Is it stupid to be an idealist?

Question

is it stupid to be an idealist and desire to transcend boundaries? most of the time my ideas are like that and i know others may see them as naiive, but if people didn't have idealistic thoughts, there may never be positive change and everything would always stay the same. the leaders of revolutions must've been idealists. however, it also has its negatives because you are constantly dissapointed and truthfully most of the ideas just wouldn't work out because of the way people and society are, so is it a waste of time to even think in such a way? what are your thoughts on this

Answer 1

No, it is not stupid.

Heartbreaking, disappointing and depressing as hell, YES. But never stupid.

Answer 2

The ones that are stupid are the ones that do not Hold to Any ideals and whenever anyone has something to offer above the status quo or above what the go-with--the -flow non-idealists are capable of conceiving or believing , they call the idealist stupid or the call them by some other non complementary adverb which is much more applicable to Them than the Idealist.
Truth and Knowledge are borne out of idealist thiking and striving for the betterment of Mankind.
Degeneration, ignorance and the social rut and unacceptable conditions are borne out of those who do nothing and condemn those who do.

Answer 3

Well yes and no. I wouldn't use the word stupid though. Think more in terms of good for your happiness or bad for your happiness.
It can be bad for your hapiness if you expect the world to conform to what's in your head. The world and your brain are different places and they always will be. Your brain can use some conceptual tools to try to model the outside world. As you grow and learn throughout life your models or understanding of the world will change and grow as you learn new things. But any understanding that you or anyone else walking the planet has of the world is just an approximation of reality, just a way to look at it. Either it works or it doesn't. An understanding or model that works very well at making predictions can sometimes be confused with reality. But they are nonetheless simplifications of reality. And there's no right or wrong way to understand or look at things. If two different understandings or models work equally well then one cannot say which is the "right" one.
All we see is the world changing before us. And we formulate ideas to try to make sense of it. Magnetic fields, electrons, forces, God, string theory, all concepts to help us make sense of and predict what we see and will see. But not necessarily reality itself. The world is a much more complicated place than our simple minds can understand. So just because something works in your head doesn't necessarily mean it's going to work in reality. It might. But just keep in mind that any understanding you have of a situation is a simplification of that situation. It may be a working, useful simplification or it may be completely off. But it is a simplification nonetheless.
It can be good for your happiness if you look at ideals as unnattainable goals. It's good to keep the goal(ideal) in mind because that's what you want. That's what you're shooting for. That's the best case scenario. And there's nothing wrong with trying to come as close to the ideal as possible. Can you attain the ideal? Probably not. But, and this is the important part, you can get closer. And that is very satisfying. See, one wonderful truth I've learned about the real world is that you don't need it to be perfect to be happy in it. You just need to find what makes you truly happy and go for it.
So, be an idealist in your mind. And by all means, do try to make the world a better place. Your chances of success at this are very high. Just know that you WILL fall short of making it an ideal place.

Answer 4

you do what you are , you do what you must. the young tend to be idealists, the middle-aged are more realistic, the elderly are sometimes downright grumpy and pessimistic. just a generalization. but it does seem that the older you get, the less idealistic, and it's a natural process, it would seem. would the world be a worse or better place without idealists? we'll never know.

Answer 5

Idealists can either set themselves up for disappointment or see the future way ahead of their time. It just needs a little realistic effort to balance it out, and it can make a positive impact.

Answer 6

It all depends on whether you have the means to bring you ideals to reality. If you're like me and you grew up poor with largely unfit parents in crime ridden, run down neighborhoods and went to grossly inadequate schools with many other downtrodden people like yourself, being idealistic won't lead you to anything but deep depression and a strong sense of impotency. However, if you grow up in an economically prosperous environment with encouraging, emotionally healthy people and many opportunities, then being idealistic makes a lot more sense.

Answer 7

Dreamers and risk takers have always been the main movers and shakers of civilization. Without them we would still be grubbing for roots in the forest. It's not stupid to be an idealist, although it is probably wiser to settle for being an optimist.

Answer 8

It is not stupid, but its not realistic either, as the world is so pessimistic. What I would advise is to be optimistic about today's society, but not idealistic. Still, its a nice thought.

Answer 9

No,,idealist are people like,,henry ford,mark twain,eli whittney,ben franklin,alex g. bell,thomas edison,edgar allen poe,just to name a few.
All at one time had rough struggles with society accepting their veiws,society seems to reject idealists for many reasons,most just cause they do not understand.
Many idealists died broke or their veiws were not accepted until they had died.
Remember the atkins diet?His veiws were not taken seriuos and many uptight people complained about it.when he died every 1 wanted his name attached to their product.

Answer 10

This is the way to, as you say it, positive change. Sounds like you're ready to rise above mediocrity.

Answer 11

An idealist would say that it isn't.