Pain is what makes it real.

[navi tasan]

1) You need pain. Pain is what makes reality real.
2) You need pain. Pain is what makes things real.
3) You need pain. Pain is what makes it real.

Can #3 be used instead of the other two (which mean sort of the same)? In this context, could 'it' refer to reality or things as they are?

The idea is that pain is what makes you certain that there is a reality out there that doesn't bend to your will, resists you, etc.

I think context would determine what 'it' means in #3, but even if one is speaking in very general terms and without referring to any particular activity, I don't think 'it' would normally be understood to refer to reality unless one specifies that explicitly.

 

[emsr2d2]

That doesn't work for me. There's nothing in the opening sentence or the opening of the second that tells us what "it" refers to and a dummy "it" has no place there.

Also, I wouldn't say that the first two sentences express that you're "certain that there is a reality out there that doesn't bend to your will" etc.

 

[tedmc]

I prefer "Pain is what makes life real".