I think it's not excellence, but perfectionism. And different nations, broadly speaking, have different notion of "perfect".
I read it in an article somewhere and can't remember the source, but:
For Americans, something is perfect if it's the best.
For Koreans, something is perfect if it's new.
For the Japanese, something is perfect if it has no flaws.
And it isn't a huge stretch to say for the Polish, something is perfect if it's inexpensive.
Anyway, speaking of the Japanese, an abacus might be seen as perfect if it's a perfectly crafted abacus. They might even be very proficient at using it (A pop science book I read mentions competitions between Americans armed with first electronic calculators, and a Japanese master abacus user, and the abacus user won). The rather extreme example is not to say the Japanese are backwards, but for illustration purposes. They may not always have the same priorities. It doesn't matter much you have superior ways of working with wood and paper if your towns regularly burn down and you have to settle on very, very wide streets to limit damage.
I read it in an article somewhere and can't remember the source, but:
For Americans, something is perfect if it's the best.
For Koreans, something is perfect if it's new.
For the Japanese, something is perfect if it has no flaws.
And it isn't a huge stretch to say for the Polish, something is perfect if it's inexpensive.
Anyway, speaking of the Japanese, an abacus might be seen as perfect if it's a perfectly crafted abacus. They might even be very proficient at using it (A pop science book I read mentions competitions between Americans armed with first electronic calculators, and a Japanese master abacus user, and the abacus user won). The rather extreme example is not to say the Japanese are backwards, but for illustration purposes. They may not always have the same priorities. It doesn't matter much you have superior ways of working with wood and paper if your towns regularly burn down and you have to settle on very, very wide streets to limit damage.