[ThomPete]

Realists just accept things as they are. Optimist believe they can change the future in ways realists can't. Optimism is the mental beacon for any progress not realism.

[dredmorbius]

No. Realists accept reality as it is.

You're confusing realism with presentism, or perfectionism (in the sense that the present is "perfect" and fully developed).

Realism is neither.

Optimism is the rejection of unwanted, unpleasent, or inconvenient truths.

[ThomPete]

“As it is” is always temporary. Optimists change “what is”. Not all are going to succeed but some are and thats what moves us forward :)

[dredmorbius]

"As it is" in this case is not static to time. It includes dynamics, values, relationships, and heuristics of evolution.

What I find hard to understand is that you pit realism as the antonym of optimsim. The correct antonym is pessimism.

Both optimism and pessimism are biases. Realism is the absense of bias.

[ThomPete]

I don't pit it as an antonym. I am simply responding to your claim that it's realism that moves things forward :)

Realists are navigators, optimists are starters, pessimists are never-starters :)

You need bias to move things forward.

[dredmorbius]

The word you're looking for isn't "optimism", it's "hope".

That's perseverence without denial.

[ThomPete]

no optimist have hope, you cant be a hope. I am perfectly aware of the words i use :)