Monday, November 12, 2012

Idealism

1. belief in perfection: belief in and pursuit of perfection as an attainable goal


"youthful idealism"

2. living by high ideals: aspiring to or living in accordance with high standards or principles

3. belief that material things are imaginary: the philosophical belief that material things do not exist independently but only as constructions in the mind

In my mind, one of the catalysts to progress is Idealism, or "belief in perfection".  We see something that can be improved, or performed in a more productive manner and we pursue a goal of perfecting the process or thing.  I love it.  Idealism drives a lot of what I do at work and at home.  To some extent, Idealism has driven me to write fantasy that does not conform to the cliche's or formulae that have been prevelant in this genre.
 
Idealism rocks.
  
However...   It is one thing to be idealistic, and quite another to be condescending.
 
Idealistic does not necessarily mean "better".  In some cases your pursuit of perfection may lead you down a less productive road.  In many cases, your pursuit has been tried and been written off as counter-productive.
 
We see this in all walks of life.  Take my path of publishing, often referred to as Indie Publishing.  At some point in time, Indie Publishing (not to be confused with Vanity Publishing) was an idealistic pursuit.  Not a better pursuit, just idealistic.  In a broad sense, it was actually not a new idea, considering Vanity Publishing has been around for a long, long time.  In a narrower sense, Indie Publishing is idealistic.  E-Readers and the potential audience (by far greater than the old Vanity route) has created this idealism.  But it is not better than traditional publishing, just different.

At work, you may be flooded with a new method of reaching point 'x'.  Idealism at work.  Is it better than the traditional method?  

Maybe it's raising a child.  Idealistic methods of child rearing have been around forever.  As mentioned before, this is how we progress.  Are these methods better?  

The better mouse trap?  

Methods of lawn care?  

Washing a car?  

Idealism is great.  Just be careful how you present it.  Idealism can quickly become freak hippy voodoo, expecially if you choose to be condescending to those who don't share your methods of progress.   After all, who is smarter?  The one who believes their way is the best way, or the one looks at many methods and decides which one works best for them?  

Now, how about we tie that into a character or two in story.  A character who is idealistic, yet narrow-minded and condescending.  A character who is idealistic, yet constantly get distracted by bigger and better ideas.  A character who is idealistic, but is appreciative of those who choose to do things differently than them.   Characters abound.  We just witnessed a few examples of idealists pursuing several different government offices.  And there were more than one or two that were viewed as freak, voodoo hippies.

Shameless Plug: Blood of Two (Drums of Rallinwar Book One) by C. Hollis Gunter is available through most electronic book outlets including: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, ibooks, and Smashwords.  Buy it.  Rate it.  Review it.

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