<p>Should people always prefer new things, ideas, or values to those of the past?</p>
<p>Although initially daunting, new things, ideas, and values are superior to those of the past. The lives of Ludwig van Beethoven and Henry Ford, as well as my own personal experiences, all support this idea.</p>
<p>An eighteenth century German composer, Ludwig van Beethoven innovated greatly with his music. While his teachers Haydn and Mozart taught him classical music styles, Beethoven in time developed his own style that made him famous. Beethoven was unafraid to experiment in unheard-of ways, such as adding singers to the final movement of his Ninth Symphony and opening with the piano instead of the orchestra in his late piano concertos. Disdainful of Beethoven's unorthodox approaches, many critics were unable to appreciate or understand his music. But today, Beethoven is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential composers of all time. Not content with the music standards of his time, Beethoven also rebelled socially. During the eighteenth century, composers were of low importance and were expected to be servile to aristocrats and patrons. However, Beethoven refused this notion of inferiority, often stopping performances or refusing to play whenever he felt he was being treated with inadequate respect. In the end, Beethoven radically supported new ideas in music and social life, ultimately leading him to become one of the most successful composers.</p>
<p>Henry Ford was a twentieth century entrepreneur and automobile manufacturer. Originally, automobiles were exorbitantly expensive and only affordable by the very rich. Ford, however, went against conventional wisdom and ideas. He was determined to bring automobiles to the masses at affordable prices. Finally, he came up with an innovative technique to mass produce products at low costs, dubbing it "Fordism". He split the automobile-making process into an assembly line of small, manageable parts. Hence, Ford was able to produce automobiles using low-skill, low-cost workers, bringing the price of the automobile down by 40 percent. Suddenly, automobiles were affordable by the masses and quickly became ubiquitous. Henry Ford himself went on to be incredibly wealthy and successful. By innovating and discarding the ideas of the past, Henry Ford was able to improve the lives of thousands of people, bring a better form of private transportation to the masses, and obtain great wealth.</p>
<p>Finally, my personal experiences demonstrate to me the importance of new ideas. Formerly disdainful of electronics such as the personal computer, I used to prefer writing by hand because I found much easier. Although my friends tried hard to convince me, I was too stubborn, and not prudent or open-minded enough to listen to them. However, one day I tried typing on a computer. I realized that the reason I found typing slow was not because of the technology, but because of my lack of skill. With that in mind, I set out to regularly practice and improve my typing. Today, I am able to type up to 130 words per minute with a 99% accuracy rate, much faster than I could ever hope to write. My experiences with typing on a computer led me to realize the importance of discarding old ideas and embracing new ones.</p>
<p>Even though switching to new things, ideas, or values can be troublesome and difficult, people should nevertheless attempt to do so. The lives of Ludwig van Beethoven and Henry Ford, as well as my own personal experiences, reveal the great power and worth of new ideas.</p>