第4次issue模考作文，恳请大家猛拍，多提建议

zhufengchUID: 2695107

TOPIC: ISSUE40 - "Scholars and researchers should not be concerned with whether their work makes a contribution to the larger society. It is more important that they pursue their individual interests, however unusual or idiosyncratic those interests may seem."
WORDS: 488
TIME: 00:45:00
DATE: 2010-3-13 11:04:56

In this statement, the speaker contends that the interests are more important than making contribution to the larger society for scholars and researchers, no matter how unusual or idiosyncratic those interests are. It is admitted that interests play a very crucial role in the scientific endeavors; however, in my view, when it comes to the fields which scholars or researchers usually engage, whether they can bring benefits for the greater good of public oftentimes determines the significance of their work. Thus, a balance should be sought in the 'conflict' between individual interests and public interests.

Admittedly, in any circumstance, I acknowledge that interests are of great importance to the career of scholars and researchers. When we look back for the past, a great number of historical empirical examples have compellingly illustrated this point. Consider the scientists such as Newton, or James Watt, if we assume that they had no interests in their respective endeavor at all, could they achieve great accomplishments like the laws of motion, or great improvement of steam engine? Undoubtedly, no. An interest provides ever-lasting drive and helps inspire a person to make more discoveries.

However, I feel hard-pressed to think that researchers or scholars only focuses on their own interest, regardless of what significance their studies would be to the larger society. Einstein had advised the young aspiring to be researchers as follows: a true researcher should always concern the human itself--which should be the main goal for any technological work. If a researcher totally neglects whatever contributions to a society and only delves into his or her academic study, the consequence might be counterproductive. For example, researchers study the cloning technology and even try to clone the human beings just because of their interests; the potential harm is obvious and such practice should not be tolerated.


Finally, I argue that individual interests are not completely contrary to the good of the larger society. If a researcher finds that his or her career can bring benefits for society, it is fortunate. For most of researchers, such cases might be rare, or they had not considered in this level. Well, since there are so many fields for research, and in any one field, there are still various branches, I am hopeful that to strike a balance between one's own interest and making contribution to society would not that hard as imagined before.

In the final analysis, without an intense interest in some specific, I am afraid that anyone, including scholar and researcher usually fails to make great progress. Meanwhile, as the scientific research should take as a main goal making greater benefits for people as a whole, scholars or researchers are thus required to focus more on this respect. As a solution, it is suggested that they could try to find the joint which links their interest with the contribution to a society, which proves not very difficult considering such innumerous fields in research.