Idealism and Realism or Idealism vs. Realism

*I will probably be editing this post when I get wiser – hopefully*

I would like my friend, Lee, to write about this subject of Idealism and Realism since he is the owner of a great mind, but as it is, it looks like I have to do the job myself and let Lee correct me afterwards.

What is an idealist? And what is a realist? I don’t have the answer, you can go look it up yourself. But I will allow myself a couple of free guesses to the answer.
And the answers are many – as are my guesses.

One example of an idealist could be like this:
- MAKE LOVE NOT WAR.
And the realist would answer:
- Don’t be such a fool! You can’t make love without causing a war. Be realistic!

And from this example an idealist is a person who merely floats around on pink clouds, not giving the consequences a second thought, while the realist dissects the sentence and thinks twice.
But this is not the ideal realistic way to put it.

The idealist doesn’t actually see the world as it is, but sees it as it should be. And the realist doesn’t see the world as it should be, but as it is.
Is it that simple? No, of course it isn’t.

The idealist knows very well what the world looks like but he chooses to think of it as what it COULD be looking like. But still he is a person living in a world of dreams, thinking how nice it could be if only the dreams would come true.

And the realist lives in the real world seeing all the garbage and doesn’t give a damn about how to remove it. He just observes it and comments it.  (I am trying hard to find a more sympathetic way to explain the views of the realist)

But going further into this subject, is a little more complex than the above.
Can you actually combine idealism with realism? Yes in my world you can. How?
One way is to take all your idealistic ideas, tell the whole world about them, and use your best convincing ways to make people understand that with some effort it is possible to convince the realistic masses that dreams of a better world can be real if you set your mind to be less cynical and fight for your dreams of love instead of war.
A lot of great men worked hard for this matter and succeeded – to some extend. Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, Malcolm X, just to mention a few.

But these men, of course, had to deal with realists who worked just as hard to avoid the above great men to succeed.

So… Is the idealist a good person, and the realist a bad person?
No. The answer to this is not that simple.
But – unfortunately – I don’t have that answer.

So my suggestion is that you go find out for yourself whether you are an idealist or a realist – or both. And, if you’re lucky, you might end up with an answer that suits your mind – be it an idealistic or a realistic mind. Or both.

Good luck.

*Martin Luther King had this idealistic dream of freedom and equality which was as real then as it is today. Idealism and Realism*

Advertisement