Maybe we've always been living in this stupid idealistic society where actions are defined by thoughts instead of logic. But recently, idealism is kind of making me mad
It started in my first forensics tournament. I didn't do very well, probably because it was my first time and I didn't know what to expect, but that's not the point. The point is, in finals, I chose to watch orations because that was the event that I did worst in. Turns out, most of the speeches were about abstract ideas that were conveyed through the use of sentimentality and tear jerkers. For example, one of the best oraters was primarily using the story of a friend of her's that died of cancer to make you prioritize the people around you more. She made one of the judges CRY.
Now, that's all good and well in a mere competition like this, but when people start using idealism to govern themselves, that's where the problems come. Because the thing about idealism is, when you want to rise, you rise FAST. But the thing is, the fall is inevitable. Idealists rise ridiculously high in a short amount of time, but they fall hard. They didn't build a strong foundation. They rose through the manipulation of people's hearts, not their minds.
Now, as with any beliefs or ideas, you're bound to insult people. A lot of people will get offended, and eventually, you'll find some idealist with the guts and the ability to challenge your post. Then, down you go, and very possibly infamously. Take Tiger Woods for an example. He seemed like a perfect man, and the news loved him. But when a few incriminating details arise, everyone drops him like a hot potato. But if you think about that bad things he's done, can't you think of people you know who've done similar or worse? But Tiger fell, and he fell hard, because he rose ridiculously high.
My oration was about bacteria and why we should stop killing them. It was primarily written with logic, because no one's going to cry over some single celled organisms that they've been told will kill them. Logic acts slowly. Once you've gotten someone's attention, you've got to use an extensive amount of facts, research and data to support your views. But by doing so, you build yourself a strong foundation, that won't be as hard to take out. Then, when a worthy opponent challenges your claim, they've got have better infomation. Better data. Better proof. And if they do, well, then you deserve to step down. And what's more, you can do it like a man.
I'm not saying that logic is the only way to go. Idealism is effective, I admit. But to govern ourselves only upon the ideas of men, that's a different story. In reality, men as a whole don't really have a set of ethics. You'll always find something contradicting the other. If you're going to follow what society says, you'll never get anywhere. Society says EVERYTHING.
Back to what I was saying about Tiger Woods. A California newspaper had two rather interesting articles one day. One was about about Tiger Woods. This guy was brutal, he used every non vulgar adjective he could think of. But then, in a different article, we find a story about people who are paying $1000 to learn only how to pick up women. Contradiction?
But logic can also prove a problem. If you use only logic, we'll eventually lose our own humanity. We'll become robots, never acting upon love, or virtue, or ambition, or desire. Logic doesn't corrupt like idealism, but it erases.
Neither idealism nor logic can be particularly productive without the other. But we tend to tip to one or the other, and right now, that seems to be idealism. My suggestion is that we tip the scales the other way, so we don't lose our humanity or our minds.
Happy Today!
Monday, February 15, 2010
Idealism
Courtesy of Merle at 3:23 PM
Related to: Food for Thought, Rants
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