0910G[North America Flying]Issue120 by fake

fake2009UID: 2631119

题目：ISSUE120 - "So much is new and complex today that looking back for an understanding of the past provides little guidance for living in the present."
字数：531
用时：00:43:27
日期：2009-8-1 9:55:03

The contention issued that an understanding of history has little value lying in today's problem solving. Generally, I hold the opinion that through doing retrospect of the past, some problems can be solved though the world is changing into a new and complex one. It is not the actual visible legacy that counts; rather it's the idea or message conveyed through history that gives us real guidance.

Undoubtedly, world is changing fast, thus, to some extend, world of the past and present might not be comparable. Science and technology have experienced a significant prosperity since the Industrial Revolution. Machines are put into wide use so that we could be free from intensive laborious work. Besides, artists are no longer producing artistic pieces under severe pressure from public or the authority. They could be themselves and express themselves now. Thus, the scope of arts is greatly expanded. Also, more and more emphasis are put on education, in this way, both men and women equally get change to be educated, and the whole human personality is highly cultivated. From the perspective of science, art, education, we can see the great change of the society, thus provide us a new and complex situation to solve those new and complex problems emerged from the new society.

Though the current situation is tough, history could teach us to solve some of the questions by retrospect. The collection and study of art works in history could give us guidance in looking for the lost sense of culture belonging. In Chinese culture for example, the study of Confucius makes Chinese be aware of their spiritual originality in the trend of pursuing western fashion. It is also the case in the field of science, a lot of new theories or technologies to settle human doubts and problems are on the bases of the old existing ones. The study of electricity began since Benjamin Franklin reassured its existence; Einstein's theory of relativity was born after the series of theories by Newton.

The more important guidance we gained from the understanding of the past is the idea or the message that conveyed through history but the actual visible legacy left to us. The Divine by Dante is not only a legacy of great artistic value, but leave us a message that collecting other intellectuals' production can also lead to success. Microsoft, more than a American software giant, endows us that pursuing the real personal interest and sticking to it would result in success. Copernicus's theory not only tells us sun is the central of the universe, more importantly, to keep skepticism towards the authority. Through these cases, we can see that the true value lies in the understanding of the past is not a theory or an entity, but the idea or the spiritual achievement made by our ancestors that would benefit us in solving no matter how new and complex problem.

In sum, to solve the seemed new and complex problem today, looking back into the history would be helpful and valuable in that it is not actually providing a solution, but offering an idea or message that gives guidance to solve the problem which is of much more significance.