Chapter 15 4.a Basic ways to acquire knowledge

The most basic means for all people to acquire knowledge is through "experience". The so-called experience, in layman's terms, is the senses from our five senses - sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste.When we see something, "seeing" is an experience in itself.Therefore, we know that the Great Wall is majestic, Ode to Joy is pleasant to the ear, a newly purchased computer feels good to the touch, the smell of ammonia is unbearable, and Sichuan cuisine or some other famous cuisines are delicious.It is conceivable what time and space it takes for human beings to go from drinking blood to fully understanding that cooked food is good for gastrointestinal digestion and health. The acquisition and use of fire is the biggest limitation, and how long does it take for the understanding of fire to go from fear to control?

A more advanced means of acquiring knowledge than "experience" is "trial and error". A college classmate of mine once surprised everyone at a party at a friend's house.In order to prove that she can cook, she said that she would cook Kung Pao Chicken for everyone.Of course everyone is very happy.Minutes later there was a scream from the kitchen and everyone flocked to find her with her fingers in her mouth and moaning with tears in her eyes.We were all very strange and didn't know what was going on.I figured it out later, and she poured oil into the pan and lit the gas stove.After a while, I couldn't figure out whether the oil in the pot had been boiled, so I stretched out a finger to try it...

I guess, this classmate of mine will never put his fingers into the oil pan to test whether the oil is open again in his life.This is trial and error. After you try it, you know you are wrong, and then you don't make mistakes again.Of course, maybe after trying it, it is found that it is not only correct, but also correct, then there is a new knowledge. "Trial and error" is so important that the so-called "education" in the oldest age depends on the whip - if you do it right, you will be stingy with rewards, but if you do it wrong, you will be punished.To this day, there are still many parents who still regard punishment as one of the main educational methods.

"Trial and error" often takes courage.Therefore, Mr. Lu Xun once said that "the first person to eat crabs" is admirable. "Who would dare to eat it if he is not a warrior?" Mr. Lu Xun continued, "The first person who ate crabs must have Spiders, because they are very similar in shape; but he finds crabs tasty and spiders not." On the basis of the method of "trial and error", another "smarter" and much more important way to acquire knowledge is through "observation". After the female classmate mentioned just now burned her finger, another female classmate in the room murmured, "Oh, it turns out that you can't use your fingers..." Everyone was stunned again, and finally started The hall roared with laughter, and even the girl who was burned just now couldn't help it.

"Observing" extends what we can "experience".Therefore, we can often gain experience or lessons from the experiences of others, thereby increasing our own knowledge.However, "experience", "trial and error" and "observation" all have limitations.First, not all knowledge can be acquired through one's own experience.For example, no one has the ability to experience the structure of the earth; the temperature of the sun can only be speculated.Second, there is also some knowledge that is difficult to acquire by trial and error.It is impossible to imagine a stock investor making a decision through trial and error, because the wrong result is often unbearable.Finally, not all knowledge can be acquired through observation.Historical researchers cannot personally observe the history hundreds of years ago; before Galileo invented the high-powered telescope, the space that could be observed with the naked eye was quite limited.

Therefore, "reading" has become a more important means of acquiring knowledge, and of course it is a means that requires more mental abilities. Species other than humans can only rely on the most backward but called magical way to accumulate experience: genetic inheritance. Terry Burnham and Jay Phelan mentioned in the book MEAN GENE that woodpeckers can instinctively use the optimal algorithm to obtain food-but a MIT doctor of mathematics may not be able to solve the same problem quickly; and the small head of the woodpecker is in How did you get the result without a higher education?The answer is: through genetic inheritance.

Human beings can of course accumulate experience through genetic inheritance.Although babies have never seen a snake, they will cry as long as they see a snake; babies have never seen a gun, but they are not afraid of this thing that is many times scarier than a snake-human ancestors have been bitten by snakes for generations. How many times; however, people have only been aware of the dangers of guns for less than two hundred years, and have not had time to form an "innate" fear that can be passed on through genes. The appearance of writing distinguishes human beings from other animals.The emergence of writing has made the accumulation of human experience no longer solely dependent on genetic inheritance.Humans began to use written records to accumulate information, acquire knowledge, and disseminate experience... The information explosion has brought us the most amazing era of progress in human history. The word "changing with each passing day" is no longer enough-it is not too much to use "every minute and every second".

After humans finally had writing, they did not immediately receive the benefits they deserved.The dissemination and accumulation of knowledge did not become too easy all of a sudden.From tying ropes to record events to engraving stones to eulogize virtue, from exorcising crimes to discussing with Lun scarves, from recording history on rice paper to hiding pictures on leather skins, the carrier of words has never been easy to preserve and spread.The novel vividly tells such a story: how hard it is to acquire knowledge in an era when the transmission of words is extremely difficult. Today, however, the ease of dissemination of words has reached unprecedented heights.It can be said that the Internet has changed everything.Word processors, blog engines, and search engines have made it easier than ever to write, record, disseminate, share, and retrieve empirical knowledge.Anyone with a little common sense can "publish" their own written records of "experience", "trial and error", and "observation".Behind the simple and refreshing interface of the search engine is almost cosmic level of information (the word "massive" is no longer enough).The spirit of knowledge sharing has been carried forward like never before, and the most direct and significant product is the free Wikipedia.Today, anyone with enough reading ability can acquire the "doctoral" level of knowledge that was difficult to obtain in the past.

All Internet users who have used "Fantong.com" or "Dianping.com" can appreciate the benefits of using text to share information and experiences.Even if I have lived in a big city like Beijing since I was a child, there is no way to know every good place to eat and drink.Without this sharing of words, people would have to go back to the "Stone Age" and lose many opportunities to enjoy life. Sayings such as "If you don't reach the Great Wall, you are not a hero" are somewhat baffling in today's world where text (and other information recording media such as pictures and videos) are so developed.

In such an era, "reading" breaks through the limitations of individual "experience" or simple "trial and error". "Experience" is often limited to oneself, and "trial and error" is limited to one's own experience.However, through "reading", we can learn about other people's "experience" and "trial and error" results (the so-called "experience").It can span time, space, not to mention race and country--text translation tools are getting more and more advanced, and the number of people who master two or more languages ​​is constantly increasing.

The premise of "reading" is that the previous experience recorded in writing already exists.And writing makes it possible to quickly accumulate experience-"fear of snakes (reptiles)" may take hundreds of generations to become "innate knowledge" through memory inheritance, but with writing, within one generation, it will become "innate knowledge". It is possible to accumulate and access knowledge accumulated over thousands of years.Modern people only need to go through elementary school, middle school, and university for a total of about fifteen years, and they have the opportunity to learn Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, or Darwin, Mendeleev, and even Einstein in school. All the knowledge possessed by the giants of the world is contained in their own heads. Words are too important.However, another obvious fact is that it seems impossible to spend a total of about fifteen years in elementary school, middle school, and university, and it has not been able to "educate" another Copernicus, another Galileo, another Newton, or Another Darwin, another Mendeleev, even another Einstein.Obviously, there should be more important ways to acquire knowledge, which are so difficult to use and impart that even the "formal education" system that has been painstakingly designed by generations of elites often ends in failure.