Issue208 【Persistence 小组】第27次作业

iamstoicUID: 2294314

TOPIC: ISSUE208 - "The way people look, dress, and act reveals their attitudes and interests. You can tell much about a society's ideas and values by observing the appearance and behavior of its people."
WORDS: 375          TIME: 0:45:00          DATE: 2007-2-27

According to the speaker one can tell much about the ideas and values of a society by observing the way people look, dress, and act, which reveals people's attitudes and interests. I concede that in some cases the appearance and behavior of people are in accord with the ideas and values of that society; otherwise, from my perspective, the way in which people look or dress has nothing to do with their communities.

Admittedly, in some parts of the world, people's behavior as well as the appearance can represent the values and ideas of that society. In ancient times, the clothes people wore were often made from leaves and other raw materials, while, in modern times, the clothes are from cloth even precious silk. It is not difficult for one to recognize that the idea of ancient society was to keep people away from cold and, on the contrary, that the value of modern society is to enjoy life because people are no longer worried about the cold. Even in the same period, how people behavior are still distinct among some countries: when meeting a friend, the Japanese bow while Chinese shake hands. For the most part, the way people dress or act is affected by the custom and culture of the society where they are, and thus their appearance and behavior, associated with their community, can demonstrate the ideas and values of that society, at least to some extent.

However, in this era of globalization or westernization, only by observing the appearance and behavior of the most residents, one cannot easily tell some about a society's values, let alone tell much. Thanks to the development of transportation, technology and communication system, when people in one parts of the world wear certain clothes, individuals in other parts, even in the opposite side, can share the clothes with the same style and color. However, such same appearances cannot justifiably indicate that the two societies have the values in common. Moreover, due to the rapid pace of modern life, people are likely to behave or dress in a simple manner during the working days. For this reason, some specific clothes and behavior that may appear in some particular occasions and be the characteristic of that society cannot always be seen. Accordingly, the way people look, dress or act cannot possibly reveal much about the society.

Furthermore, the appearance and behavior of the people is not the perfect way to help one have a sense of the ideas and values of that society. Rituals and ceremonies which serve to define a culture can tell much about the society, for the reason that they are handed down from successive generations and are contributing to the cultures in the society. How people dress, look and act in the rituals and ceremonies are shaped by the community they belong to, and thus have much to do with the group. What is more, politics whose goal is to achieve the happiness for the greater can also describe the values of that society under some circumstances.

In the final analysis, I generally disagree with the threshold claim insofar as the author places too much emphasis on the appearance and behavior. In reality, not only may the way people look, dress and act reveal some of the values and ideas in that society, but also some other factors - such as rituals, traditional custom, politics – can help convey the attitudes and interests of the people and thus tell much about that society.