issue221【today is the day小组】第七次作业 by FreePeter

FreePeterUID: 2402482

TOPIC: ISSUE221 - "The chief benefitof the study of history is to break down the illusion that people in one periodof time are significantly different from people who lived at any other time inhistory."
DATE: 2008-8-8 21:40:37


有保留的同意
1.      It is true that under the imagethat people in distinctive periods are totally different, the common base of humanbeings has never changed.
i.                    Basic desires as animal.
ii.                  Desires in psychology.
2.      In this case, the study ofhistory does break down the illusion; by reading the history:
i.                    Sacrifice to the pursuit forthe truth : Socrates(about 400BCE) vs. Giordano Bruno (About 1600AD)
3.      Although I concede that somebasic trait has never changed, people in different periods have their own distinctivecharacteristics, which should not be overlooked.
i.                    People have different ideas oflife: in ancient times people struggled to survive; nowadays people are seekingfor the meaning of life. 由于技术的发展，生活本身不再是难题。
ii.                  People nowadays are muchbusier.
Since the whole livingenvironment changed a lot, some ideas may also alter significantly, thus it is rightto say people have huge changes in some aspects.





Is it true that research in history breakdown the incorrect image that people in one period significantly differs frompeople lived at other time? To answer this question, who should first discussthat whether people in different ages are totally distinctive or not; and thencan we know whether study of history does have this benefit.

It is true that under the superficial imagethat people in distinctive periods are totally different, the common base ofhuman beings has never changed. Firstly, all people, no matter in which periodof history, have some common instincts as an animal, for example, the instinctto survive, the instinct to eat, etc. When a human meets threats to his life,he will try to eliminate this threat and to keep his life. Can we say thatpeople in ancient time will struggle for living, while people nowadays will letthe death come?

Besides these basic needs, we also havesome psychological desires, which are also remained stable. All man, no matterhe is at which point of history, desire to be recognized as one member of thesociety: thus we find it is more likely for lonely people to be unhappy in alltime. He also desires to be cared, which gives rise to the situations thatpeople lack of love are more vulnerable to sadness. Moreover, it is everyone's desireto be outstanding repels the development of the society in all times.

Thus, in this case, the study of historydoes break down the illusion. For instance, the historians will tell us that throughoutall time, people has the strong desire to pursue truth, even sometimes itstands for death. It is well-known that Socrates, an ancient Greek philosopher,was sentenced to death because of his insistence on the fact. Socrates can surviveif he withdrew the truth. Thus he refused to escape from death. It was not onlyat that time can there be people who regard truth even more valuable than life,in modern time, Giordano Bruno, an Italian cosmologist, was burned at the stakeas a heretic, only because he supported the Copernican cosmology -- which wenow know is much nearer to the right idea of cosmos. The pursuit for correctnessas a virtue of human can be found in numberless people in the whole history ofhuman being, despite which history era they are in.

Although I concede that some basic traithas never changed, people in different periods have their own distinctivecharacteristics, which should not be overlooked. We cannot reject the fact thatpeople have different ideas about life. While in ancient times, people were satisfiedby mere survive; nowadays most people are seeking for the meaning of life. Thatmay be attributed to the growing the science and technology, and to merelysurvive is no longer a problem.  Also,most people would accept that people nowadays are much busier as they once were;this is because of the high-pace of modern life. Since the whole livingenvironment has been always changing, some ideas may also alter significantly,thus it is right to say that people have huge changes in some aspects.

In sum, to some extent, the study ofhistory does bring us some evidence about the stability in people regardless ofthe elapsing of time. However, it is arbitrary to say that it is totally anillusion that people in distinctive ages are significantly different, sincethere is something which has been changed.

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