Issue99 永不言弃第二十二次作业 by stgzhao 7#

stgzhaoUID: 2583165

TOPIC: ISSUE99 - "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 Pragmatic behavior guarantees survival, whereas idealistic views tend to be superceded by simpler, more immediate options."
WORDS: 611          TIME: 00:42:30          DATE: 2009-3-1 9:50:02

In such a modern society, people may introspect themselves that whether they have become pragmatic or even utilitarian. It is a wide thinking that if in all 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. The statement somehow believes pragmatic behavior guarantees survival, whereas idealistic views tend to be superceded by simpler, more immediate options, which is just what I feel confused about. Admittedly I agree with that for a modern civilian to be pragmatic is a necessity, also a trend. However, idealistic is not as useless as the speaker asserts in some realms.
To begin with, I must concede that the current society is a practical one where people assess almost everything with a standard relevant to some realistic rewards. Such standards may include money - well-known and widely used standard for nearly every realm - merchandise, service, information, and so forth, and score, which is a vital standard for evaluating students' academic performance. With such assessment standards modern civilians are becoming more and more practical. People of California voted for Arnold Schwatzeneger certainly not for his virility but for his promises which are said to be going to bring them benefits in the future. Professors in colleges and universities focus more on prizes such as Nobel Prize rather than long-term benefits for mankind. In these cases we can easily tell that pragmatic behaviors have pervaded in all realms of life.
To a certain extent, a man who ignores practical rewards and values idealistic too much will surely not survive in the drastic competitions of modern society. Taking investment as an example, if an investor devotes his money focusing mainly on societal boons instead of practical rewards, which will surely bring him a good repute, bankrupt is the most possible ending for him. Since isolation is not for individual, we should adapt ourselves with the practical world in order to struggle for survival. After all, the basic needs for us - foods, clothes, habitations, and so forth all call for a large amount of money, which is the biggest pragmatism.
Nevertheless, too much focusing on practical aims is a bad idea. A man with little idealistic spirit is about to feel his life of no interest. It is ideal that brings people the aim for them to strive for and the power to devote their life on the process of striving. And, in addition, it is the realizing of ideals that makes people feel satisfied and their sense of existing. Besides, ideal also makes difference is realms such as science, literature, art and etc. Only with a idealistic view can writers and artists create works which are both meaningful and far-reaching. For scientists, a special group of people, the idea of researching for mankind is a good driving force that makes them in high spirits in the lasting while no rewarding immediately researches. Speaking as some aspect, the practical aim for today is perhaps the idealistic goal in the long run.
Thus, idealistic view and practical one are linked with each other. A partial trend to either side is not appropriate. Even though for current society pragmatism is of more importance, people should find a balance between pragmatism and idealism - gives one both the aim to fight for and the possibility for him/her to realize the aim.
In sum, I agree with the point that pragmatic behavior guarantees survival. However, I strongly suggest that people should also value the contribution of idealistic views. Only by a good balance of the two can modern people find happiness in their lives.