issue36 有拍必回^_^

surreal_stevenUID: 2239190

TOPIC: ISSUE36 - "The greatness of individuals can be decided only by those who live after them, not by their contemporaries."

观点：有些人的greatness的确要靠后人确立，有些人不用，有保留赞成
body1：理论物理学中，greatness往往靠后人。例子：有关光的理论的建立和完善
body2：在商业领域中往往greatness被立即承认。例子bill gates 和 buffett
body3：在艺术领域中有些人被立刻承认eg 约翰斯特劳斯和nicole kidman 但van gogh就不是了，所以要case by case 的看待问题。

Can one's greatness be recognized only by the people who live after him or her, as the speaker assert? In my point of view, the speaker unfairly oversimplifies this complicated issue. In some area, for example, the physical science, the greatness of the individual，in the most case, must be judged over long time before it can be confirmed. In other area, especially the business, greatness is often recognizable in its incipient stages. While in the area such as art, the conclusion varies from case to case.

In the most case, we require a rear-view mirror to recognize the greatness of a scientist, for example a physical scientist, because it is quite difficult to identify the feat without the benefit of historical perspective. Almost any scientific theory, no matter how authority it seems in its time, might be disclosed to be incomplete or even wrong after the centuries of rigorous scientific scrutiny. As we can see, in the 17th century, Newton thought that the light was composed by certain countless fine particles and he established the particle theory of light. No one questioned this theory because Newton is the authority in this field. However, in 19th century, after the study of the interference and diffraction phenomena of the light, especially after the establishment of Mexwell's theory of electromagnetism, the scientists generally accept the fact that light was a kind of wave. However, in the early 20th century, Einstein established the wave-particle duality theory, which is identified as the most successful and complete theory of light. In short, the significance of contributions made by the theoretical scientists can only be judged by the scientists who follow them because such theory needs to be tested by time.

By contrast, in the realm of business, the great achievement is often recognizable immediately. The richest man in the world, Bill gates, as the founder and the leader of the empire of Microsoft, can be a good example. His DOS and Windows operating system are identified as revolutionary products, which restore the America to the status of technological leader and economic powerhouse of the world. Another excellent example of such unquestionable individual greatness is Warren Buffett, the famous American financier. As the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., an investment company with corporate holdings in excess of $2 billion, his success and greatness is recognized worldwide.

Different from the field of science and business, when we come to the art area, we should have a case-by-case study before jumping to the final conclusion. On one hand the history is replete with examples of artistic greatness which is immediately recognized. For instance, the famous composer, Johann Strauss the Younger, who was recognized as the king of waltz, was immediately honored when he toured around the Europe and the United States. There are also many examples in the modern art field such as Nicole Kidman, whose greatness is immediately recognized. However, we can also find several examples that the greatness of the artists is decided by their contemporaries. The legendary artist Van Gogh, two of whose still life paintings have recently broken all records in selling for $50 million, sold only one of his paintings in his entire career. No one would doubt his greatness today but ironically no one appreciated his work in his time.

In sum, the speaker oversimplify this controversial issue by neglect or chose to ignore many great individuals, particularly in the field of business and art, whose great achievement are well recognized immediately by the world as a whole, although it is admitted that some great scientific breakthrough can only be judged though the historical perspective.

看的出北范的影子吗？ 我思路完全仿照北范，只是结构例子和表述换了，北范有些好的表达我都不忍不用，因为自己实在写不出这种东西，不知这样会不会判作弊，请众位指点。

谢谢了^_^

[ 本帖最后由 surreal_steven 于 2007-7-15 20:29 编辑 ]