[REBORN FROM THE ASHES][comment][01.22]

敛寒影UID: 2613052

The purpose of the example is to show that contradictions, inconsistencies, and paradoxes are perfectly acceptable.


Is it true, as he says, that we are not free to be ourselves because we are constrained by the times and culture we live in?

Although conformity can be interpreted as a loss of freedom, without it society would be reduced to chaos.


However, many times our dissatisfaction with the demands of society is because we have forgotten the benefits of conformity. Whenever we join a group, we share in the benefits, advantages, and power. And conformity is the price we pay to gain admission to that group.

By conforming to mutual expectations, they can transform a living hell to an earthly paradise. Such is the power and freedom we can gain by conforming to the greater good. When we learn to do so because of our concern for the rights of others, we grow in spiritual awareness and help to make the world a better place.


Every man is more than just himself; he also represents the unique, the very special and always significant and remarkable point at which the world's phenomena intersect, only once in this way and never again." So, to relinquish our identity by following the crowd is to deny the world of our potentially unique contribution.


We owe all progress, discoveries, and breakthroughs to those few men and women who had the courage to be different. Their differences made all the difference to the world.

Comment:

The author claim that the contradictions are reconcilable,which recalls me one philosopher’s saying that the two aspects of inconsistency is interacted with each other,accelerating progress.Referring to conformity and individuality,the freedom and restriction is both necessary.

As the author states,we always complain that we are not free to be ourselves because we are constrained by the times and culture we live in, but without conformity,been interpreted as a loss of freedom,society would be reduced to chaos.

In my opinion,freedom is an conception relative to limitation.Without restriction,we have no feelings of freedom,and the truly freedom we should persue(pursue) is rebuilt on the basis of confine of law and formula.

The author points out several pieces of advantage and disadvantage in conformity and individuality.
Conform to mutual expectations, we grow in spiritual awareness and help to make the world a better place.At the same time,we get more pleasure and much more power solving problems.Contrarily,it means relinquish our uniqueness,which we owe all progress, discoveries, and breakthroughs to those few men and women who had the courage to be different. Their differences made all the difference to the world.

We are in such a society that everyone chase for novelty and innovation,and the individual development has been emphasized so high that team cooperation has been neglected.As a result of that,most children lack the character of torlerance(tolerance) and the ability of teamwork,which most of achievement relies on.We should not ignore conformity and meantime,we should enough individual development.Like the author said,dare to be youself,and I would like to add an attributive that under certain rules.

tequilawineUID: 2702008

fed up with
受够了…

unscrupulous  [ʌn'skru:pjuləs;ʌn'skru:pjələs]   

adj. 肆无忌惮的，不道德的

1 The answer is that both are true. "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" is true over the short term and "Out of sight, out of mind" is true over the long term.
2 The purpose of the example is to show that contradictions, inconsistencies, and paradoxes are perfectly acceptable.
3 For life is complex. It can never be reduced to a simple statement. It cannot be described in black and white terms. When we grasp this truth, it helps us to see things differently. We learn to question, probe, and search for the bigger picture. Even the greatest of minds will occasionally slip and fail to see the big picture because they mistakenly believe that contradictions are irreconcilable.
4 Take Euripides (485? ~ 406 BC), for example, he said, "No man on earth is truly free. All are slaves of money or necessity. Public opinion or fear of prosecution forces each one, against his conscience, to conform."
5 The truth is individuality and conformity are merely different sides of the same coin. We cannot have one without the other.
6 What should the goal of our lives be other than being ourselves?
除了做我们自己以外生命的目的还是什么？
7 Although we were all born equal, we were all born different. Although we all share the same fears, feelings, and fancies, we express them differently. Although there may be little difference between one person and another, that little difference is VERY important.
8 For as Hermann Hesse (1877 ~ 1895) wrote, "Every man is more than just himself; he also represents the unique, the very special and always significant and remarkable point at which the world's phenomena intersect, only once in this way and never again."
9 how must we express our uniqueness? Isn't it by conforming to our conscience, conforming to our higher selves, conforming to the person we wish to become, conforming to our dreams, and conforming to our principles? How can we become better than we are until we first become what we are? The key to a successful life is always one of balance. It is no different here. We need to balance conformity with individuality. Both are necessary.
10 Too often we act out of habit.
11 Yes, we need to conform, but not at the price of abandoning reason and common sense.
12 A quote attributed by Robert Green Ingersoll to Ferdinand Magellan (1480 ~ 1521) is a example, which writes, "The church says the earth is flat; but I have seen its shadow on the moon, and I have more confidence even in a shadow than in the Church."
13 When you dare to be different, expect to be assailed.
14 Besides, it is as Mignon Mclaughlin (b. 1915) said, "Every society honors its live conformists and its dead troublemakers."
15 When doing so, keep in mind the words of Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 ~ 1900): "The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently."
16 I'll end with another Nietzsche quote, "You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist." So, dare to be yourself!

comment

I have to say this is my essay. The article just for me illustrates how to write a passage. It is very elegant and clear, without any difficulties in understanding strange words or exorbitant sentences. Quoting from some celebrities, it just redounds the cogency of the stance.

Stop the cliché on that. Maybe we should focus on the essay itself. I am dubious that how the author elicits the topic by the adduction, maybe more convincing but a little confusing for me, with relevant relationship. What I mean is not only whether its viewpoint concentrates on conformity versus individuality but also how the writer expresses his attitude logically.

In order to figure it out, I read it several times, finally, got the clue. Author structured his essay with outline of both sides---conformity and individuality, then illustrate it at both sides, to explain why we need both. Instead of unilateral inference, we got across-the-board overlook of this issue without subjective judgment. That’s the point. For life is complex.

We learn to question, probe, search for the bigger picture. When we grasp the truth, it helps us to see things differently. Here comes good lesson.
Relavent
relevant

prettywraithUID: 197049

这样的题材不错。

Comments (2010-01-22):
In this essay, there are numerous good sentences worthy of remembering. To recite the whole passage is a nice choice. Author uses simple words to illustrate the relationship between conformity and individuality clearly. And with quoting many famous people's adage, author makes his essay more powerful. For the conformity and individuality this old topic, like the freedom and restriction, they had been debated in thousands years. But author argues this topic thoroughly, and make me think deeply. Especially, he give us some useful suggestion to deal with the problem of "conformity or individuality" in real life.

However, there is still one key point, how to balance conformity with individuality, which author only mentions it with few words. In this passage, he only advises us to question others, question our own, and dare to be different. Admittedly, facing this difficult problem, this essay is too short to analyze further. Moreover, there is not one general answer to tell people how to manipulate the relationship between conformity and individuality. At times, how to balance the problem is more likely an art. Actually, everyone has their own tricks to harmonize his life in this contradiction. This passage may only bring people one well beginning. Thinking by yourself, there will be more distinct picture in your mind.

Wrong Spelling：
Balance  blance
Passage  pasage
Admittedly  Adimittedly

jilinlinUID: 2396929

     Comments: 01.22
It is a well-presented essay that full of beautiful phrases and sentences. There are a lot of useful examples and quotations in it.
     “The truth is individuality and conformity are merely different sides of the same coin.” Conformity is significant and beneficial in that it can ensure the peace and harmony of society. Individuality is the unique reactions toward the same fears, feelings, and fancies that we should not relinquish.
      We should treasure both conformity and individuality and strike a balance between them. Individuality inspire people to fulfill their self actualization which stimulating persons’ potentialities to make discoveries, inventions and innovations. We need to conform, but not at the price of abandoning individuality.
      Many Asian students lack creativity that we would like to do what someone else do. This is the consequence of placing too much emphasis on conformity rather than individuality in schools which seriously inhibit the imagination and innovative spirit of pupils. Educators should realize the educational deviation and begin to encourage them to be different.

dingyi0311UID: 2627919

My comment

This work is very inspiring and address the issue of conformity and individuality in a perspective that I have never think about. Most time, I tend to set this completely opposite concept apart and argue with separately and in afraid of make my article’s logic line blur. This article yet tells me how to talk about this kind of topic in a twisted way. Moreover, many of the view point are quite creative. The examples and the sayings quoted are very relevant and persuasive. All in all, this article is excellent, I will recite it as soon as possible.