GRE作文范文 Issue-26

"Originality does not mean thinking something that was never thought before: it means putting old ideas together in new ways."

嘉文博译Sample Essay

There are at least two different ways of looking at the concept of originality, and neither of these ways is mutually exclusive as proposed by the above statement. Both approaches to what constitutes "originality" - thinking up something entirely new that no one else has ever thought of before, and combining previously discovered ideas in new ways - have the word "new" in common. One can look at the two schools of thought and see that they are complementary rather than at odds with each other. Both are absolutely necessary for maximizing innovation and discovery.

First, let's consider the first phrase of the statement - "Originality does not mean thinking something that was never thought before". Coming up with something that has never been thought of before is probably the absolute pinnacle of originality. What could be more original than something that has never before presented itself to the human mind? History is rife with examples of such inventiveness and imagination. People have become rich on even very simple ideas that make one exclaim: "Why didn't I think of that?"

Brand new ideas are often scoffed at or ridiculed in the beginning. The idea that the world was flat was taken as a given until a group of explorers with a novel idea proved that the world was indeed round by circumnavigating the globe. Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity had never been thought of before - can anyone honestly say that this was not an "original" idea? Thomas Alva Edison's entire (and quite amazing) career was based on thinking of things that no one had ever thought of before. Can anyone claim that his inventions lacked originality? On the contrary, thinking up ideas that have never been thought before would seem to the "purest" sense of originality as something that is wholly and entirely brand new to the human species.

Similarly, putting together previously thought of ideas in news ways is just another branch of the notion of originality. Looking back to the example of Einstein's Theory of Relativity, there have been tremendous strides made throughout the sciences using his theory as a basis for theoretical and physical research and development. Combining Einstein's theories with theories on different subjects and areas that had never been looked at before also represents "originality" as they are used to develop new ideas and concepts. Edison is credited with more than one thousand patented ideas. These ideas have been combined with other people's ideas in creative and imaginative ways that Edison never could have imagined. From Edison's invention of the phonograph, we now have compact disks and MP3 digitized music files. The combination of Edison's never-before-thought-of ideas and the technology behind the digital revolution has led to the development of innovative and original methods of listening to music.

Finally, one need to only think about the concept that "originality means combining previously thought of ideas in new ways" to see that it is fundamentally in error. The statement presupposes that all basic ideas that could be thought up have already been proposed, and that there are no new ideas that have never been thought of before. This brings to mind the infamous statement made by the director of the United States Patent Office to U.S. President McKinley in 1899: "Everything that can be invented has already been invented." Concepts that we cannot even imagine will continue to be thought of for as long as people have the capability of thought. The true definition of originality must include both brand new, previously unheard of ideas as well as the later combination of those ideas in new-fangled ways to create something innovative.

(602 words)

参考译文

原创性并非意味着思考以前从未被思考之事物：原创性指的是用新的方法将各种旧思想综合起来

至少有两种看待原创性的方式，而且这两种方式并非彼此互不相容，如上面引文所言。两种探讨"原创性"实质--思考以前从未被思考过的新事物以及用新方法综合以前已被发现的思想--的方法，都同样以"新"为其特点。我们可以看一下这两种思想方法，发现它们是互补的，而不是互斥的。对于最大限度地革新和发现，它们均是绝对地必需。

首先，我们考察一下上述引文的第一个命题："原创性并不是思考以前从未被思考之事物"。能构想出以前从未被思考过的事物，这或许是原创性的峰巅。还有什么能比为人类揭示出人类未知的事物更具原创性的呢?人类的历史就是一部此类发明和思想的历史。人们甚至会因为非常简单的想法--简单得以致于有人会说："我怎么会没有想到呢?" --而成为富人。

崭新的思想在开始时常常受到取笑甚至嘲弄。地球是平的这一观念被认为是铁定的，直到一群拥有新看法的探险家环球旅行证明地球确实是圆的，这一观念才被推翻。Albert Enstein的相对论以前从未有人想到。能有人诚实地说这不是"原创性的"吗?Thomas Alva Edison的整个(且非常令人惊奇的)一生，都是在思考以前从未被人思考过的事物。能有人说他的发明没有"原创性"吗?相反，想到以前从未被人思索过的思想，似乎是原创性"最纯粹"的含义。原创即是指对人类来说纯粹和彻底的新事物。 同样，以新的方法把旧的思想融合在一起是原创性的另一方面。回顾Einstein的相对论，在整个科学史上有许多人运用他的理论作为理论研究或物理研究的基础，从而获得巨大成就和进步。把Einstein的理论与以前从未提出或探讨的学科或领域的理论结合起来，同样体现出"原创性"，因为它们是用来发展新的思想和新的观念。Edison有一千多项专利发明。这些发明已与其他人的思想创造性地、富有想象力地结合起来，而这些思想是Edison所想像不到的。从Edison所发明的留声机，我们现在拥有了激光唱机和MP3型数字音乐唱机。Edison的"从未想到的"想法与数字革命以后的技术相结合，导致了富有革新意义和原创意义的聆听音乐方法的产生。

最后，我们只需考虑一下"原创性指的是用新的方法将各种旧思想综合起来"这一说法，就会发现这种说法完全是错误的。这一说法假定所有能想像到的想法都已被提出，而且已经不存在以前还未被想到的新思想了。这使我们想起1899年美国专利署署长对美国总统Mckinley所说的不知天高地厚的话："所有能被发明的已全被发明"。只要人类还具有思想的能力，我们现在甚至还无法想像到的思想将永远会不断地被构　想出来。原创性的真正定义，必须既包括全新的、前所未闻的思想，又囊括后来用新奇的方法把旧思想综合起来而创造的事物。