Self-reliance can be explained as one considers himself of the sovereign principle of life. It is solid and strong. As it is so extreme, there show two very different sides.
Generally, self-reliance is more likely to be considered as a negative word. Highly concentrated in him, a self-reliant person often ignores outer factors. He doesn’t intend to listen to other’s opinion, for he is so confident of himself, or think himself as scared. As stated in Read Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Self Reliance"-“the only right is what is after my constitution, the only wrong what is against it.” The man is carrying himself to oppositions of his surroundings. Histories, especially histories about significant figures, abound with such instances. Qin Shi Huang (Emperor Qin) was the first emperor of China who united the whole mainland. However, he was also criticized for his brutal rule. He was so self-reliant that he ignored the position of the common people. In his eyes, common people only vary by obey or disobey.
Although can drive people to ignorance, at some degree self-reliance is also beneficial. Up till now, there have been several important individuals in my life who told me that the only person can help you is yourself. As an old Chinese saying goes “Far water does not put out near fire.” When encountering problems, the most direct way to solve it is DIY. It does not mean that don’t ask for any help, everyone need help some time. However, if always depend on others; one will gradually reduce his capability. It can be fatal. If you can stand, don’t ask others to help you up. Self-reliance provides the mental condition which is able to satisfy this principle. It is a way to build up independence. Cooperation works most sufficiently when the individuals are capable. Appropriate self-reliance does not contradict cooperation, on the contrast, it makes it perfect and so that benefits.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
My views on Being dissocial
Humans have various moods or traits. Obviously, they varies by their qualities, there are some traits which are dreadfully harmful. In my opinion, being dissocial is one of the worst ones.
The world "community" is essential in our life---family, neighbourhood, school, company, etc. No one can get himself out of his own community. If being dissocial, you are just pushing yourself out of life. The capability of an individual is limited, withdrawing from community will result in the difficulty or even impossibility in solving some vital problems. Besides this kind, there is another kind of being dissocial which commonly exists in teenagers. Sometimes they want to be rich in personality, or try to be "cool", and thus they try to act differently. For example, in the school, some of the students will break the dress code in purpose just because they want to look different. There are worse things happening. When there is a big event, everyone is going to fight for their team, and there are some kind of people who don't want to join. The reason is that they are selfish. They may think it does not benefit them at all or it makes him look stupid by doing so. It is truly selfish to think in that way. So being dissocial is also an origin of selfishness.
The world "community" is essential in our life---family, neighbourhood, school, company, etc. No one can get himself out of his own community. If being dissocial, you are just pushing yourself out of life. The capability of an individual is limited, withdrawing from community will result in the difficulty or even impossibility in solving some vital problems. Besides this kind, there is another kind of being dissocial which commonly exists in teenagers. Sometimes they want to be rich in personality, or try to be "cool", and thus they try to act differently. For example, in the school, some of the students will break the dress code in purpose just because they want to look different. There are worse things happening. When there is a big event, everyone is going to fight for their team, and there are some kind of people who don't want to join. The reason is that they are selfish. They may think it does not benefit them at all or it makes him look stupid by doing so. It is truly selfish to think in that way. So being dissocial is also an origin of selfishness.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Passage Comprehension
Q:explaining the significance of the following passage.
John Locke"Secondly, In the state of nature there wants a known and indifferent judge, with authority to determine all differences according to the established law of nature, man being partial to themselves, passion and revenge is very apt to carry them too far, and with too much heat, in their own cases; as well as negligence, and unconcernedness, to make them too remiss in other men’s."
A: This passage talks about the natrual state of men. Everyone is equal towards judgement, or law. And men have common disadvantages such like extreme moods. Pointing out the basis condition of human, the writer can logically continue discussing his view on government depend on it.
John Locke"Secondly, In the state of nature there wants a known and indifferent judge, with authority to determine all differences according to the established law of nature, man being partial to themselves, passion and revenge is very apt to carry them too far, and with too much heat, in their own cases; as well as negligence, and unconcernedness, to make them too remiss in other men’s."
A: This passage talks about the natrual state of men. Everyone is equal towards judgement, or law. And men have common disadvantages such like extreme moods. Pointing out the basis condition of human, the writer can logically continue discussing his view on government depend on it.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Central question of english paper
Topic:Can sciense and religion harmoniously coexist?
Question:How has the science revolution impacted the view of people towards the religion?
Nowadays teenagers in decline number believe in religion in Asian countries which are mostly developing. However, religion is still playing an important role in America, which is commonly considered to be the strongest and most modern country. Why?
Question:How has the science revolution impacted the view of people towards the religion?
Nowadays teenagers in decline number believe in religion in Asian countries which are mostly developing. However, religion is still playing an important role in America, which is commonly considered to be the strongest and most modern country. Why?
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Knowledge and Community
This is an era of knowledge and information. As we are living in community, our community is linked tightly with knowledge. Moreover, knowledge benefits the relationship within the community.
Firstly, knowledge is essential. One ought to know some other individuals in the community. If he does not, he is not even in the community. The better they know each other, the more appropriate that they share opinions. Misunderstood often result in conflict or enmity, which negatively affect the community. Knowledge is not always academic; it can be the understanding between one another. It is not a modern factor, throughout the history, all communities has been based on knowledge. So we can easily conclude that a community cannot exist without knowledge, it is essential.
Although knowledge is essential, there’s not enough evidence to prove that it is beneficial to the community. Think of two people talking together, if one is a doctor and the other is an engineer, maybe their talk will only be about daily life. But if they are both doctors, they can share experiences of working, because they have something in common. Naturally, people don’t have the same job, but a lot of them can still talk well. It is because the expanding of their knowledge. Think of two balloons depart from each other. How can they get in touch with each other? One is fly towards each other, which means they have the same aim, just as people with same career. Another one is that they inflate till they are large enough, it is the same case when people’s knowledge increase and at last overlaps. However, there is one more way which is hybrid---they inflate towards the same direction. Referring to real life, this process can be showed as knowing the world that we live in. It is mostly practiced in an easy way. By the term “hot topics”, we can see that people would like to discuss something which is common. For instance, weather. Predicting weather or watch weather broadcasting is a way of learning the world that we are living in. Knowledge not only makes people have something to talk about but also provide them with more to talk about. One more thing that I want to state about learning the world is that it will change attitudes. Some people become atheist after learning science. What’s more is that the changes are depended on the personality of the individuals; sometimes it may bring argument to the community. However, knowledge is considered to be beneficial more than harmful generally.
We always study something about another community, which can be other people in the city or another nation. It is important for us to know other communities because we are not always living within our own community. Nowadays communication is more advanced than ever before. When making decisions, especially a large one, it is objectively better when more reasonable opinions are shared. It is important and beneficial to learn other communities because we can get other mature thoughts or useful information which we cannot get within our community. Studying others makes improvement.
After all, I can confidently draw a conclusion that knowledge has positive effect on community.
Firstly, knowledge is essential. One ought to know some other individuals in the community. If he does not, he is not even in the community. The better they know each other, the more appropriate that they share opinions. Misunderstood often result in conflict or enmity, which negatively affect the community. Knowledge is not always academic; it can be the understanding between one another. It is not a modern factor, throughout the history, all communities has been based on knowledge. So we can easily conclude that a community cannot exist without knowledge, it is essential.
Although knowledge is essential, there’s not enough evidence to prove that it is beneficial to the community. Think of two people talking together, if one is a doctor and the other is an engineer, maybe their talk will only be about daily life. But if they are both doctors, they can share experiences of working, because they have something in common. Naturally, people don’t have the same job, but a lot of them can still talk well. It is because the expanding of their knowledge. Think of two balloons depart from each other. How can they get in touch with each other? One is fly towards each other, which means they have the same aim, just as people with same career. Another one is that they inflate till they are large enough, it is the same case when people’s knowledge increase and at last overlaps. However, there is one more way which is hybrid---they inflate towards the same direction. Referring to real life, this process can be showed as knowing the world that we live in. It is mostly practiced in an easy way. By the term “hot topics”, we can see that people would like to discuss something which is common. For instance, weather. Predicting weather or watch weather broadcasting is a way of learning the world that we are living in. Knowledge not only makes people have something to talk about but also provide them with more to talk about. One more thing that I want to state about learning the world is that it will change attitudes. Some people become atheist after learning science. What’s more is that the changes are depended on the personality of the individuals; sometimes it may bring argument to the community. However, knowledge is considered to be beneficial more than harmful generally.
We always study something about another community, which can be other people in the city or another nation. It is important for us to know other communities because we are not always living within our own community. Nowadays communication is more advanced than ever before. When making decisions, especially a large one, it is objectively better when more reasonable opinions are shared. It is important and beneficial to learn other communities because we can get other mature thoughts or useful information which we cannot get within our community. Studying others makes improvement.
After all, I can confidently draw a conclusion that knowledge has positive effect on community.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Journal of Oct B
Oct 12
Sunlight, grass and shade made today’s class warmly cozy. So are today’s topics. First we talked about how to concentrate on solely one thing. It seems hard for guys; however, if you get the feeling, which lead you into a special mental condition, is it not that hard. The next question is what we shall do if we had another month every year. For me, I will probably choose to learn an instrument. It was too late for me to realize the importance of instrument when I am in middle school. The miserable result is that up till now I don’t even know a thing about music or instrument. Finally, I discovered a great treasure—what an ideal place for sleeping!
Oct 16
Today we grabbed a glance on some philosophers and maxims. Among all the maxims, “No pain no gain” may have achieved the most universal and useful position. Although all of the greatest figures in the history have their unique skills or qualities, none of them would have achieved those successes without hard working. When talking about maxims of Benjamin Franklin’s, the E.T. asked about comparisons, I immediately state Confucians, which has deep and significant effects on both the thinking of by past and modern Chinese.
Oct 17
Wow, tomorrow is fall break! So exciting we are. A huge person, Benjamin Franklin, was the focused point of the day. We first reviewed his autobiography in which shows his formidable personality. He never compromised with his destiny. He was a great hard worker and pursuer of perfection. The daily life of him was seriously criticized by himself with the “fault list”. On the list, there were over 10 demerits listed. He checked on them whenever he failed to avoid them. It is so surprising for a person to make the list and followed it every day. His successes are obvious and significant: master of several languages, splendid scientist and one of the most contributing figures in the founding of US. He is a supreme example of showing one’s responsibility to his community, also an idol of us.
Oct 22
Started with the revision which discussing the differences between Puritans and the Native Americans communities, today’s class aimed on the gratitude. Unlike the intolerant Puritans, the Native Americans lived with the nature and simultaneously showed respect to it. It was a good example of gratitude. We also talked about “overwhelming gratitude”, which is the feeling that usually occurred when we get something back which is so important to us and is lost for a long time. To be honest, I am the kind of people who often feel grateful to the surroundings. Although seems somewhat naive, it does bring me as well as others happiness. However, I seldom feel “overwhelming gratitude”, maybe I get used to it already.
Oct 23
When covering some materials on Benjamin Franklin, the E.T. mentioned Deism, which means that there was a god who created the world and then cease to do any influence on it and let it grow itself. Another thing we mentioned is the scientific revolution, which was significant for the heliocentric theory. In my opinion, the purpose of mentioning these events is to show that science is able to do tremendous influence to the thoughts of human as well as religion. The accumulation of rational thinking results in the change in sensitive consideration. As a science student, I have experience it through these years. With the increasing knowledge in science, I began to think more rationally and distinguished the occasions whether to use sensitive or rational thinking. At this point, science and religion have something in common instead of conflict.
Oct 24
Today I was too tired; fortunately, I didn’t miss the important discussion on the analysis on deism. As we all know, we have atheist today. So why the people had not come out with the idea of completely overthrow the concept of god but combined it with the concept of Newton’s world machine to form deism? It may have something to do with the historical root. During the scientific revolution, people began to describe things by reason; the existence of god was seriously challenged. However, the adults at that time had been raised up in a community that every adult believed in god. So they tended to keep the concept of god. Simultaneously, it was not possible for them to avoid the facts of science. All of the above led to the forming of deism. Even till today, we do not abandon religions, but the reason is more complex. Maybe these are all supporting materials on the coexistence of science and religion.
Oct 25
Today we only did a group discussion; the details are listed below:
Q1: Why do we need government?
A1: To keep everything in order; same rights to everyone; keep the society from anarchy
Q2: What powers do we give our government that we don’t have?
A2: Legislative, executive and judicial.
Q3: Why do we forbid certain things in the country?
A3: To keep the equal rights, fairness and justice. Protect the power of government; Keep the economy grows in a correct way.
Q4: What services do you expect from government?
A4: Free education.
Oct 26
Discussing and sharing the views on government.
Oct 29
The discussion of John Locke and his perspectives on government continued. John Locke suggested the idea of “Tabula rasa”, which indicates that everyone is born with a blank mind. To judge this opinion, we import the concept of “epistemology”, the philosophy of knowledge of how to do something or that something is done. We also talked about an individual in Germany who was neither exposed to the public nor received any education until he was 18. However, people found that he was of good memory. It may have some effect on supporting the J.L.’s idea. As far as I am concerned, everyone is born with uncompleted intelligence, as we grow, we gain knowledge and skills and at the same time are led by them, i.e, limited by them. In this case, we could say that we are born with minds which holds abundant feasibility.
Oct 30
During the review of science revolution, we made our way to the dimension of astronomy. The E.T. seemed enthusiastic about it, the knowledge just burst out. This time it was also begun with light. Then we moved to the discussion about planets, stars, dark wholes and galaxies. It was not surprising that the next step was about the time. Though I had grabbed some knowledge on the subject some time ago, the vivid description was still attractive. We need to get out of literature some time, or maybe we are still in literature, aren’t we?
Oct 31
Continued discussion on more details on the structure of universe.
Sunlight, grass and shade made today’s class warmly cozy. So are today’s topics. First we talked about how to concentrate on solely one thing. It seems hard for guys; however, if you get the feeling, which lead you into a special mental condition, is it not that hard. The next question is what we shall do if we had another month every year. For me, I will probably choose to learn an instrument. It was too late for me to realize the importance of instrument when I am in middle school. The miserable result is that up till now I don’t even know a thing about music or instrument. Finally, I discovered a great treasure—what an ideal place for sleeping!
Oct 16
Today we grabbed a glance on some philosophers and maxims. Among all the maxims, “No pain no gain” may have achieved the most universal and useful position. Although all of the greatest figures in the history have their unique skills or qualities, none of them would have achieved those successes without hard working. When talking about maxims of Benjamin Franklin’s, the E.T. asked about comparisons, I immediately state Confucians, which has deep and significant effects on both the thinking of by past and modern Chinese.
Oct 17
Wow, tomorrow is fall break! So exciting we are. A huge person, Benjamin Franklin, was the focused point of the day. We first reviewed his autobiography in which shows his formidable personality. He never compromised with his destiny. He was a great hard worker and pursuer of perfection. The daily life of him was seriously criticized by himself with the “fault list”. On the list, there were over 10 demerits listed. He checked on them whenever he failed to avoid them. It is so surprising for a person to make the list and followed it every day. His successes are obvious and significant: master of several languages, splendid scientist and one of the most contributing figures in the founding of US. He is a supreme example of showing one’s responsibility to his community, also an idol of us.
Oct 22
Started with the revision which discussing the differences between Puritans and the Native Americans communities, today’s class aimed on the gratitude. Unlike the intolerant Puritans, the Native Americans lived with the nature and simultaneously showed respect to it. It was a good example of gratitude. We also talked about “overwhelming gratitude”, which is the feeling that usually occurred when we get something back which is so important to us and is lost for a long time. To be honest, I am the kind of people who often feel grateful to the surroundings. Although seems somewhat naive, it does bring me as well as others happiness. However, I seldom feel “overwhelming gratitude”, maybe I get used to it already.
Oct 23
When covering some materials on Benjamin Franklin, the E.T. mentioned Deism, which means that there was a god who created the world and then cease to do any influence on it and let it grow itself. Another thing we mentioned is the scientific revolution, which was significant for the heliocentric theory. In my opinion, the purpose of mentioning these events is to show that science is able to do tremendous influence to the thoughts of human as well as religion. The accumulation of rational thinking results in the change in sensitive consideration. As a science student, I have experience it through these years. With the increasing knowledge in science, I began to think more rationally and distinguished the occasions whether to use sensitive or rational thinking. At this point, science and religion have something in common instead of conflict.
Oct 24
Today I was too tired; fortunately, I didn’t miss the important discussion on the analysis on deism. As we all know, we have atheist today. So why the people had not come out with the idea of completely overthrow the concept of god but combined it with the concept of Newton’s world machine to form deism? It may have something to do with the historical root. During the scientific revolution, people began to describe things by reason; the existence of god was seriously challenged. However, the adults at that time had been raised up in a community that every adult believed in god. So they tended to keep the concept of god. Simultaneously, it was not possible for them to avoid the facts of science. All of the above led to the forming of deism. Even till today, we do not abandon religions, but the reason is more complex. Maybe these are all supporting materials on the coexistence of science and religion.
Oct 25
Today we only did a group discussion; the details are listed below:
Q1: Why do we need government?
A1: To keep everything in order; same rights to everyone; keep the society from anarchy
Q2: What powers do we give our government that we don’t have?
A2: Legislative, executive and judicial.
Q3: Why do we forbid certain things in the country?
A3: To keep the equal rights, fairness and justice. Protect the power of government; Keep the economy grows in a correct way.
Q4: What services do you expect from government?
A4: Free education.
Oct 26
Discussing and sharing the views on government.
Oct 29
The discussion of John Locke and his perspectives on government continued. John Locke suggested the idea of “Tabula rasa”, which indicates that everyone is born with a blank mind. To judge this opinion, we import the concept of “epistemology”, the philosophy of knowledge of how to do something or that something is done. We also talked about an individual in Germany who was neither exposed to the public nor received any education until he was 18. However, people found that he was of good memory. It may have some effect on supporting the J.L.’s idea. As far as I am concerned, everyone is born with uncompleted intelligence, as we grow, we gain knowledge and skills and at the same time are led by them, i.e, limited by them. In this case, we could say that we are born with minds which holds abundant feasibility.
Oct 30
During the review of science revolution, we made our way to the dimension of astronomy. The E.T. seemed enthusiastic about it, the knowledge just burst out. This time it was also begun with light. Then we moved to the discussion about planets, stars, dark wholes and galaxies. It was not surprising that the next step was about the time. Though I had grabbed some knowledge on the subject some time ago, the vivid description was still attractive. We need to get out of literature some time, or maybe we are still in literature, aren’t we?
Oct 31
Continued discussion on more details on the structure of universe.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Imaginary Society
If I had the ability to change the government, let's say that I were in charge of it, I would give my states more freedom and at the same time impair their individual power. The reason is that development needs appropriate environment, the relationship of freedom and limit is to be adjusted when the demand of development changes. According to this principle, I consider that there's luxuriant sparks of development in my country, China. However, the power of the individual states is over-flourished, it may cause problems such like corruption. At the same time, to stop the phenomenum of over-centralized rights, I am going to give the provinces more freedom so that common people can enjoy more resources, and the productivity will increase. It is based on another principle: turning the burden of population into feasible resources as much as possible. I believed that decisions, or changes built upon these 2 principles can benefit the society.
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