out there and give 110%!”

I, and I’m sure you, hear similar remarks on a frequent basis. I, and I’m sure you, also know that this is impossible. In fact, anyone who has progressed beyond 4th grade math knows this is impossible. The whole, the entirety, all of it, the big enchilada, is represented by 100%. Beyond 100% of anything there is no more of that anything. Nothing. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Nought. Nil. Bupkis.

So, accurate exhortations would be,

“Wow, he left it all out there. He gave 100%!”

“We all know how important today is, and so it’s important that we go out there and give 100%!”

Yes, I know that the point is to “give” more than is usual, to perform above the everyday, and, in so doing, it’s ostensibly fine to thumb one’s nose at the laws of mathematics.

OK, great. Warm, fuzzy, and folksy.

Let’s look at it from a more realistic aspect. Given the mathematical certainty that 100% of anything is all there is of it, if the appearance is that someone strove so hard in their performance that, “Wow, he gave 110%”, then the laws of mathematics dictate that the absolute most he really gave was 100%. This, then, means that, at best, he’s been giving 90% all along. 

So…hero? Nope. Slacker.

~ Dempsey 🌵