No one can possibly achieve success in the world by conforming to conventional practices and conventional ways of thinking.
In the world facing with drastic changes, conforming to conventional practices and conventional ways of thinking will stifles the development of human beings. Innovation is the great power to impel the society for great success; the stubborn conforming will be an impediment for progress. When it comes to the aspects of science and arts, innovation is more important, while when it comes to the society, consistence and stability should put the priorities.
The scientific world needs certain proposition such as innovation and creativity, which is the impetus for all the progress. Totally obey the old rules and conform to the old theory will do no contribution to the procedure we seek the truth, because scientific world need consistent innovation instead of stubborn conformability. And the history our human beings gain every progress in the scientific world is replete with the examples that the old theory turns out to be fault which means the conformability will be harmful to the development of human beings. Considering the fact when Copernicus first declared the sun-centered theory, many people scored at him or even gived him huge persecution for his blasphemy. His theory is not corroborated until Galileo used his own telescope to prove this fact, but it is many years later. The conformability inevitably stifles the real freedom development of science.
The art world is always full of different schools and creative products. Considering the "impressionist" in the 18th century, when Monet and Renoir firstly emphasized the light in painting, this unconventional way of painting didn't gain most people's acknowledge at first. But the glory of the impression cannot be veiled by the conventional value of aesthetics, it turns out to be huge success in the development of art history. The examples of Beethoven and Mozart are also compelling to substantiate their success is rooted in their innovation and creativity but no the conformability.
On the other hand, our society needs a stable and consistent environment for development. When it comes to certain society aspects such as politics and laws, conformability to the conventional practices and conventional ways of thinking will do benefit. If everyone break the laws and pay no attention to the traditional value system, it will become extremely confused for the society. In order to achieve success in the world, we inevitably should obey certain rules guiding all the human being such as tolerance and virtue.
In sum, I concede that certain obedience in a complex society is necessary not only for one self’s development but also for the society. Conventional practice and thinking mode do have their merits to exist through the history, but in the intricate world which is challenging us with new problems such as environmental protection and research outside the earth, innovation is more important especially in the aspects of science and arts.
[ Last edited by staralways on 2005-7-25 at 18:24 ]