To what end do people seek perfection?

Often for its own sake. +5

The idea is the ideal. Some try to reach it all of the time, some, some of the time and some none. Some do so at great risk to their own health and well being and some actually attain it - or pretty darn close and excell in their field. +5.

People have gone to unimaginable ends just to reach what they think is perfection
who is it that determines what perfection is?

To all ends. Mankind has been trying to become perfect since... ever. Its just human nature to become more "perfect" in some senses.

to death, as perfection is unreachable, it'll keep on rising beyond our reach.

probably to find out whether there CAN be a limit to perfection.

the natural question which arises then is if you can reach perfection, what is beyond that border?

i think the most important think is not to focus on the final aim - that is reaching the perfection but actually focusing on the process towards it. moving ahead, failing, and while travelling in that direction, experiencing all the possible feelings on the way.

Till they die, but they're idiots who believe perfection exists.

Perfection is subjective. your "perfect" can never be the exact same as someone else's perfect. The need for approval is the underlying issue here. We can never please everyone. No matter how perfect we think things are. Someone will have a different opinion.
Everyone has a lifetime made of completely different memories, experiences, emotions, opinions etc. How can we possibly please everyone?
The real question then becomes "why is it so difficult to find self acceptance?"
If we are able to allow ourselves to accept who we really are, we can experience the sense of well being, self approval and self appreciation. That might shed some light on seeking perfection. Realization that everything we have experienced since the day we were born has made us who we are right now, and finding the beauty in our own experience, that's perfection....

The challenge