issue241 [天下无G]doris的第7次作业

yan-dorisUID: 2261928

241An individual's greatness cannot be judged objectively by his or her contemporaries; the most objective evaluators of a person's greatness are people who belong to a later time.
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In our daily life, we usually passionately talk about the achievements of great men whatever they have been history or not. When concerning the question about who have the ability to objectively evaluate the greatness of individuals, it is really hard to offer   the certain authority to either the contemporary or later-time generation. As far as I am concerned, it should depend on the character of individual’s achievements such as immediate or long-term influence.

First of all, I believe that different people have different opinions on defining the word ' greatness', let alone the two distinctive generations. That is to say, the value of individual's achievement usually can be judged from different angles. The example about the famous Napoleon's discovery of  a new island, perhaps, will make the point clear. His devotion represents an important advancement for humankinds to understand the geology of world for researcher and scholars. However, for Holand, it's a landmark for her to catch the chance becoming thalassocrat while it was a misfortune for Portugal to lose the golden opportunity. So it is obvious that the definition and confirm of an individual's greatness differs from case to case.

Without considering the definition of greatness, in some cases, the contemporary people are able to recognize and confirm the value of a great man immediately. In the business field, for example, no one in the world will negate the great achievement of Microsoft's Bill Gates, who has greatly promote the development of technology in America and brought about the revolutionary improvement to rescue people from tedious work. His achievement and greatness has been confirmed by all of us, and there is no necessity to wait for later generation to approve. Similarly, when nurses and doctors fought against SARS virus to save patients in the danger of losing their own lives, we have been deeply touched and firmly confirmed  their greatness.

Admittedly, some great individuals who process profound thought and highly creative concepts usually need historical perspective to be identified and understood. The obvious example is the long process for people to recognize the value of Van Gogh's abstract masterworks while ironically he was ignored by his contemporary peers. In the scientific field, we usually need time to find facts and figures to confirm the value of scientists' theory like the Darwin’s evolution theory and Einstein's great relative theory, that is the reason why the Nobel Prize often require more than two decades to confirm an individual’s achievement. Of course, for Americans, they may use the historical perspectives to appreciate so many famous presidents’ great devotion to their country, like Thomas Jefferson who drafted the Declaration of Independence and Roosevelt ‘s devotion and help form the Great Depression of the United States.

In conclusion, whether the contemporary or later generation have the most objective judge of an individual's greatness depends on his character of the achievement as well as  different evaluating angles of people. What's the most important is  to think and learn the greats' spirits while making such objective judgement.

yan-dorisUID: 2261928

59"Too much emphasis is placed on role models. Instead of copying others, people should learn to think and act independently and thus make the choices that are best for them."
1.        In the complex circumstance with distinct and commonly-confirmed images in every aspects of lives, we are easily giving up careful judgement and choose to follow the mainstream.
2.        Considering the bad effect of imitating others blindly and losing own distinctiveness, we should learn to think and behave independently.
3.        It is wiser and safer to learn the good from others at first and then evaluate and think independently to make the best choice for us.
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40"Scholars and researchers should not be concerned with whether their work makes a contribution to the larger society. It is more important that they pursue their individual interests, however unusual or idiosyncratic those interests may seem."
1.        It is true that the first step to set on the journey of research usually comes from the individual interests.
2.        As social members, the sense of responsibility and obligation usually encourage scholars and researchers to realize self values and make contribution to the larger society.
3.        In order to promote the advancement of humankinds, the whole society should take measures to cultivate and protect the researchers’ interests and encourage them to make contribution to the country.
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171 "People who pursue their own intellectual interests for purely personal reasons are more likely to benefit the rest of the world than are people who try to act for the public good."
1. It is true that individual interests usually inspire people to work harder, which are the prerequisite for them to make a contribution to society.  
2. Over emphasis on own intellectual interests tends people to become selfish and short sighted, then ultimately bringing about damage to society.  E.g. Plagiarism in scientific work; corruption of government officials ;
3. Those who successfully combine intellectual interests and sincere devotion for the public good are valuable treasure for society and always play the decisive role in the development of social lives.

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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."
123"It is possible to identify a person's politics within a very short time of meeting him or her. Everything about people—their clothes, their friends, the way they talk, what they eat—reflects their political beliefs."
1.        It is a common sense for us that to observe a person’s look, dress, act is a good way to recognize and understand his character including attitude and interests.  E.g. an interview prepared by a company; the standard to make friends in social circles; Understanding a music singer from his dress, singing style and expression, etc.
2.        On the whole, the appearance and behavior of people usually reflect the contemporary ideas and values of the society.  E.g. Mark Twain;  the pursuit of individualism, freedom and democracy of Americans;
3.        Admittedly, in order to have a deeper understanding and confirm the first judgement of a person or a nation, we should take active measures such as communicating, doing research instead of superficially observing.  E.g.  a true friend is acquired by long-term understand rather than a nodding acquaintance; the custom and culture  of a nation usually need a person’s careful  observation and feeling;