issue208 第五次作业

leongfishUID: 2176854

TOPIC：ISSUE 208 - "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：408          TIME：1:00:30          DATE：2006-1-21

It is commonly believed that the way people look, dress and act reveals their attitudes and interests which further reflects the society's ideas and values. However, the appearance and action of people do not always reflect their values and notions, and people's values and notions do not always mean those of the society either.

Admittedly, sometimes the outside exhibition can reveal one's thoughts and society's characters, especially in the aspect of religion. The religious beliefs would influence and limit people's look and act: in the Islamic countries, women are ordered to wear black veils--which prevent their face from unacquainted men--and are not allowed to stay outside for long; while the Buddhism asks its disciples to shave all their hair and to eat only vegetables everyday which represent driving out all the evil desires .As a result by observing the outside of people we can tell their religion and furthermore we may get a glimpse of the godliness of their specific society.

However, it is partial to conclude the whole values and interests by only noticing one's appearance and behaviors, since it is the internal (like the knowledge, the characters and so on) that truly reflects one's attitudes. If we focus on the outside feints, we will always make mistakes. It is just that if a Dlemocrat and a Republican wear the same formal clothes, speak in similar accents, we can hardly point them out. The best way to distinguish them is to talk with them so as to understand their point of views on policy. Therefore, although people's viewpoints can influence their dress and action, the latter can hardly decide the former solely.

More, a society's ideas and values do include much more than how its people think and act. The essence of a society is actually a historical process of deposition--the accumulation of its cultures, traditions and customs. A society without its history is just like a skyscraper without the base. So besides researching on its actuality, we have to read about its history, namely the progress of people's views and notions. What's more, as a component of the whole human world, every society interacts on other ones. By study the foreign societies, which includes both of their people and history, we can acquire sound comprehension.

In conclusion, only by learning people's appearance and actions, the previous history, and other foreign societies can we get a better impression of the inherence of a society.

[ 本帖最后由 staralways 于 2006-1-25 20:58 编辑 ]