[i习作temp] issue36 by ilovegouding 8.3 第十五次 [复制链接]

ilovegouding
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电梯直达

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发表于 2008-8-3 23:09:00 |只看该作者 |倒序浏览

题目：ISSUE 36 - "The greatness of individuals can be decided only by those who live after them, not by their contemporaries."
字数：593 用时：0:47:59 日期：2008-8-3
Whether one is great or not depends on only one single objective standard--what he or she did during lifetime is beneficial to or detrimental to the human progress. For this reason, the greatness of individuals more often than not can be better [apprehended] by those who live after them, thereby enjoying the benefit of historical perspective. However, it does not necessarily deny the possibility that their feats, in certain cases, can also be recognized by their contemporaries. History is replete with both kinds of examples.

To begin with, it is true that the great persons and their feats can be better appreciated and understood by their posterities, because with less historical limitation they can usually evaluate and judge more subjectively. On the one hand, one's greatness is never justified by any subjective viewpoints or personal interests of any persons. Great men do their part to promote, enhance, or accelerate human beings' advancement towards civilization. However, whether the influence of one’s activities on history is positive or negative has sometimes to be tested by the passing of time. Those who live after them, who are accordingly more informed and enlightened, naturally enjoy a better visual angle than their former generations to judge the contributions of those great persons. An example in point is Van Gogh, a famous painter who helped to develop the style of post-impressionism but who had sold out only one piece of his works during his lifetime and killed himself in desperation and predicament. The root of his life tragedy lies in the lack of understanding of his great works, which was too advanced for his contemporaries to understand. An even more striking example is Bruno. This great scientist [put forward] the theory of the infinity of universe, which appeared appalling to ordinary people of his time and even unacceptable to his peer scientists including the renowned astronomer Kepler. The greatness of Bruno waited a long time to be recognized and secured until science has gained development to a certain degree hundreds of years later.

On the other hand, in certain instances, people can and do readily recognize the contributions and achievements of their contemporary great men. For instance, American Founding Fathers, including Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and George Washington, used their outstanding courage and excellent leadership skills to help to start America as a country and establish its government. Without them, there may never have been the America’s independence, let alone its prosperity and well-being today. Therefore, they were regarded as great persons in their own time, as well as remembered and adored by today's American people. Furthermore, in certain fields of human endeavor like science, the benefits of which can be immediately felt and easily visible, the incubation period of greatness is much shorter. For example, Brin and Page, two Stanford graduates who co-founded Google, have almost become household names and idols of youths who aspire to achieve success in the field of computer science. Their [dedications] to improve the efficiency of surfing the internet for useful information are so tangible that their greatness become an obvious fact for most of us, even their company just celebrated its tenth birthday.

In conclusion, it is undeniable that oftentimes great persons can only be recognized by those who follow them due to certain historical limitations which their contemporaries were in no position to overcome. Nevertheless, the greatness of individuals is not necessarily decided by history especially when its positive influence on human civilization is apparent. Therefore, whether the greatness can be recognized immediately is a case-by-case rather than a definite issue.