Dawei Huang’s Reviews > The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom > Status Update

Needham compares the need of knowledge stating that it is that thing needed in death."If on my deathbed, I have a choice, I would rather have my mind filled with knowledge than suppressed with medicine.(197)" What he suggest that while medicine only eases pain in death, knowledge insures that you had died living purposeful life. A body without knowledge is just an elaborate instrument never played, but left to rust.

Needham believes that our society is defined by distinction between the values of man and not by us being connected as equals."We have created too many walls but not a lot of bridges.(167)"What he means is that our society is too divided between the powerful and the weak to even realize that we are just as powerful as each other.We must build bridges over our walls and uphold the fact that all men were created equal.

Needham believes that to solve questions it is more effective to look at yourself than to seek other people. "Genius are those that solve questions without looking beyond themselves.(104)" I believe that this means that if you look at other people, you will be hindered by their opinions since it is impossible to please anyone. A good solution comes from those people with the ability to look closer instead of further.

Needham tells us to abandon our senses because they would mislead us from true understanding. "If you were to judge an Asian man by his color, you might as well judge soil by its taste.(69)" If we eliminate soil despite its importance for its taste, we would perish. Likewise we must not use our senses to determine human value before we can come to know them. Prejudice exist to eliminate bonds before they even exist.