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  3. We learn our most valuable lessons in life from struggling with our limitations

We learn our most valuable lessons in life from struggling with our limitations

游客2024-01-12  7
问题 We learn our most valuable lessons in life from struggling with our limitations rather than from enjoying our successes.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim. In developing and supporting your position, be sure to address the most compelling reasons and/or examples that could be used to challenge your position.
选项
答案     Our life is filled with successes, failures, and constant struggles in between. From what do we learn our most valuable lessons in life? Although some may proclaim that it is the success that teaches us the most valuable lessons, I feel that the struggle with our limitations also gives rise to some of the best lessons in life. More broadly speaking, valuable lessons can come from many occasions, so it may be an over simplistic view that the most valuable lessons only come from one specific type of personal experience.
    To begin with, those endorsing the importance of successes would argue that the success can boost our confidence. The excitement and enjoyment of success would reinforce and provide a positive feedback to our good behaviors and make us more likely to succeed in the future. For example, it is commonly considered a success to earn a prestigious scholarship for a student, which will earn him or her fame and monetary support. By rewarding him or her the scholarship, the student learns that hard work and diligence pays off. This is certainly a valuable lesson that would benefit the student’s future endeavors as well. At the same time, experiences from the previous success could potentially lead to more future triumphs. An example is in competitive sports, where the most important lessons often emerge when the player or the team finally defeat the opponents. Not only could the confidence be boosted, but the player will also be able to remember what tactics make the success possible and therefore extend the winning spree into the future.
    Now let’s look at the struggles with our limitations. From my point of view, the most valuable lessons learnt are more likely coming from struggles and sufferings. The reasons are at least two-fold. First, human beings are far more sensitive to pains and struggles than to joys. This, some evolutionary psychologists argue, is rooted in our DNA because it is almost inevitable for ancient humans to pay extra attention to negative experiences. After all, in a harsh environment, the likelihood of survival depends on one’s ability to perceive and avoid danger. In other words, our ancestors were forced to develop a heightened sense of potential threats. The consequence of this evolutionary preference is that modern humans pay more attention to their struggles and failures than to successes. Hence, the most valuable lessons are more likely to originate from such struggles because of the additional attention they receive. Second, from struggles and failures we are more likely to identify what goes wrong, which could become precisely the valuable lesson we need to learn. The disaster of space shuttle Challenger taught us the fragility of polymers and it is through this hard-learned lesson that the future safety of space programs can be improved. Similar examples abound in our society today where innovators constant try and fail. Through those struggles with our limitations, we—not only as individuals but also as a collective group—learn most valuable lessons.
    Finally, it should be noted that the most valuable lessons are not limited to one’s personal successes and struggles. A book, a movie, or even a conversation with a sage could become the most valuable lesson. To understand why, one has to take a step back and consider what valuable lessons really mean. Lessons are something previously unknown but to be learned from an experience. Their values are not determined by the nature of the experience, but by their influence on the individual. In this light, it becomes self-explanatory why both successes and struggles as discussed above can bring the most valuable lessons: successes boost confidence and struggles lead to vigilance. It could also explain why Liu Bei, emperor of the Shu dynasty in the Three Kingdoms era, remarked that his most important lessons in life came from his multiple visits to invite Zhuge Liang to join his forces as chief strategist. It was Zhuge’s brainpower that helped Liu Bei found the Kingdom of Shu. This monumental visit by Liu Bei was neither an apparent success nor a life-or-death struggle, but an informative conversation that shed light on the Liu’s future path to power.
    To sum up, although in some cases successes bring positive experiences that are extremely valuable, the most valuable lessons are not limited to struggles and failures because what truly matters is what can be learned from the lessons. In other words, the most valuable lessons can come in the form of a success story, a personal suffering, or even a simple conversation. (753 words)
解析     这是一个很有思辨性的题目，它表面上问的是人类从成功中还是从奋斗中学到得更多，但更加深层次的问题是，人类通过什么途径去认识这个世界给人的印象最为深刻。虽然题目给出了两种选择——正面的与负面的——但在日常生活当中，不是所有的事情都有黑白对错，因此要想拿高分，就一定要跳出题目所预设的框架。如果我们仅仅在这个框架内部描述正面的成功和负面的挣扎对于人的意义，那文章最多只能得5分。
    不过，虽然说最终要跳出这个框架，但我们首先必须把这个框架给捋清楚。在成功和挣扎两者之间，笔者认为挣扎是更能让人类学习的东西。中文当中把lesson除了翻译成“课”“经验”之外，还有一个意思叫“教训”，也就是那些值得引起后人警惕的负面事件。从它带有倾向性这一点我们不难看出，人类对于负面的东西印象更为深刻。正如本文所举的航天飞机的例子，人们可能记不住航天飞机有多少次成功的发射，但永远会记得“挑战者号”和“哥伦比亚号”航天飞机的悲剧事故。这似乎是人类的本性，从进化心理学的角度来说也可以找到理论支撑，我们在第二主旨段已经进行了详尽的分析。
    但真正让本文出彩的还是第三主旨段的分析。其中我们不再把lesson的定义限定于那些负面的东西；相反我们将其定义为一个需要通过特定过程被我们获取的信息。因为信息本身是中立的，所以我们就不用强调教训自身的负面属性。因此这个时候我们便可以说，既然对于信息本身我们已经没有了正负偏好，那么任何途径获取的信息都可能是有价值的。在这里，对lesson一词下定义非常重要，这种我们反客为主，主动把话语权掌握在自己手中的做法，值得大家学习模仿。
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