Are reality and fantasy mutually exclusive?

Nathan said:
I tracked down where I had heard the statement "reality and fantasy are mutually exclusive", it was while watching the Netflix movie- The Discovery. It wasn't particularly an earth-shattering blockbuster movie, but simply an essay exploring the existence of the after-life, and it's connection to, or distinction from the subconsciousness. Anyway that's that, I have some of my own thoughts on reality and fantasy, which I'll post when I get back from lunch.
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I recently saw the statement on Quora....
https://www.quora.com/Are-reality-and-fantasy-mutually-exclusive
 

Jamala said:
I recently saw the statement on Quora....
https://www.quora.com/Are-reality-and-fantasy-mutually-exclusive
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Effort. Fantasy only requires imagination, reality requires (sustained) effort.

Control. Fantasy means you are in complete control. Reality involves many unpredictable things, notably other people. Many of those things will come into direct conflict with yourself.

Constraints. In fantasy anything is possible. In reality you will always have constraints. (Whether age, culture, illness, money, your own character, the laws of physics. They will always be there.)
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This makes a lot of sense.
 
“Are reality and fantasy mutually exclusive?”

What a really great question! For me to think this through I would first need a 'start point'. I would first need to understand what the two words mean.

REALITY: “The state of things as they are, rather than as they are imagined to be”

FANTASY: “A situation that you enjoy thinking about but are unlikely to happen, or the activity of imagining” Another definition could be, “The forming of mental images, especially wondrous or strange fancies; imaginative conceptualizing.” And then this one, “The power or process of creating especially unrealistic or improbable mental images in response to psychological need”.

So with that in mind, (and for now only that) for me they are exclusive.

If I were then to engage in a kind of mind experiment. Let’s remove the human mind from the equation & separate it from ourselves, if your thoughts allow you to do that? Lock it away in a box & move the box out of sight. We are just left with what’s around us. The realities of the physical universe & how it works. That reality has no place for fantasy -- fantasy does not exist there in its self or by itself. Fantasy is a completely separate entity.

So where does fantasy exist? It exists only in the mind that is locked away in the box – it is separate from the reality around us. And therefore in that sense, exclusive.

If the original question was different, something like, where does fantasy & reality exist together? I would say they can only exist together in people’s minds -- a seperate place from the 'reality' around us. Destroy the mind, destroy humanity, and fantasy then stops existing within the 'reality' around us.

Perhaps some might say there is no reality in people’s minds, only fantasy?

Anyway, that’s my initial thoughts on it, but it’s not as though I’m an expert on this kind of thing, far from it.
 
Magna-Carta said:
“Are reality and fantasy mutually exclusive?”

What a really great question! For me to think this through I would first need a 'start point'. I would first need to understand what the two words mean.

REALITY: “The state of things as they are, rather than as they are imagined to be”

FANTASY: “A situation that you enjoy thinking about but are unlikely to happen, or the activity of imagining” Another definition could be, “The forming of mental images, especially wondrous or strange fancies; imaginative conceptualizing.” And then this one, “The power or process of creating especially unrealistic or improbable mental images in response to psychological need”.

So with that in mind, (and for now only that) for me they are exclusive.

If I were then to engage in a kind of mind experiment. Let’s remove the human mind from the equation & separate it from ourselves, if your thoughts allow you to do that? Lock it away in a box & move the box out of sight. We are just left with what’s around us. The realities of the physical universe & how it works. That reality has no place for fantasy -- fantasy does not exist there in its self or by itself. Fantasy is a completely separate entity.

So where does fantasy exist? It exists only in the mind that is locked away in the box – it is separate from the reality around us. And therefore in that sense, exclusive.

If the original question was different, something like, where does fantasy & reality exist together? I would say they can only exist together in people’s minds -- a seperate place from the 'reality' around us. Destroy the mind, destroy humanity, and fantasy then stops existing within the 'reality' around us.

Perhaps some might say there is no reality in people’s minds, only fantasy?

Anyway, that’s my initial thoughts on it, but it’s not as though I’m an expert on this kind of thing, far from it.
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Great post...love it!
 
Sometimes, reality just sucks.

So, yeah, fantasy is a better option. It’s not that they’re mutually exclusive it’s just that one is preferable over the other sometimes.
 
I don't think they are mutually exclusive if your fantasies are achievable.

When I was in high school, I rode the bus to school everyday and was every so often allowed to borrow my father's car. I mowed lawns and washed cars for weekend spending money, but I couldn't afford a car. My father bought me a cheap used car that would get me to/from college and work. I fantasized about one day having a new car of my own. When I got my first job at 19, I saved for a few years and bought a new car.

I fantasized about someday living in a nice home that I bought myself. Again, after many years of working I bought my own home.

I fantasized about being in a great relationship with a partner who would be my soul mate. Although I lucked initially, through years of hard work on both sides, my partner and I have surpassed 30 years together.

Some of my fantasies never happened, but then most weren't achievable anyway and I knew that.
 
Warrigal said:
@Murrmurr

Children want to know the difference between fantasy and reality from an early age.

I remember telling the story about an American passenger plane that was diverted to a Canadian island in the aftermath of the attack on the Twin Towers to my Sunday School class as part of a lesson on the subject "and love your neighbour as yourself". The crux of the story was how the inhabitants of the smallish island took the shocked passengers into their homes and cared for them lovingly until it was safe for them to continue their journey home.

The first question that the children asked was "Is this story true?" and I was able to assure them that it was and the generosity and love shown did actually happen just as I had related the event.

We should be careful not lie to children because once they realise that they have been lied to, they become distrustful, even of the truth. We see a lot of this in some adults at the moment. I think I might be beginning to understand where that distrust is coming from.
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Yes. A piece of me shattered when I discovered Santa was a myth, and I had been lied to. I never did that to my son.
 

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