issue36 [四海一家]第二次作业 恳请拍砖

aiduduUID: 2264857

TOPIC: ISSUE36 - "The greatness of individuals can be decided only by those who live after them, not by their contemporaries."
WORDS: 435         TIME: 0:45:00          DATE: 2007-2-2

Can the person's greatness be recognized by those who live after the person? In my point of view, the speaker unfairly generalizes. Admittedly, people recognize the greatness of individuals from the benefits of historic perspective due to the restriction of the time, including the limitation of the knowledge, the social authorities and the culture. However, there are some people who are admired by their contemporaries.

With the benefit of historic perspective, the people who live after the person can decide his greatness without the limitation of his time. The can jump out of the restriction of the social authorities of that time. For instance, Galileo who is a significant scientist was punished by the authorities because of he stood out to support Copernicus’ heliocentric theory by showing the evidence from his observation. It is absolutely a significant discovery while nobody at that time decided its greatness because of the pressure of the authorities. Furthermore, with the higher level of development, people who live after the people with great contribution are more open-minded to appreciate those fabulous woks. For example, Van Gogh who is known as the world famous artist was not admired even treated holistically at his time. Nobody treated him as the gifted painter, and they did not like his works as well. Furthermore the people who live after the individuals with greatness have the advantage to evaluate the great persons and their contributions from all aspects. What is more important is that they can see the influence of the greatness much clearer. Many theories and artistic works did not glare at their initial time, but their contribution influence the way people think and even create some new schools. Take Freud for example, His psychoanalytic theories, which initially met with hostility, profoundly influenced 20th-century thought.

It is true that the people who live after the person with great contribution have advantages to decide his greatness. However, they may mislead by the historic records as well. In addition, there are many people admired by their contemporaries as well.

The contemporary people can also recognize the greatness of individuals at their time, because they have the opportunities to know the person face to face and go through the changes leading by the contribution of the great person. Roosevelt was the only U.S. President to be reelected three times. He is one of the most popular presidents in American’s history. His New Deal Policy helped the American's economy recover from the depression and the World War II. And in the realm of business, there are many outstanding businessmen who are admired by their contemporaries. For instance, Bill Gates' contribution won him highly reputation. He created the Dos and the Window operating system and brings the personal computer into our daily lives. Henry Ford’s assembly-line approach brought a great impact on the American economy and the modern world as well. The people at their time experience the benefits of their contribution and innovations themselves. In other words, they are qualified to decide the greatness of the these individuals

In sum, the greatness of individuals can not only be decided by those who live after them, but also by their contemporaries. It is considered case to case. However, there is no doubt that if we improve the level of the democracy and the space of freedom, we will have our mind broaden and our thoughts more critical. As a consequence, we will discover more individuals with greatness.
是限时写的，写出来觉得不像样，恳请给与指点。谢谢

vincentshinUID: 2246176

Seeing the examples presented above, I have to remind you of this critical problem: the example of Galileo was fundamentally proscribed by ETS, as well as:
• Copernicus disproved the geo-centric theory
• Galileo carried on Copernican theory and/or his suffering from the Inquisition
• Einstein and the theory of relativity
• Isaac Newton’s discovery of gravity
• Darwin’s evolutionary theory
Anyone who repeats these examples in their essays is very likely to be considered as a cheater.

[ 本帖最后由 vincentshin 于 2007-2-5 09:29 编辑 ]