During one of our classes, the concept of idealism vs. realism was brought up as the professor questioned why the current generation doesn’t go out of their way to demand that their music be better instead of settling for what the Loudness War and compression has done to it, as both have made it, in his opinion, objectively worse as a result.  He then explained the difference between idealism and realism, stating that idealism and religion go hand in hand as all who adhere to idealism believe in there being a higher or perfect standard for everything and that it is our duty as humans to strive towards reaching such standards.  Realism, on the other hand, is based on the belief that this so-called, “higher or perfect standard” does not exist and that, basically, what you have is as good as it is going to get.  Throughout the class discussion of these two topics, an example made to help distinguish between the two was that a realist would not care if they saw a replica of the Mona Lisa or not.  After all, a painting is just a painting, no matter if it is a copy or not.  Opposite of that, however, an idealist would insist that you would have to see the actual Mona Lisa in order to truly experience seeing it.  The idealist stance is admittedly a bit elitist, but as pointed out by the professor, idealism is unapologetic in this regard.  If you truly want to experience something, one must put in the work to do it, otherwise, what is the point?  The ideal standard is a struggle to reach.  An idealist would never deny that, but then there are the realists who have no standard to strive for and that is where one should seriously consider where they are in terms of the idealism vs. realism scale.

During the class, another point was brought up about a man who came to America and was appalled at the low-quality bread being served there.  As one student questioned whether there could just be a manufacturing and economic reason behind it, the professor then informed the class that there actually wasn’t.  When the calculations had been made, it was found out that, if the seller had taken the time to make the better kind of bread, it would have actually been cheaper to produce than to produce the bread that they were currently selling.  This again brought up the question of why the sellers were not pursuing the idealistic standard for bread and why, when he informed others publicly of what he found, that no one made too much of a fuss over it.  I would personally like to theorize that this is due to what could very well be in the middle of the idealism and realism scale, that middle being nihilism.  To put it simply, nihilism is the belief that nothing truly matters in the long run, and that just might be what the buyers of such bread back in the day were probably adhering to when they ate their low-quality bread.  I personally theorize that nihilism is simply idealists being crushed by the reality of realism, which causes those to question if the quality and standards of bread or anything in general really matter in the long run.  Imagine being a person living back then, longing to taste what the so-called famous “bread” was like, and when it finally came you couldn’t get enough of it.  Finally, you are able to taste the delicacy that had been denied to you for so long… and then some guy comes out of nowhere and proclaims that the bread you loved so much wasn’t the quality product that you had previously thought it was.  Do you feel dejected, knowing that the bread you had long waited for is still well out of your grasp, or do you simply shrug your shoulders and accept that, while it isn’t the best, the bread that you have is as good as it is going to get?  The latter isn’t really realism, since you acknowledge that there is a better alternative to what you have, an ideal bread, but based on your current situation, you realize that it’s an experience that you will never realistically be able to truly experience, so you just take what you can get.  It doesn’t matter anymore.  You’ve accepted it, despite knowing that it could get better.  It could get better, but it most likely probably won’t.  As for the sellers themselves, it is probably a cynical marketing and business move, if anything.  First, feed everyone the bad bread, and then, when you see your business booming or slipping, reveal a slightly better kind of bread and repeat the process so that you never lose the public interest in your product.  Sure, it is a shrewd and dishonest method, to be sure, but why does it matter in the long run?  With this in mind, has nihilism touched the music industry as well?