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TOPIC: ISSUE 225 - "People often look for similarities, even between very different things, and even when it is unhelpful or harmful to do so. Instead, a thing should be considered on its own terms; we should avoid the tendency to compare it to something else."
WORDS: 502 TIME: 上午 12:45:00 DATE: 2006-7-20
How was the radar invented out? How was the submarine firstly conceived out? Undoubtedly, all of such inventions and discoveries are devised and produced out from looking for the similarities. However, it does not follow that under any circumstances looking for the similarities among very different things, and sometimes it is necessary and helpful to consider certain things on their own terms. Only balance between the two factors can contribute to a great achievement.
In many situations, looking for similarities between different things is often helpful for progress. Scientific history is laden with such examples. Through finding the interconnectedness between the embryos of rabbits and that of human beings, we can obtain the necessary information and knowledge for understanding and mastering the process of human beings' growth as an embryo in the mother's womb. Why we can do like this? Because it is not convenient to directly research human bodies, meanwhile, both rabbits and human beings are mammals, and scientists propose that they may be consistent in the process of growth. Similarly, since rat and human being are both mammals, we can take this advantage to serve our human beings in scientific research, especially in the medical research. Because a new kind of pill could not be applied in human bodies directly, and the similarities between rat and human in physiology, rat are use to be the substitute in many researches. Thus we can see the benefits from looking for the similarities between different things.
While there are so many benefits through looking for similarities, we cannot overlook the importance and the significance of considering certain things on their own terms. Consider the example that a doctors' diagnosis of appendix inflammation. If a doctor simply looks for the similarities among different kinds of abdomen ache, he or she would make mistake when he meet a patient who is suffering from appendix inflammation, because he may mistake it for a gastritis or a diarrhea, or even a inflammation of the patients pancreas. The end result is obvious that the disease would be delayed, the patient would be suffering more and more, ultimately the doctor would be sentenced by virtue of his oblivion. By this case we can easily find the importance of not only looking for similarities but also considering a thing on its own terms.
In any fields of research, and even in any field of human endeavor, it is important to strike the balance between looking for similarities and considering a certain thing on its own terms. Only attain the combination of the two factors can we benefit ourselves to the largest sense. Comparing a thing to something else can often enlighten us to some extent, such as the persuasive paradigms as bat and radar, fish and submarine, so on and so forth. At the same time, we should recognize the significance of considering a thing on its own terms, for it can help to prevent us from being blind to the differences between things. Thus we can avoid making too much mistakes. |
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