GRE作文范文 Issue-25

"People who pursue their own intellectual interests for purely personal reasons are more likely to benefit the rest of the world than are people who try to act for the public good."

嘉文博译Sample Essay

People who pursue whatever interests they have, be they intellectual or otherwise, for purely personal reasons are rarely interested in making a contribution to society. To say that these people are more likely to benefit the rest of the world than those acting for the public good is to assume that the positive innovations, discoveries or other findings of those acting for only personal reasons will be made available to the population in general, and that the overall results will be better for the world. There may certainly be some consequences that become public knowledge because their selfish interests also require that the researcher sell his or her ideas to make money or to become famous, but on the whole, people in pursuit of benefiting the public welfare are more likely to make a positive contribution to society.

First of all, there is something positive to be said about a person that is engaged in intellectual pursuits for entirely selfish reasons. That person is likely to be highly motivated by an inner desire to learn and to discover even if only for self-satisfaction. This inner motivation can sometimes be very strong, leading to an almost tireless quest for more knowledge to feed this inner fire. Whether the knowledge gained benefits society as a whole depends entirely on whether that individual is actually selfish in keeping the knowledge learned to him or herself, or whether he or she is at least ambivalent about whether the knowledge goes out to the rest of the world. As one example, although Nikolai Tesla shared much of his knowledge with the world, he died with some of his main achievements known only to himself. Had he truly been acting for the public good, this knowledge would have been shared with the world at some point in time, supplying countless and perhaps unimaginable benefits to mankind.

On the other hand, people who are motivated by the idea of improving the public good have the internal desire to help others. This aspiration can be every bit as strong as the ambition of a person acting for wholly selfish reasons. It is axiomatic that by basing one's pursuit of intellectual interests on altruistic goals, the public stands a much greater chance of benefiting in the end. Rather than focusing on one's individual (and therefore selfish) needs, this type of person looks outward to see what is needed in a society. The pathway to success for this individual is thus defined by the wants and needs of the general population as a whole, rather than one's personal desires. A great example of one motivated by the public good was personified in Mother Teresa, the highly motivated social worker. Her pursuits were almost entirely based on an intense internal desire to help others, whether with individual people on a small scale or with entire regions of a country on a larger scale. Surely the lasting benefits that she has given to society are greater than those of anyone who has perhaps made similar contributions but based them on purely personal interests.

In conclusion, what really matters is not whether the individual was motivated by personal, selfish reasons or if they were motivated entirely by a desire to contribute to the public welfare. But it would stand to reason that one who is motivated to make a situation better has a better chance of improving that given situation than does someone motivated by his or her own desires.

(577 words)

参考译文

纯粹为了个人的利益而去追求他们自己学术兴趣的人，比那些试图为了公众利益而采取行动的人，更有可能对世界上的其他人做出贡献

那些纯粹出于个人利益而去追求他们自己的兴趣的人，无论他们是知识分子还是黎民百姓，很少会热心于对社会做出贡献。我们说这些人相对于那些为了公众的利益而采取行动的人更可能对世界做出贡献，是假定这些为了自己个人的利益而行动之人所做出的发明、发现或其它的创造，将会应用于全体人类，且整体结果会有利于人类进步。无疑有些成果已成为公共的知识，因为他们个体的利益同样需要研究人员将他/她的思想出售以挣钱糊口，或使自己名闻遐迩。但总的说来，追求为公共事业做贡献之人更有可能为社会做出有益的事情。

首先，一个人完全为了个人的利益追求知识，仍有一些积极的因素。即使仅仅为了自我满足，这个人也可能被一种内在的学习愿望或发现愿望所驱动。这一内在的动机，有时会非常强烈，因而导致对知识不倦的追求以满足这种内心欲望。这样所获得的知识，是否能够有益于社会，完全取决于这个人是自私地持有他/她所学的知识，还是稍有将其知识应用于社会之心思。这方面的例子之一是Nikolai Tesla。尽管Nikolai Tesla与世界分享他的大部分知识，但是他怀抱着他的主要成就进入坟墓。倘若他真有造福于公众利益之心，这些知识肯定会在某时为世界所共享，从而为人类做出无数的甚至是超乎想象的贡献。

另一方面，为造福于公众利益这一思想所驱动之人，具有帮助他人的内心愿望。这一愿望可以同自私自利之人的野心一样强烈。勿需赘言，把个人对知识的追求建立在无私的目标之上，公众就有更大的机会最终从中获益。这样的人目光对准社会的需要。这样的人之通往成功的通路，是由广大民众的所急所需而决定，不是由个人的欲望所界定。一位以公众利益作为行为动机的实例是圣女Teresa，一位有着崇高动机的社会工作者。她的追求几乎全部基于帮助他人的强烈愿望，无论是在小事上帮助个人还是在大事上帮助一个地区的人。毫无疑问，她为社会所做出的具有永久意义的贡献，远远大于那些或许做了同样的事情但其动机源于个人利益之人。

总之，重要的不是一个人是由个人的、自私的动机所激励，还是完全以对公众利益做贡献为其动机。然而合乎情理的是：一个以改善环境为动机之人，比诸于一个以满足个人愿望为目的之人，有更多的机会改善那个环境。