[i习作temp] issue120 过去对现在无指导意义 [复制链接]

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电梯直达

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发表于 2007-7-30 22:10:06 |只看该作者 |倒序浏览

TOPIC: ISSUE120 - "So much is new and complex today that looking back for an understanding of the past provides little guidance for living in the present."
WORDS: 535

I tend to disagree with the assertion that knowing of past provides little guidance for present living since it ignores the importance of study of past, which actually bring much guidance.

Admittedly, there may not be any accurate prediction for future thought knowing the past. As we know, world updates each day. That is to say, the society is different from everyday and it is difficult for us to make accurate guidance though knowing the past in a newer and more complex society. The success in yesterday may not apply to today since the time and the condition are both different. That may be the reason why some people maintain that knowing the past provides no guidance for present living.

However, such assertion is misleading since it ignores the importance of studying the past. As far as I am concerned, it provides, in fact, much guidance to our life.

First, we can learn from the people who live before us through looking back the past. As saying puts it: "History teaches by examples" this view points out one kind of use of a study in past. We can not only study from the heroes but also the ordinary people who successfully walk out of the dilemmas with great courage. Take Helen Keller for example, a celebrated writer in history. She was deaf and blind when she was less than two years old. However, she never bent her knee to the disease. Her struggle for life have not only moved but also inspired thousands of people. Through knowing the past, we can learn from these people with amazing characters which can help us to conquer difficulty.

Secondly, we can avoid repeating the same mistakes made before through the study of past. We study the past events and try to analyze their causes and effects, which can show guidance for our decisions. For example, through the study of Prohibition, we learn to consider more to such issue as free speech, criminal justice and so forth. Also, the study of past tells us that it may cause bad effect to economics if the government intervenes the market too much since the market has capability to balance. We learn much from these studies of past and we are likely to consider more when making decision.

Thirdly, we can predict the future and take action to avoid the emergence of serious affect. The trend hidden behind the past is likely to continue in future. If the trend once leaded to bad affect, when it appears again, it will arouse our attention and take action to avoid the worse result. That is why many governments and economics pay more attention to such index as CPI (Consumer Price Index). History tells us that when CPI increased too much, there may follow a serious inflation which may cause the standard of living to go down. Since we get to know the trend in the past, we may feel more confident to solve the problem with the trend.

As what discussed above, we can get a conclusion that study of past is very important for us and we can learn much from it. At the same time, it also provides much guidance for present living.