[ineffable] Issue99- by xiaxiaobing

xiaxiaobing919UID: 2606450

99"In any realm of life—whether academic, social, business, or political—the only way to succeed is to take a practical, rather than an idealistic, point of view. Pragmatic behavior guarantees survival, whereas idealistic views tend to be superceded by simpler, more immediate options."

1, business, the pragmatic is the most important
2, for academic, both pragmatic and ideal is important.
3, political, need idealist

What kinds of view should we hold in order to succeed, pragmatic or idealistic? In my opinion, it is extremely presumptuous to assert that the pragmatic behavior can guarantee survival in every realm. The view we hold should be predicted on a case-by-case basis.

To begin with, with the increasing emphasis of material civilization, practicality became the major consideration for business to design their products. For example, in the entertainment industry, the first concern for the publishers or film makers would be making their products to fit in the interests of people aged from 18 to 25, the main consumption groups, instead of providing a platform for the exhibition of the real artistic masterpiece. For another example, the improvement of computer is mainly concerning the convenient operation for the users, so the operations system advances from DOS to Windows or even Vista today, which makes computer flood into the home of ordinary people and the profits of which increased exponentially. In this analysis, practicality is crucial for business to succeed.

When it comes to science, however, both pragmatic and idealistic behaviors are indispensable. In the concern of promoting technology innovation to afford people a more convenient and comfortable life, a myriad of researches are carried out to solve the immediate problems, such as the invention of computer and telephone, which connects the people all over the world. However, the idealistic researches are also important, without which we will never make a real advancement. For example, the genetic law that generalized by Mendel, the main concern of whom is interest rather than practicality, became the foundation for modern genetic engineering. In this case, the idealistic view plays a very important role in helping us to have a better realization of ourselves and therefore makes a true advancement.


In the realm of politics, I concede that the pragmatic views of being selected or continuing the position are generally hold by the politicians in order to achieve their success. However, without the idealists, the society will never become its current appearance. To be specific, the American founders, such as Washington, who hold the idealistic belief that Americans deserve the freedom and can finally make it, and Lincoln, who believed the slaves could enjoy their civil rights, finally making America the strongest country in the world. Although the worldwide negotiation will invariably concerns the pragmatic interests for each side, the idealistic acts such Tokyo Acts to limit the emission of carbon dioxide will benefit the people all over the world. Thus, in order to make a real success in the politics, the idealistic view is always necessary.

In conclusion, I disagree with the speaker's assertion that we should hold a pragmatic view towards all realm of life. In the commercial field, the practicality would be the major concern, while the idealistic views are indispensable for both scientific and political field in order to be truly successful.