This is a good point, but I think the "magic" of perfectionism is that it hides the upper bound: if you get a 1598 out of 1600 on the SAT, then you're quite sma

This is a good point, but I think the "magic" of perfectionism is that it hides the upper bound: if you get a 1598 out of 1600 on the SAT, then you're quite smart; if you get a 1600, then who knows, you could be infinitely smart.