Structured Writing Focus

Write a 5 paragraph essay describing the best time or the worst time (past, present, or future) to be alive and why.

From a young age, I have shown a deep interest in world history. I have read histories of different parts of the world, ranging from the Mesopotamian civilization to the Cold War era. Besides, I have also depicted a significant concern about how the world is changing in terms of its environment and the technology achieved by the human civilization. Even though I always wish to enjoy the simple life experienced by people in the past who were free from the stress faced by people today due to work and high standard of living, the past is the worst time to live in. This is because the past is an age where technology is absent and the world was dominated by decade-long chaos as well as illogical or inhumane beliefs that deny scientific truths and knowledge.

In the past, the pace of technological advancement was far slower compared to that in the present. This is partly due to the fact that the knowledge available to mankind was scarce, as well as the lack of experiences and inspirations that impede them from creating new technologies. Since technology is meant to reduce the burden of work and make life easier, life without it would be a very difficult and inefficient one. For instance, before the Wright brothers invented airplane, a major breakthrough in the technology of transportation, travelling across the world, either by land or by water, can be very costly and time-consuming. Moreover, the chores carried out by people in the past, especially factory workers, were far more laborious and dangerous compared to their present counterparts. Taking ore-mining as an example, the miners had to risk their lives when extracting ores in the mines, before being replaced by large machines which can perform the same role at a more efficient manner without risking a single human life.

In addition, there were no international organizations or laws in the past which promote world peace in order to protect the people and their fundamental rights from bloody conflicts. Nations in the past were free to expand their empires via conquest and colonization. Hence, wars and battles were common phenomena across the globe, as the warring factions were fuelled by the strong desire to control the world at any length to show their superiority over other races or religions in the guise of patriotism. Unlike the present generation, generations in the past were ignorant towards the importance of maintaining world peace. Instead, they dedicate their lives in defending their own community and eradicate people whom they perceive as hostiles, although it can mean massacres. As a result, billions of innocent people, especially women and children, died in these bloodsheds or ended up as involuntary slaves who were forced to work for their colonizers.

The past is also an age of feudalism where the societies are ruled by the royals that claimed to have supernatural origins, apart from religious groups who delude the people into believing myths or irrational beliefs. Since these groups are often the authorities and are granted with huge powers through the feudal system which was commonly practiced in the past, people who oppose their views towards any matter will be subjected to punishment and treated as a heresy. Hence, the people in the past were not only deprived of their freedom of expression, but were also forced to live in falsehoods. Scientists in the past, such as Nicolaus Copernicus and Galileo Galilei, often found themselves facing heavy challenges and pressures from religious groups while trying to uncover the truth about the universe. This is because most of their findings or discoveries contradict with the views of the religions towards the universe.

In short, the past is the worst time to live in, as it is an age of darkness, where technology is limited and people are overly adhered to superstitions and have no regards towards creating a harmonious society that transcends cultural differences. All these attributes are caused by a common reason, the lack of education and appreciation towards knowledge. It can be seen that the unrest caused by wars and the influence of religious myths in the society started to cease gradually and the human civilization started to flourish since the beginning of Renaissance, when people began to acquire information and knowledge that were previously ignored. Despite being the worst period to be alive, the past serves as an important lesson for mankind so that the mistakes in the past will not be repeated, enabling the present and future generations to improve themselves, thus ensuring a brighter future for mankind.