issue189 If people disregard the great works of the past

turtle24UID: 122933

189. “If people disregard the great works of the past, it is because these works no longer answer the needs of the present.”

In the question, the author seems to assume that people disregard the past great works for the reason that they do not have immediate practical value. It may be true in the sense that most people today are strictly utilitarian. However, I do not think it is the only reason for the phenomenon. There are three main reasons for their ignorance, regardless of they are intentional or not, of the human achievements in the past.

While I agree that works do not have applied values to people’s lives or cannot solve their present problems are sometimes overlooked by people, it is most likely that people have no idea of how to appreciate or preserve the old great works. The preservation of historical architectural buildings is a good example. One may often see that some old buildings are all but shabby and are built upon broken pieces of stones. It may be the government does not have much money to preserve the historical buildings as it thinks they could not serve their present needs. Other than out of the responsibility to respect the past, these buildings of historical values could bring them value beyond history. “Xintindi”, a new shopping and commercial complex best demonstrates this. Originally an ancient form of architectural style solely found in Shanghai, they had been clusters of shabby houses in the eyes of Chinese. With refurbishment and urban planning, nevertheless, they now become a conspicuous landmark in China. More than a tourist attraction, the buildings are now rented out to cinemas, restaurants and offices. As seen from the example above, the author’s assertion is true in that historical buildings people’s needs rather than purely recording history at a particular period. However, as for classical music and literature, people disdain them is in large measure due to lacking of appreciation training on a particular discipline or artist.

The reasoning behind this is that great works are classified as “great” in the sense that one could not understand simply by listening or reading the pieces a few times. It is superficial to appreciate a great work like this. For example, when one explores Dente’s Divine Comedy, one needs to study his life thoroughly and his other writings’ styles. Likewise, one needs to know why Bach includes the religious elements in his symphonies and the difference in style between Bach and other composers of his age. For modern people who are engaged in their busy schedules, do they have much leisure time to study the life of Dente and Bach while reading or listening to their works? I personally doubt it. But does it necessarily mean their works have no present value? Definitely not. At least, reading Dente will let one know how Marx’s thought being affected and listening to Bach will teach one the typical structure of classical music. In view of busy life, nevertheless, people today will choose to read Stephen King’s Misery and Michael Jackson’s Black or White.

Lastly, for those who are struggling to make both ends meet, it is impractical for them to understand or appreciate the great works of the past, be they paintings, buildings or literature. Their ignorance does not imply they do not answer the needs of the present, as the author claims, but simply because of the fact that when people’s basic needs cannot be satisfied, let alone the appreciation to aesthetics, history and the like.

In conlusion, people have various reasons to disregard the great works of the past. Lack of appropriate training to access those works, busy life with too many things to do but too little time and satisfaction with people’s basic needs first are also attributing to the cause.

爱玲UID: 101761

我觉得写的很好！

一个小建议，讲建筑的哪个例子，好象稍微长了点。我觉得可以精简，毕竟还是说理比较重要。

另外，语言上还可以更加精细地道些。