Issue221 [mettle小组]第五次作业by yaoqian0424

yaoqian0424UID: 2323517

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The chief benefit of the study of history is to break down the illusion that people in one period of time are significantly different from people who lived at any other time in history.
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The speaker asserts that the main function of the study of history is to correct the misleading conception that people from different time period are significantly different. This might be tempting to agree with the speaker when taking into account the common characteristics of people. However, the speaker overlooks the important differences among people in various period of time. Additionally, the chief function of history is far beyond this limitation.

We have to admit that people of different times have many points in common mainly because of the identical human nature hidden in the deep mind. For that matter, people equally share the same emotion, such as the desire for a better life, the motive to research the unknown, the fear for death and so on, no matter how time changes. We can see through the history of China that freedom is always the inner incentive of violent revolutions to turn over the despotic regime. From the first documented combat trigged off by two slaves named Chen sheng and Wu guang against the ruthless government of Qin Dynasty to the latest campaign aiming to overturn the corrupt regime of Kuomintang which was leaded by the Communists, it is easy to access to the conclusion that people's desire for the freedom have remained unchanged during thousands of years which contribute greatly to the advance of human society.

However, the above mentioned similarity should not blind us to the far more differences of people from diverse time period due to the ever-changed living conditions and the further understanding of nature and society.  Just like people's daily lives have dramatically changed with the pace of scientific and technological progress. For instance, one can acquire mass of information about the outside world with ease at present while people living in ancient time were incapable of being aware of the world beyond the quite limited area owning to the lack of instructions to travel around or communicate with others in which state, hardly did this group of people broad their sights to make any far-reaching improvement. In addition, the ways we view the world dose not remain the same any longer. In the feudal society, the emperor possessed the extreme power and utmost esteem form his people, hence anyone who disobeys the order of emperor would be punished brutally. However, at today's domestic society, it is comprehensively held that every one is born equal. Simply put, recognizing the different characteristics of people in different times enable us to judge the history more objectively and efficiently.

Anyway, to investigate whether people from different times are the same or not is not the mere objective of the study of history but rather a means to search for the essential rules of human development which hidden in the superficial phenomenon. It is the significant rules we gain from the study of history that will guide us with right direction to the brilliant future and help us to deal with the present problems efficiently. For example, we will learn good lessens from the former failure to avoid committing the similar fallacy. And we will acquire tremendous inspiration from the successful experience to fight against the hardship to success. In a word, what we should learn from the history is not the simple judgment on the common or unique characteristics of people but the rules of history which we can take advantage of.

In conclusion, one has to possess an objective and sharp mind when investigating the history to recognize both the differences and the similarity of people in different time period. And before he takes step forward he should be fully aware of the ultimate destination of studying history, that is, to court to the essential rules in history to help us settle the present events efficiently.
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