Appearances aren't always as they seem. You see something that indicates this or that, but to quote the old song, "It ain't necessarily so." Take the famed Parthenon in Athens, for example. I was there earlier this year and said to my host, "What a perfect building!" Well, it surely seems that way. How many structures around the world have been modeled after that exquisite architecture! But, the genius of the Parthenon is that it is not -- NOT -- perfect at all. It is the imperfection of the structure that makes it APPEAR perfect. Let me explain: There are eight massive pillars in front and back of the building and 17 down each side. Those pillars are not standing straight but instead lean to the center, so that if they were extended to the sky, they would meet! Further, the pillars are not straight-sided but rounded in the middle. That makes them APPEAR straight from a distance. The steps in front are not straight either but convex. Which makes them look -- you're right -- straight.