There are always those people who stand out against others because of their beliefs, styles, and mindset among other things. These are the people in our society who are deemed adjectives such as weird, outrageous, unique, or even crazy. But it is always these “outside-the-box” mind states of people that put them in a above and beyond category, and many of these people go on to achieve great things because they think above and have strong beliefs and ideals that transcend reality. I believe that cultivating strong ideals that may transcend existing reality is more important than developing a refined understanding of reality; which is seen in a couple of seventeenth century works by authors such as Cervantes, art from Pozzo, Galileo and Descartes.
Looking at Cervantes’ novel of Don Quixote, you instantly know that the story is going to transcend reality when Don Quixote begins to act out of normal character. The novel is hilarious because it transcends normal reality and creates a story setting in which everything Don Quixote does is funny to the audience. Cervantes’ creates a setting in which Don Quixote, a man who is fascinated by knight and castle stories goes mad and decides to become a knight. This satire shows Don Quixote pursue an adventurous journey where he blindly fights a windmill and mistakes prostitutes for princesses among other things. Don Quixote is a character that transcends reality in his mind and this causes people to look at him like he is crazy. This is also the reason why this satire is so well known today and if anyone is called a “Don Quixote”, you know exactly what it means. Cervantes’ novel is a prime example of an author who used his transcending ideals of reality in a story.
In order to transcend reality, you must have a vision that others do not have, and this creativity comes from a complex mind. Looking at the vast ceiling fresco Glorification of Saint Ignatius, by Fra Andrea Pozzo (Gardners,