Auguste Rodin’s statue of 19th century French novelist Honoré de Balzac was among the first sculptures to present its subject impressionistically rather than realistically. Rodin depicted Balzac in a long, formless cloak topped by a rough-hewn, massive head that tilts back, nostrils flared wide as if the writer were inhaling his muse.

Pro football players like to talk about “taking it to the next level.” Whether their goal is to help the team win a division championship, conference championship or the Super Bowl, they realize that, both individually and collectively, they must raise their level of performance to reach that goal. They have to execute plays better, block better and tackle better. They also have to learn new plays their competitors haven’t seen. If they stay at the same level, players and their teams will just be one of many also-rans at the end of the season.

You’re on your way to work, driving along, and suddenly there’s that familiar bone-rattling jolt. You’ve hit a pothole. Your morning coffee lies in a pool on the passenger seat, not on you—if you’re lucky. “Why don’t they fix that !@#$% thing?” you mutter.

Somewhere, Lee Majors must be smiling. Best known for his starring role as Colonel Steve Austin, an ex-astronaut outfitted with bionic implants in the 1970s TV series “The Six Million Dollar Man,” Majors made us all believe that one day humans could be rebuilt joint by joint. Today, most of the key joints in the body can indeed be replaced—hips, knees, ankles, wrists and fingers—all for a lot less than $6 million.