Issue221 =August Rush=小组第4次作业 by lela900

lela900UID: 2634833

221. "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."

研究历史最大的好处就是打破了这种假象：不同时代的人们之间基本上是完全不同的。

观点:不赞同.不同之处仍然很多，

1。正：确实有相似之处。某些传统观点不会改变。例如，儒家思想。

2。反：不同之处仍然很多。

1。不同时代的人对同一问题看法随着社会进步而改变。人们更追求事物本质，抛弃谬论，更接近真理。比如哈维的血液循环。

2。人们对新事物的看法不同。比如，克隆……

3。反：研究历史的最大好处是学习经验教训来更好建设现在，并且教育后人。而不是揭示人与人之间是相同的

lela900UID: 2634833

Should the chief benefit of the study of history is to refute the theory that there exist significant differences between people in one period and those in any other time in history, as the speaker claims? Admittedly, I concede that there are some similarities in the people of different ages. Beyond the concession, I fundamentally disagree with the statement that such similarities are significant and the true chief benefit of studying history is the same as the author stated.

To begin with, there is no denying the fact that people in one period has some similarities to people in any other time of history. Actually, some traditional views on morality and religions have not been changed during hundreds of years although the whole society is progressing all the time. For example, in China, in any dynasty in history, people insist on believing some conventional morality（传统道德）, such as giving presents to the elders and superiors, showing respects for teachers, helping others with kindness, consulting others no matter who are better than me. Based on the merits of Confucianism， which was founded by the greatest philosopher called Confucius in history of China, such morality will also be rooted in the minds of Chinese for hundreds of years. Therefore, the similarities in people  of different ages are obvious.

However, we cannot ignore the significant differences in people in one period and those in any other time in history. Two respects below should be taken into consideration.

On one hand, people from different ages show different perspectives on the same objects. With the improvement of technology and the development of society, the discovery and analysis of nature and science help human beings to modify their awareness of the essence of objects. For instance, before William Garry, an English physician, discovered the circulation of the blood and the role of the heart in propelling it, the public had been still convinced of Garry’s theory that the venous(静脉) system and arterial (动脉)system was unrelated.

他没有认识到血液循环而认为静脉系统与动脉系统是无关的
On the other hand, ancient people had never been faced with such questions, which come into being gradually with the development of the society. History tells us parents had never been aware of the harm to a child who was addicted to computer games because there was no computer in the world until sixty years ago; governments had never been worried about the danger of environmental pollution because there were no toxic air and industry rubbish until Industry Revolution happened; biologists had never argued the theme of clone because they even did not known DNA and RNA until Watson and Crick discovered the exist of these two substances ; women had never realized the interests of studying because they even did not own the opportunity to receive education until women were liberated partly. In a word, due to the lack of technology and inventions, the ancients did not know more about the real world.

Finally，the chief benefit of the study of history is building a more harmonious society today via learning experience and lessons from history yesterday, rather than breaking down the illusion of differences in people of different ages. As Pearl Buck, an American female writer once said, “If you want to understand today, you have to search yesterday”. These words is used to point out that only by teaching people of present generation via history, can we really enlighten (启示) the coming generation in the future.

To sum up, relying on the aforementioned information, it is undoubted and reasonable to say that to some extent, there exist some similarities in people of different ages. Nevertheless, we cannot ignore the giant differences in them. What’s more, the true chief benefit of studying history is what human beings are always pursuing to get. Only clarifying such benefit, a nation can really build a harmonious society.