Journals/ Argument Essay Writing/ GRE Argument Essay Writing

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

Originality can be stimulated from an old idea or can come from one’s basic instincts. It doesn’t mean putting old ideas together. Presenting old thoughts and ideas together in a new way can renovate those thoughts only. But, the originality comes out with new thoughts and ideas from individuals. All the great inventions in the world; for example, in the fields of astronomy, medical science, physical science, arts are the achievements of original thoughts. The original inventions, thoughts, and ideas do not always include past histories. In most of the times, it stands on its own original base.

In astronomy new inventions have taken place several times over the past years. Great astronomers have tried to motivate themselves with their own new ideas. Consequently, they came up with their own discoveries. For example, in the time of Galileo, people used to use telescopes for measuring lands. But, Galileo used it to look at the sky. He made amazing discoveries in the field of astronomy. He played a major role in scientific revolution, trying to explain his new concept that the earth moves around the sun instead of the belief that the sun moves around the earth. The roman society tried to defend their belief and they arrested Galileo for his controversial idea. But, Galileo’s new idea was finally proved to be right. This was a complete new discovery, totally different from the old concepts that people used to hold before.

In medical science the inventions has gone too far away. The new inventions have come to existence with entirely novel thoughts. Louis Pasteur, who is best known for his remarkable inventions in immunization of diseases, had devised an unusual mechanism to let humans fight against the diseases. In one of his experiments Pasteur failed to induce disease in some chickens where the chickens were already infected with disease. Those chickens become immune to the disease. This new invention helped later to create vaccinations for human to conquer many perilous diseases. This is an example of one of many unique inventions and it didn’t come out as the combinations or improvements of old thoughts.

Old thoughts and ideas can be used to improve an existing idea. It cannot bring a new discovery. Many have seen apples falling from a tree. But, Isaac Newton, the pioneer of physical science, thought in a different way with astonishment. This was irrelevant to other thoughts and he discovered the laws of motion. On the basis of this law many new concepts have been developed. But, those are just the derivations. The laws of motion are not related to any ancient thoughts at all. Many other laws have developed upon these laws of motion and also many problems have been solved by applying these laws efficiently.

Pablo Picasso, who is one of the greatest artists in modern art, had initiated a new branch of painting. He worked with this style of painting instead of the traditional approach. He is famous for founding the Cubist movement which started an era in the history of art. In cubist artworks, painting is viewed from multiple points instead of viewing it from a single point. It is more of an abstract painting than a conventional painting. However, this new practice was started totally from the scratch and still artists finding it very useful and attractive. Another example is Leonardo De Vinci, whose great works in the art are still famous for their uniqueness.

When we observe all the greatest inventions, creations and discoveries of the world, it can be seen that originality actually depends on an individual’s unique work. It doesn’t generate from the existing ideas and thoughts. Sometimes new results can be achieved from an old idea. But, those can be referred as improvement rather than labeling as original discoveries.

© 2008 by Quazi Mainul Hasan. All rights reserved.