- 最后登录
- 2009-6-1
- 在线时间
- 0 小时
- 寄托币
- 408
- 声望
- 0
- 注册时间
- 2006-8-14
- 阅读权限
- 25
- 帖子
- 2
- 精华
- 0
- 积分
- 369
- UID
- 2242021

- 声望
- 0
- 寄托币
- 408
- 注册时间
- 2006-8-14
- 精华
- 0
- 帖子
- 2
|
发表于 2007-2-22 01:29:47
|显示全部楼层
147."Tradition and modernization are incompatible. One must choose between them."
Must we choose between tradition and modernization, as the author claims? I agree that in certain cases, the two are so different, we should make an option. However, for the most cases, modernization does not exclude tradition; the two can integrate together.
Firstly, we should admit that in some instances, modernization indeed reject tradition. This is especially true when we refer to certain values, beliefs and customs. Gender inequality had been a center issue in the past few years. In the past, sex discrimination in American life was so seriously, that women had no right to get the same workplace, occupations, wages, health care, education as men. Thanks to feminist movement all these year, now women gain the basic right as men and the sense of equality of men and women has been accepted by most people in the world. Modernization and tradition are mutually exclusive in this case. Certain customs, such as a man could marry two wives in old society of China, are also abolished by Chinese government. All these examples here contribute to the fact that in some cases, we have to make an optional between modernization and tradition.
While in many other areas, the modernization embrace the tradition for modernization just the extension and variation of tradition. A case in point is language. Even if we add many new words which are unique to modern cultures, the modern language is derived from basic traditional vocabularies. If we keep on rejecting the traditional vocabularies, we will found we have nothing to express ourselves. Some modern technologies, also build upon tradition. Let us take a look at a common example from compute science. Now the computer programmes vary a lot from their different functions. Even all these programmes are so complex that the basic design ideas are always follow the principle--up-down. These programmes also can not be designed without the programme languages, for example C, C++, JAVA, VB. New design methods also can not deny these basic elements. They also build upon these languages and design idea. In other word, new methods in some area are only extension and tradition of the traditional methods.
Furthermore, even sometimes modernazition conflic to tradition, the tradition does not have to yield to the modernization. When it comes to historic architecture in big cities, many people claims that it is urbanization that destroys a large number of old architectures. Some cities indeed choose to replace these old buildings by high modern buildings and large mansions. While other cities, choose to protect old buildings by reform some part of them. A case in point is the Forbidden City in Beijing. Forbidden City is seated in central of Beijing city. Though the road and buildings around it have been reformed, the most essential part of Forbidden City is preserved there. Now, it becomes a famous place of interest in Beijing which attracts a large number of tourists from all over the world. In the realm of science, even some classical theories prove to have some mistakes in modern society, we have no right to deny the entire theory for some parts of it plays a vital part of instruction in daily life. We only have to modify the principles according to the fact we observed. All these examples above show us that tradition can be accepted by modernization through reform in some cases.
In sum, sometimes modernization can embrace tradition, while sometimes not. Even tradition conflict to modernization, we do not to choose between them all the time; in some cases, tradition can be reformed and then embraced by modernization. |
|