GRE issue写作实例：独立思考

题目：

What most human beings really want to attain is not knowledge, but certainty. Gaining real knowledge requires taking risks and keeping the mind open―but most people prefer to be reassured rather than to learn the complex and often unsettling truth about anything.

大多人真正想要得到的不是知识而是结论。获得真正的知识需要冒险和不停歇的思考――但是大多数人更愿意获得确定的答案而不是去学习复杂而不确定的真理。

正文：

What does most human beings want is not discovery and change but reassurance.Although discoveries and changes are the real impetuses of human civilization, most people prefer reassurance than innovations and changes in that in this world most people are conservative and the discoveries and changes would sometimes harm some ones' benefit, which based on the obsolete systems.

On the one hand, in fact, most people value what they have obtained much more than what would be gain through new ways. This conservative kind of thinking in some sense is very common indeed since trying new ways always means taking risks of losing the present benefit. Take many Chinese workers for example. In China now,during the transformation of economy system, many factories and companies are under the danger of bankruptcy due to their rigid ways of thinking. And the workers in these companies or factories do not have positive attitudes neither. They ignore, or we can say give up, the better chance such as leave the old companies and find a new one which would be more suitable or quite for a short time to study some new skills; but stay where they are to wait for reassurance from the companies or government. the reason for this kind of behaviors is that they are fear for losing the jobs, whish however have little points after all. Simply put, they think they can survive if they keep the salary, but maybe lose everything when taking risks. Actually, these people fail to see the wealth behind changes and discoveries. No pain, no gain. One reluctantly loses something, he/she would not gain more important and valuable.

On the other hand, discoveries and changes would bring new systems and value and moral standards, which would necessarily break the outdated ones. In this sense,discoveries and changes could harm some ones or some classes' benefit. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand the resistance against new things and the preference of reassurance to the obsolete system. The Industry Revolution is just a case in point.

The significant change had brought human beings into a new stage of both material and spirit; but during the revolution, many people hold the point of view that the change is very dangerous to human civilization. Such individuals included peasants,old noble men and some government officials. The fundamental reason for this situation was that such a profound and overall change shook the old social and economy system and thus those depended on such a system felt they were threatened.

For example, the peasants lost their lands and the old noble men lost their taxes from the peasants; even the government officials, were in the fear of losing their positions.Thereby, for the men who would still receive benefit from the obsolete system, they would prefer reassurance than changes and discoveries.

It is true that sometimes changes and discoveries would bring some damage to the present society; yet they would automatically build a new one full of vigor and creativity. So people should not be restrained with the conservative ideas and open their minds to see the future benefit they would gain from the new system built by changes and discoveries. Anyway, new things are always prior to the old ones.

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