## Dealing with realist people

Post by Jay Feely » Sat Jan 01, 2011 8:27 pm

Do you find it hard to deal with realist people?
They are characterized with being real and what things are really like
1. Like when they shut down your ideas because it is not that plausible
2. They go with the facts not the opinions of others
I find it very difficult to hold a conversation with realist people because they cannot deal with fantasy life and they never let me express my own opinions about things and questions my beliefs and cannot tell jokes or accept a lot of things and shatters a child perception of things like Santa Claus and other things.
What about you?
You will have to subdue me to restrain me. I been a bad boy so make sure you torture me too with anything but pain.

### Re: Dealing with realist people

Post by sarobah » Wed Jan 05, 2011 4:55 pm

I wouldnâ€™t call someone like that a realist. Theyâ€™re opinionated, unimaginative and intolerant â€“ basically the opposite of a genuine realist.
I regard myself as a realist in that I accept the world as it is and donâ€™t try to romanticize or fantasize it. So to me a realist is someone who is capable of separating actuality from illusion and living their life accordingly.
I would not presume to disparage or undermine anyone elseâ€™s romance or fantasy so long as it doesnâ€™t impinge on other peopleâ€™s rights. Obviously some fantasies and illusions (political, religious, etc.) can be dangerous, and letâ€™s face it, a good, solid, healthy dose of realism would cure the world of many of its ills.
~ Sarah
Words, like Nature, half reveal and half conceal the soul within.

### Re: Dealing with realist people

Post by fabolous1024 » Wed Jan 05, 2011 7:20 pm

Being a realist has nothing to do with not being able to tell jokes. That is stupid. They are just being uptight. Oh wait, am I being a realist?
I can say with certain I am one of these boring assholes called 'realists'. There certainly are people who tend to just be jerks who want to shoot down people for their own self confidence. However, there are many people who just hate ignorance. For example, if someone comes up to me in the labs i teach (physics labs) or on a forum and tells me that they think the speed of light is not constant, I try to put them in their place. The ironic thing is that THEY are the ones trying to force their beliefs on other (and what you said, "accept a lot of things", is exactly you forcing your beliefs on others). The appalling part is that these people, who have done 0 work to show they're right, are spitting in the faces of tens of thousands of physicists and millions of manhours of work and billions of dollars worth of carefully crafted experiments that show such a statement is false. Plus it contributes to societies that simply reject scientific thought. They're the societies that spend billions of dollars on hocus pocus cancer cures and pills that claim to magically help you lose 50 pounds by eating nothing but chocolate. And yes, in the US, the billions of dollars figure is accurate.
And that example is something rather trivial for the average person! What about gambling? Many people feel there are systems to beat "the house". "The house" is not stupid. Mathematically they always win. Las Vegas wasn't built by winners. Infact, casinos know they can trick people by letting people occasionally win big due to the statistics of it all and end up with bigger profits. Try to tell this to the average gambler and they'll scoff at you and listen to the guy who said he has a lucky method where they kiss the screen because one time a thousand years ago they hit a $50 jackpot on a penny slot by doing that.
It wouldn't be so bad if these kinda people end up leeching off society. When their fortunes go south, they go on unemployment or commit crimes which effect everyone. It also contributes to this mindset of everyones opinion is equal and all ideas should be held up as worthy. The thing is, you know you agree to what I'm saying. Why? Would you fly on an airplane if I, with 0 piloting experience, declared that I know how to fly the airplane? Of course not because you know my opinion needs to be supported by some facts or information or else it is meaningless.

### Re: Dealing with realist people

Post by Jason Toddman » Wed Jan 05, 2011 7:31 pm

> jay wrote:Do you find it hard to deal with realist people?

Those aren't realists; those are muggles!
IMHO no mind is healthy unless it has a good dose of both imagination and humor.
I've know som people like that. My stepfather was the kind of man you're describing; intelligent in most ways but unimaginative, and clueless when it came not only to sci-fi and heroic fantasy but even modern technology past the 1950's or so. He found it difficult to handle the adcent of such advances as microwave ovens, VCRs, and cable TV. He never did figure out TIVO, DVDs, computers, or the Internet! His realist views were strictly mid 20th century. Old fashioned. Archaic. Screw that.
Too much imagination can get you into trouble too if you have trouble separating it from reality, but that's the opposite extreme. Especially if your imagination violates cmmon sense, like the speed of light example Fabolous1024 cited just earlier. There needs to be a balance; too much imagination is as bad as too little if not balanced with proper education.
Basically, if a person shoots your down like that without good reason, ignore them.
Dare to be different... and make a difference.
To boldly go where no one in their right mind has gone before...

### Re: Dealing with realist people

Post by sarobah » Wed Jan 05, 2011 7:40 pm

The speed of light nonsense is a pet peeve of mine.
I am sick to death of hearing â€œBut they once said that about the sound barrier.â€
My response is â€œgoing faster than light is like travelling north of the North poleâ€ and I try to explain. I just get blank stares.
I have discovered that:
(1) You cannot argue with ignorance. The â€œdemocraticâ€ belief is that one personâ€™s ignorance is as good as anotherâ€™s knowledge (and so much less effort to acquire).
(2) You cannot argue with prejudice or any other irrational belief system. You canâ€™t use logic to debate someone who does not recognize the validity of a logical argument.
(3) You cannot argue against addictive or compulsive behaviour â€“ whether itâ€™s drugs or gambling or whatever. The average gambler just one spin/toss/draw away from the BIG WIN is in exactly the same mind set as the junkie â€“ Iâ€™ve known both. (Worst of all â€“ tobacco addicts. Donâ€™t get me started.)
~ Sarah

### Re: Dealing with realist people

Post by Jason Toddman » Wed Jan 05, 2011 7:52 pm

> sarobah wrote:The speed of light nonsense is a pet peeve of mine. Sarah

Yeah, I can relate. I used to be a real Star Trek nerd until I got into too many arguments with other Star Trek nerds who couldn't understand what the speed of light actually means. They would just insist on invoking warp drives and such stuff as that. Alien/human crossbreeds like Mr. Spock? If it looks human it MUST be cross-fertile with humans, they say! Never mind that you'd be more likely to successfully crossbreed a human with a carrot! People in general - even many die-hard sci-fi fans - are woefully ignorant of science! That's the flip side of the coin about realists versus imagination and wha I tried to say earlier; imaginatiuon MUST be tempered with good education - and also with good sense!
Dare to be different... and make a difference.
To boldly go where no one in their right mind has gone before...

### Re: Dealing with realist people

Post by KittyReaper » Wed Jan 05, 2011 11:51 pm

oh Jason your ability to make me laugh is uncanny. good show

### Re: Dealing with realist people

Post by Jason Toddman » Thu Jan 06, 2011 7:22 am

> Reaper1711 wrote:oh Jason your ability to make me laugh is uncanny. good show

That WAS meant as a compliment... right?
Dare to be different... and make a difference.
To boldly go where no one in their right mind has gone before...

### Re: Dealing with realist people

Post by xtc » Fri Jan 07, 2011 8:50 am

Come on, Jason, what have you got against us half-human/half-carrots?
Boxer shorts are cool,
but little speedos rule!
More by the same author: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=22729

### Re: Dealing with realist people

Post by Jason Toddman » Fri Jan 07, 2011 10:49 am

> xtc wrote:Come on, Jason, what have you got against us half-human/half-carrots?

Nothin. I sort of liked the one that guest starred in the third season of Lost in Space.
Dare to be different... and make a difference.
To boldly go where no one in their right mind has gone before...