[i习作temp] issue36 请重拍 [复制链接]

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电梯直达

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发表于 2008-2-29 22:46:20 |只看该作者 |倒序浏览

Issue 36 "The greatness of individualscan be decided only by those who live after them, not by theircontemporaries."

Who can evaluate the greatness ofindividuals? The speaker asserts only people living after them have thisability. However, in my observation, we cannot answer this question until weknow who is able to recognize this individual’s contribution. Therefore, theanswer varies from case to case.

In the area of science, great achievementsusually cannot be recognized by contemporaries so that the greatness ofindividual must be recognized in a historical perspective. There are three mainreasons for this point. Firstly, great scientific discovery or new theory maycompletely overthrow people’s traditional view on certain problems. Thus mostcontemporary people consider such theory is too radical to be accepted. One aptillustration is Copernicus’ discovery that the sun is the center of theuniverse instead of earth. Due to being contrary with the perspective inBibles, Copernicus’s theory was regarded as heresy at that time. And people whopublish Copernicus’s theory would be punished, even being sentenced to death,not to say of recognizing Copernicus’s greatness. Secondly, with thedevelopment of science, some theory might be disproved tomorrow, therebydemoting the theorist’s status in history. Thirdly, some scientific hypothesis confinedto current research condition cannot be proved immediately. For instance, eventhough the theory of cosmic explosion which explains the origin of universe is mathematicallycorrect, we still lack exact observed evidence, which needs the efforts offuture scientists.

However, in the field of business whereindividual’s contribution can be recognized at a glance, the right to recognizeindividual’s greatness belongs to contemporaries. For instance, the success ofMicrosoft Company does not only bring Bill Gates large amount of money, butalso help him gain a reputation as most successful enterprise in the world. Hissuccess has been recognized by contemporary people and he is adored by manyyoung people.

As to the realm of art, things are quitecomplex. In some cases great achievements is recognized immediately, whileothers are not. On the one hand, Mark Twain’s vivid description of life on Mississippi River won him immediate fame as the mostpopular writer in American history, while Michelangelo’s artistic greatness immediatelywas recognized by the Pope who granted him most generous commissions. On theother hand, Van Gush’s painting was regarded to be too abstruse to beunderstood by people in his time, which ultimately resulted in Van Gush’stragedy, while Shakespeare was criticized by some literature critics astreacherous and a fancy exhibitor.

In sum, the speaker unwarrantedly generalizeshis view toward evaluation of the greatness of people. Actually, who can decidethe greatness of individual depends on who is able to recognize the achievementsof this person, which varies from case to case.

[i习作temp] issue36 请重拍 [复制链接]

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