Romantic v Classical

There are two ways at which people can look at the world according to Robert M. Pirsig, you can ether use the analytical knife or you don't. To be more exact, those who use the analytical knife are known as the classical type of person, who puts mind over matter. These people break down subjects into components and than make decisions based upon what they find. The type of person who does not use the analytical knife, but instead chooses to see the world as a whole, choosing to appreciate the surface rather than its components are known as the romantics, whom I have always identified with more than the classical type of person. I never truly understood the point of breaking every little detail down and classifying everything, and even I find it sometimes frivolous to do so. Even past teachers of mine have said I was always better at understanding the bigger picture rather than the fine details, and i have had to become accustomed, like all romantics, to living in a world which places very high values on the details and the classical view of things. Whenever somebody attempts to break down the beautiful things I see everyday, i cannot help but mourn the loss of beauty and feel that some things were never meant to be dissected and numerated in such a unsavory manner, which is to say that people do it without thought of what is beautiful about that which they are categorizing. I feel that people loose themselves when to heavily immersed in the classical way of thinking and that far to many people are pressured into classical views by modern day society and loose imagination. I believe that people become lost in their own lists and because they must place everything in a category, resentment emerges towards people and things that are not of "the norm". My father is a brilliant example of a classical thinker, and he and I never see eye to eye, for we have different values based upon our views of the world. He loves details, i love the big picture and the grander scheme of things. This all is not to say that i do not use the classical point of view in my daily life. On the contrary, I always think actions through before i carry them out, creating categories and possible outcomes in my head. and I also can appreciate the technology which the classical point of view has given us, and i would not risk hypocrisy in saying otherwise because i very much rely on technology in my everyday life. However i do not see flowers for their scientific definition, and never classify them into parts, but instead, enjoy the very sight of them because of their natural beauty. I see people who immerse themselves into the classical way of mind and lose themselves in false senses of supremacy of being. I do not deny that there are bad things that come out of the Romantic view. When people take it to far, the surface becomes all that matters, and that is just another path to false supremacy, However i consider myself a Romantic none the less and will continue to see the beauty in the world for the rest of my life. i very much agree that the two ways of viewing the world are valid ways of seeing the world, but I also believe that everybody uses both ways of thinking, however tend to use one more than the other. I also firmly believe that the world cannot truly advance without a healthy balance of both points of view. On one side if there were only romantics there would be little to no technological advances, and if there were only classical people than the world would become nothing but a component and people would go about following the lists others set out for them and all the worlds beauty would diminish.