ESSAY

For essays, make sure you prepared 10-20 real-life examples as evidence for your stand. Remember to develop your essay according to what is asked in the question. 

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1.    Following the crowd/public/society

A.    Do people need to compare themselves with others in order to appreciate what they have?

Yes:

            We tend to take what we have for granted. Comparisons with others help us appreciate what we have and sympathize with the less fortunate. Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from ancient India who founded Buddhism. At the age of 29, Siddhartha left his palace to meet his subjects. Despite his father's efforts to hide from him the sick, aged and suffering, Siddhartha was said to have seen an old man. When his charioteer Channa explained to him that all people grew old, the prince went on further trips beyond the palace. On these he encountered a diseased man, a decaying corpse, and an ascetic. These depressed him, and he strove to overcome ageing, sickness, and death by living the life of an ascetic.

B.    Is there any value for people to belong only to a group or groups with which they have something in common?

Yes:

            The identification of oneself as a member of a group makes them feel secure and motivates them to fight against discrimination.

The Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) was a grassroots anti-Apartheid activist movement that emerged in South Africa in the mid-1960s out of the political vacuum created by the jailing and banning of the African National Congress and Pan Africanist Congress leadership after the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960. The BCM represented a social movement for political consciousness. The BCM attacked what they saw as traditional white values, especially the 'condescending' values of white people of liberal opinion. They refused to engage white liberal opinion on the pros and cons of black consciousness, and emphasized the rejection of white monopoly on truth as a central tenet of their movement. While this philosophy at first generated disagreement amongst black anti-Apartheid activists within South Africa, it was soon adopted by most as a positive development. As a result, there emerged a greater cohesiveness and solidarity amongst black groups in general, which in turn brought black consciousness to the forefront of the anti-Apartheid struggle within South Africa.

 

C.    Is it always best to determine one's own views of right and wrong, or can we benefit from following the crowd?

Yes

It is always important to determine one’s own views and question the validity of public beliefs. Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. King is often presented as a heroic leader in the history of modern American liberalism. A Baptist minister, King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, serving as its first president. King's efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. There, he expanded American values to include the vision of a color blind society, and established his reputation as one of the greatest orators in American history.

D.    Are people more likely to be productive and successful when they ignore the opinions of others?

Yes

Sometimes one has to fight against the opinions of others in order to become successful. William Harvey (1 April 1578 – 3 June 1657) was an English physician who was the first person to describe completely and in detail the systemic circulation and properties of blood being pumped to the body by the heart. At the time of Harvey's publication of circulation of the blood, Claudius Galen had been an influential medical authority for several centuries. The works of Galen were widely taught and remain accepted within context in western and eastern medical encyclopedic references. Harvey's discoveries inevitably and famously came into conflict with Galen's teachings and the publication of his treatise incited considerable controversy. Some doctors affirmed they would "rather err with Galen than proclaim the truth with Harvey." Enmity towards Harvey grew among some doctors in the seventeenth century. But it was his book that made him an important figure in both the history of medicine and of human. Despite the initial hostility, Harvey’s work has now been widely recognized.

 

E. Is it more valuable for people to fit in than to be unique and different?

Galileo's championing of heliocentrism was controversial within his lifetime, when most subscribed to either geocentrism or the Tychonic system. He met with opposition from astronomers, who doubted heliocentrism due to the absence of an observed stellar parallax. The matter was investigated by the Roman Inquisition in 1615, and they concluded that it could only be supported as a possibility, not as an established fact. Galileo later defended his views in Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, which appeared to attack Pope Urban VIII and thus alienated him and theJesuits, who had both supported Galileo up until this point. He was tried by the Inquisition, found "vehemently suspect of heresy", forced to recant, and spent the rest of his life under house arrest. It was while Galileo was under house arrest that he wrote one of his finest works, Two New Sciences. Here he summarized the work he had done some forty years earlier, on the two sciences now called kinematics and strength of materials.

 

2.     Following creativity and the arts

A.    Is it always better to be original than to imitate or use the ideas of others?

Yes:

Only through originality can one stand out. William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon”. His surviving works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. His writing style is unique – he coined many new words and many phrases that later on became popular in real life, such as Come what come may ("come what may") (Macbeth), What's done is done (Macbeth), etc. Language was truly a vehicle of expression for him, as he developed new ways of using it to his advantage. He is also credited with inventing the form of the Shakespearean (also called the "English") sonnet. It differs from the earlier Petrarchan sonnet form in rhyme scheme and stanza construction.

B.    Can people ever be truly original?

Yes

Merely copying something is much easier than creating a new idea. But not everyone takes the easy way out. Although it is an arduous task, being truly original is possible, and Emily Dickinson exemplifies this ideal. Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life. After she studied at the Amherst Academy for seven years in her youth, she spent a short time at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary before returning to her family's house in Amherst. Thought of as an eccentric by the locals, she became known for her penchant for white clothing and her reluctance to greet guests or, later in life, even leave her room. Most of her friendships were therefore carried out by correspondence. Although Dickinson was a prolific private poet, fewer than a dozen of her nearly eighteen hundred poems were published during her lifetime. Dickinson's aberrant lifestyle was also reflected by her poetry. She did not follow the rules of traditional iambic pentameter Shakesperian sonnets. Instead, she did as she pleased. Her peculiar grammar, syntax, and diction contributed to her deviating style. She had no regard for meter and rhyme. Dickinson created the slant rhyme and her poems were in misshapen four line stanzas. Moreover, the controversial topics of death, love, and immortality all contributed to Dickinson's originality. Although many people copy her, Emily Dickinson is regarded as one of the best American poets because she was truly original.

3.      Motivation and success

A.    Do people truly benefit from hardship and misfortune?

Yes

People truly benefit from hardship and misfortune due to the adaptability of facing these heartbreaking moments. Though difficulties often topple assiduous workers to stray from overcoming arduous times, these experiences amass confidence in future approach.

After losing a power struggle with the board of directors in 1985, Jobs left Apple and founded NeXT, a computer platform development company specializing in the higher-education and business markets. In 1986, he acquired the computer graphics division of Lucasfilm, which was spun off as Pixar.^[10] He was credited in Toy Story (1995) as an executive producer. He remained CEO and majority shareholder at 50.1 percent until its acquisition by The Walt Disney Company in 2006, making Jobs Disney's largest individual shareholder at seven percent and a member of Disney's Board of Directors.

After difficulties developing a new Mac OS, Apple purchased NeXT in 1996 in order to use NeXTSTEP as the basis for what became Mac OS X. As part of the deal Jobs was named Apple advisor. As Apple floundered, Jobs took control of the company and was named "interim CEO" in 1997, or as he jokingly referred to it, "iCEO". Under his leadership, Apple was saved from near bankruptcy, and became profitable by 1998. Over the next decade, Jobs oversaw the development of the iMac, iTunes, iPod, iPhone, and iPad, and on the services side, the company's Apple Retail Stores, iTunes Store and the App Store. The success of these products and services, providing several years of stable financial returns, propelled Apple to become the world's most valuable publicly traded company in 2011.The reinvigoration of the company is regarded by many commentators as one of the greatest turnarounds in business history.

 B.    Do we really benefit from every event or experience in some way

Yes:

We learn from every event in our life. Nelson Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC). In 1962 he was arrested and convicted of sabotage and other charges, and sentenced to life in prison. Mandela was imprisoned on Robben Island where he remained for the next eighteen of his twenty-seven years in prison. While in jail, his reputation grew and he became widely known as the most significant black leader in South Africa. On the island, he and others performed hard labour in a lime quarry. Whilst in prison Mandela undertook study with the University of London by correspondence through its External Programme and received the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was subsequently nominated for the position of Chancellor of the University of London in the 1981 election, but lost to Princess Anne.

 

C.    Can knowledge be a burden rather than a benefit?

Yes:

Knowledge, in the wrong hands, spells out a recipe for disaster, that is, it will be more of a burden than a benefit. The dropping of atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II is a prime example of how the ill-usage of knowledge can be a huge burden and lead to tragedy. During this period, scientists had just realized the incredible potential of uranium and plutonium; they also realized that if improperly used, it could lead to devastating consequences. In the final stages of World War II in 1945, the United States conducted two atomic bombings against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, the first on August 6, 1945 and the second on August 9, 1945. Within the first two to four months of the bombings, the acute effects killed 90,000–166,000 people in Hiroshima and 60,000–80,000 in Nagasaki, with roughly half of the deaths in each city occurring on the first day. During the following months, large numbers died from the effect of burns, radiation sickness, and other injuries, compounded by illness. In a US estimate of the total immediate and short term cause of death, 15–20% died from radiation sickness, 20–30% from flash burns, and 50–60% from other injuries, compounded by illness. In both cities, most of the dead were civilians.

D. Is the effort involved in pursuing any goal valuable, even if the goal is not reached?

Yes:

First, the process of doing something is more enjoyable than the outcome. This can be proven by the example of Thomas Edison. He was by nature an inquisitive person. The idea of generating an incandescent lamp flashed into his mind when he was observing fireflies shining bioluminescently in his garden. Since then, Edison spent many nights observing fireflies and at the same time, worked on the miracle lighting system. After many years having spent more than $40,000 and upon failing for more than 1000 times, with a thin piece of carbon filament, several strips of grass, Edison had managed to produce a man-made “firefly”, i.e. an incandescent lamp that could last for approximately 48 hours, and this was the foundation of our lighting system today. “What you can do and what you want to do is possible, I may have given birth to an amazing lighting system for mankind and people are satisfied with that, but I believe the process of creating the lamps are far more enjoyable,” Edison once said. 

E.    Is identity something people are born with or given, or is it something people create for themselves?

While some people consider identity as coming from the way people are raised and the environment people are brought up with, others believe identity is rendered through a human’s own conscience and his or her choice of being.  Mahatma Gandhi was not the spiritual, pacifist that we know him to be since birth but only developed such ways after cementing values that he chose to live and lead his country by. Gandi came to India as a bright scholar from England in search of discovering his true homeland that he had not seen much of as a child. In part, his journey was a way to discover his roots and, in turn, his identity formed. Gandhi saw that a storm was brewing in India and the violence with which the British were ruling India with. Such experiences caused Gandhi to form antipodal values and resulted in him leading a non-violent revolt after he climbed up the leadership ladder in India. The gruesome torture and violence exhibited by the British caused Gandhi to abide by his values and 'ahimsa', fasting to draw attention to his cause of non-violence. Thus, Gandhi developed his identity due to experiences, values, and experience and not through innate means as he led India to independence, cementing his identity forever as the Father of Independence and as the ultimate pacifist.

F. Are people more likely to be happy if they focus on goals other than their own happiness?

Yes:

Fulfilling one’s goal can make them feel happy. Mother Teresa focused her time and efforts on bettering the lives of the less fortunate, rather than her own happiness. At the age of eighteen she left her parental home in Skopje and joined the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish community of nuns with missions in India. After a few months' training in Dublin she was sent to India, where on May 24, 1931, she took her initial vows as a nun. From 1931 to 1948 Mother Teresa taught at St. Mary's High School in Calcutta, but the suffering and poverty she glimpsed outside the convent walls made such a deep impression on her that in 1948 she received permission from her superiors to leave the convent school and devote herself to working among the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta. Although she had no funds, she depended on Divine Providence, and started an open-air school for slum children. Soon she was joined by voluntary helpers, and financial support was also forthcoming. This made it possible for her to extend the scope of her work. The Society of Missionaries has spread all over the world, including the former Soviet Union and Eastern European countries. They provide effective help to the poorest of the poor in a number of countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and they undertake relief work in the wake of natural catastrophes such as floods, epidemics, and famine, and for refugees. The order also has houses in North America, Europe and Australia, where they take care of the shut-ins, alcoholics, homeless, and AIDS sufferers. The Missionaries of Charity throughout the world are aided and assisted by Co-Workers who became an official International Association on March 29, 1969. By the 1990s there were over one million Co-Workers in more than 40 countries. Along with the Co-Workers, the lay Missionaries of Charity try to follow Mother Teresa's spirit and charism in their families. Mother Teresa's work has been recognised and acclaimed throughout the world and she has received a number of awards and distinctions, including the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize (1971) and the Nehru Prize for her promotion of international peace and understanding (1972). She also received the Balzan Prize (1979) and the Templeton and Magsaysay awards.

4.      Technological progress

A.    Does a strong commitment to technological progress cause a society to neglect other values, such as education and the protection of the environment?

Yes:

Although technology, from a superficial outlook, seems to be improving life, it is in reality a problem because it is neglecting other important values of the world and is thus making the human race's future more vulnerable. In the 1800's, technology was a neophyte slowly creeping into the conscience of the average person. As people were busy being impressed by inventions such as the light bulb and the automobile, more and more people decided to dedicate themselves to creating new products, whether it was for a philanthropic cause or a thirst for wealth. However, as materialism invaded American in the 1920's, people took the latter route and started inventing for the possibility of great wealth. The purpose of technology, originally as an attempt to uncover the secrets of our world, has been discarded by the hostile force of human avarice. For example, America started flowing along these lines and is still dominated by this capitalist ideal to this day. Our commitment to technology has taken us along the wrong path in growth and has caused us to neglect values such as the protection of the environment.

One glaring example is water sewage and plumbing. People originally embraced this technology because it is obvious that cleaning an outhouse is not as appealing as simply flushing the toilet and letting the wastes flow away. The process of using the restrooms is easier and more hygienic, thus improving life. Or is it? The problem with this seemingly perfect process is how people deal is how people deal with the wastes. Many companies simply dump the wastes into rivers, lakes, and ponds. For example, the meaning of the Ohio River is "beautiful river", as properly named by the Native Americans a few hundred years ago. However, now the Ohio River is a dump for sewage and waste to empty into. With water sewage and plumbing, humans have embraced technology but essentially ignored the environment.

 

B.    Are there benefits to be gained from avoiding the use of modern technology, even when using it would make life easier?

Yes:

Although technological advances have benefited one in some minor ways, they have brought one bad influences. In fact, technology just makes life easier instead of making it better. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster is a series of equipment failures, nuclear meltdowns, and releases of radioactive materials at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, following the 9.0 magnitude Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011. The plant comprises six separate boiling water reactors designed and built by GE, and maintained by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). Fukushima disaster is the largest of the 2011 Japanese nuclear accidents arising from the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and is the largest nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster, but more complex as multiple reactors and spent fuel pools are involved.