Issue150 【Persistence 小组】第21次作业

iamstoicUID: 2294314

150"Because of television and worldwide computer connections, people can now become familiar with a great many places that they have never visited. As a result, tourism will soon become obsolete."


According to the speaker, tourism will become obsolete soon because people can now be familiar with a large amount of places where they have never been with the help of worldwide computer connections and television. I strongly disagree. I concede that it is not necessary for people to travel in a few respects. In most respects, however, these new media serve as poor substitutes for tourism.

Admittedly, owing to technological advancements that give rise to such tools as internet and television which could connect people all over the world, individuals living in one place can acquire the knowledge of the conditions even of the opposite side of the globe without stepping out of their house. For instance, one of the television programs – “National Geographic Channel” present multitudes of the scenes at various places all over the world, not only bringing about much pleasure but also instruction to the children. Were there no such channels, people would be less likely to learn those extraordinary landscapes and interesting stories broadcasted on the programs because it would be rather prohibitive for individuals to travel to all the places. Moreover, in the past, people traveled for the sake of attaining some important information, whereas nowadays such media as the worldwide computer connections and program televised will enable them to obtain some meaningful information and at the same time save the time and money that would be spent on tourism.

However, under some circumstances tourism holds advantages over television as well as computer connections. As a matter of fact, people travel so as to relax and  try to be close to nature in most cases. For that matter, it is through tourism, rather than communication on the internet, that people will gain direct experience and thus broaden their horizons. Although the magnificent sights can be seen on the television or computer, there is far more to gain from tourism than what you can hear and see. For instance, when you travel to an interesting place you have never been to, you should appreciate it via its delicious food, friendly natives, mild climate and so on. What you see in the real world may be somewhat different from what you learn in the television or computer, since you may find yourself as a part of that place when you are really in it. Furthermore, people should adjust themselves to the totally new place, and thus tourism will provide them with the ability of accommodation and socialization, which is vitally important in the real world full of rapid change probably leading to psychological displacement.

In the final analysis, the speaker’s claim overstates the importance of television and worldwide computer connections and understates the tourism, at least to some extent. When people cannot afford to travel especially for a long distance, these tools are inherently more advantageous since they can offer almost the accurate and complete information about the place where they wish to go. However, what we view through a camera lens provides only one dimension of the life in the places we do not know about; tourism will always be needed to provide real experience for us.



[ 本帖最后由 iamstoic 于 2007-2-21 20:27 编辑 ]