Austin Che
4/3/95
Period 3
World Core

Living

	Change. More change. It is essential to survive. Without change, we would fall into the 
same pitfalls, commit the same mistakes, over and over. What would we be without the ability to 
adapt? The human race would have long been extinct. For example, we wouldn't have learned 
that fighting is useless and would have killed ourselves.
	From All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque about World War I, "We 
will be superfluous even to ourselves, we will grow older, a few will adapt themselves, some 
others will merely submit, and most will be bewildered;--the years will pass by and in the end 
we shall fall into ruin."
	This quote shows how war sent soldiers that didn't adapt into misery and ruin for the rest 
of their life. Without change, the war would never had ended. The soldiers were saved if they 
could change. Those that couldn't were destroyed.
	Changing applies to each human being as an individual also. We all start out as a baby 
that doesn't know how to do anything besides change. We learn the necessities to live. We learn 
to talk, to walk, and to eat. If we didn't change, then we would all still be babies. We wouldn't be 
able to grow or expand ourselves. There would be no improvements.
	For example, I have improved this essay since the first time I wrote it. "Where are the two 
examples from your experiences?" pestered my peer editior. Ok. So maybe I was lacking a few 
examples. But I have changed. And hopefully my grade will improve.
	As this example shows, we need to adapt to our environment. I added personal 
experiences because I was becoming annoyed at hearing "I can't find them!" over and over. Also, 
I told everybody who likes reading reflective essays my mistake. Hopefully this will prevent 
anyone else from making the same mistake of letting someone else read your paper.
	Of course, changes might not always be for the better. If everyone followed the above 
suggestion, ideas wouldn't be passed. If my peer editor hadn't read my essay, none of these ideas 
would have been communicated. Someone else might go through the same thing all over again. 
This way, we can learn from others and they can learn from us.
	I remember learning English. I didn't invent the language. I learned it from my parents, 
teachers, and others. Before I could speak, I couldn't communicate with the outside world and 
they couldn't communicate with me. I felt isolated and unable to show what I thought. We were 
so separated without a common language. None of my ideas mattered because no one else knew 
what I was thinking.
	Without being able to adapt to different languages, we wouldn't be able to tell about our 
mistakes so as to prevent it from ever happening again. Each person would have to start all over 
from the beginning. There would be no benefit from living. We would live and then die. The next 
generation would live and then die. There would be no improvement. Why should anyone want 
to live?
	Change also happens in everyday life. Since, everything in the universe move towards 
chaos, you can not expect to survive without putting in the necessary amount of energy. Without 
chaos, everything would be the same and never change. There would be no variety, no surprises, 
and nothing would be interesting. 
	For example, in a chess game, adapting is essential to survive, as you can not expect your 
opponent to follow an orderly game. If every game was the same, no one would want to play. The 
game wouldn't survive as soon everyone will become bored of it. Therefore, without the 
necessity to change and adapt, we wouldn't have any point to living. We live because we wish to 
improve ourselves.
	The outside world is also changing. To keep up with these changes, we must continually 
change along with it. The development of AIDS, the environmental crisis, and the possible 
destruction of the earth all have forced us to change. There is no way to stop the change around 
us. The changes are basic and a property of everything that exists.
	When things stop changing, all progress will stop. Change is the only way to keep 
everything together and in order. But will too much change cause chaos instead? And when is 
change for the better?