“It is more important to discover new ways of thinking about what is already known than to discover new data or new facts.” To what extent would you agree with this statement? Albert Einstein said: “We will need a fundamentally new way of thinking if humanity is to survive.” » This new way of thinking must be based on pre-existing knowledge. This pre-existing knowledge is necessary because it is the catalyst that moves the human race forward, making us want to discover more. Trying to discover completely new knowledge would not yield the same results. Basing your research on what you already know allows you to compare the new data you've collected to the old data already there. If you discover something new, you will have nothing to compare it with. This doesn't allow you to see if what you discovered constitutes an improvement. This essay will examine how important it is to discover new ways of thinking about prior knowledge rather than discovering new facts. I believe it is much more important to use prior knowledge to push discovery than to try to discover new data or facts. Medicine is a field that constantly seeks to use previous knowledge to discover new things. Take HeLa cells for example. The first discovery of these cells was in 1951. These cells came from a black woman named Henrietta Lacks. She was diagnosed with cervical cancer. His doctor took a segment of his tumor and sent it to Dr. George Otto Grey, who was the first scientist to successfully culture human cells. These cells would then be used in research into cloning, polio vaccine, genetic mapping and in virto fertilization. These cells were important to science because no scientist had an inexhaustible supply of cells...... middle of paper ...... n can be affected by the quest to discover something new. In some cases this can lead to improvement, but in other cases it can cause many problems. Works Cited Zielinski, Sarah. “Smithsonian.com.” Smithsonian Magazine. January 22, 2010. The web. February 27, 2012. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Henrietta-Lacks-Immortal-Cells.htmlFreeman, David H. “The Triumph of New Age Medicine.” The Atlantic. 2011. Internet. February 27, 2012. “The Big Bang.” PBS. PBS. Internet. February 27, 2012. “The Steady State Theory.” PBS. PBS. Internet. February 27, 2012."Plato's Cave." My webspace files. Internet. February 27. 2012. .