Quote: “Leibniz lived in a period when it was still possible
– as his own astounding career demonstrated – for a very highly intelligent and
hard working scholar to absorb all the knowledge of his time”
Comment: Upon first look of this excerpt, one would likely
construe “ absorbing all knowledge” as a great accomplishment, however
underestimating its difficulty relative to the same challenge in the present. This
perception, of course, is highly inaccurate, for it underestimates the
discoveries found by other great minds before Leibniz, such as Euclid,
Aristotle, and many others. With this information, one should immediately envy
Leibniz for, not only his discoveries and contributions to philosophy and
mathematics, but also for his mind and motivation.
With this quote, also comes a very important lesson, that
success isn’t only achieved by innate talent, but by the combination of both
your innate ability and personal effort. Implied in the reading, Leibniz “aimed
to gain credibility of a critical thinker” in other words, he wanted to be
known for his academic discoveries. To attain his goal, Leibniz studied and
worked for years to increase his mathematical knowledge. With his concentrated
effort and commitment, he was able to achieve his goal and leave a legendary
mathematical legacy. My point is that
one will not likely achieve his goal on his “God given” abilities; rather he will
achieve his goals with a combination of his abilities and concentrated effort.
Question: Was the author of this reading being literal in my
chosen excerpt? Could an individual really attain all academic knowledge?
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