My first experience with the concept of a "brain tank" was nearly 30 years ago.At that time, an "internal reading material" was not widely circulated in the academic, ideological and political circles, and the title of the book was "Outstanding People".This book records many anecdotes in the decision-making circle of the Johnson administration in the United States at that time.For example, General Westmoreland, the commander of the US military who invaded Vietnam, was still reciting Japanese words when he flew to the theater.Another example is how Assistant Secretary of State Bundy had an amazing memory when he was young. After reading a paper eloquently, he told the applauding teachers and students that the speech he just read was just a blank sheet of paper!The author of the book calls these decision-making figures "elites and think tanks" and "outstanding people", intending to satirize and ridicule these highly intelligent figures for insisting on fighting a stupid Vietnam War.

Later, in the study of contemporary world history, politics, and economics, I came into contact with the term "elite" more often.But to my great surprise, the term is used most often in writings about the rise of national independence movements in Asia and Africa after World War II.A large number of Asian intellectuals who have received complete Western education contributed to the historical waves, influenced the current situation, took advantage of the situation, and competed for power.These people were dubbed "elite".However, due to the turmoil of the current situation and the upheaval of the country's destiny, they can only be "traitors in troubled times" and become critics, strugglers or subversives of the existing system, and have no chance to realize their long-term plan of rational governance in a peaceful environment. Therefore, the concept of "elite" is also staggered with that of "brain tank".

In times of peace, there have always been many "big hermits" among the Chinese people, and they are the positive "joint force" of the Chinese nation.On the one hand, a society full of talents and prosperous elites is a society full of vitality and unlimited potential; on the other hand, only when the elites in the society really go to the top and become advisers and speakers of the state power can such a society be called For a "civilized" society, such a government can be called an efficient and enlightened government. China began to have the name and reality of "high-level think tanks" at the same time, starting in the late 1970s.At that time, with the gradual development of democratic construction and the opening up of the national customs and folk customs, a group of young and middle-aged intellectuals and scholars who advocated reform wrote books, frequently issued grand opinions, tried to explain the current disadvantages, agitated trends, and led the fashion of thought. The society is cutting-edge, and it is spectacular for a while.These figures echoed many senior comrades with a sense of responsibility in the party and the government, and eventually became the strong public opinion foundation for Deng Gong's reform and opening up policy. The aftermath of this is still imprinted on the reality of China.

However, even at that time, there were huge differences among these "think tanks", and there were also huge differences in academic and policy views on understanding the world and transforming China. "On new authoritarianism" and the debate between blue civilization and yellow civilization are the prominent manifestations of this difference and divergence.There have been more and more debates on national conditions, traditions, Chinese history, and the comparison of Chinese and Western culture, economy and politics.A confrontation between evolutionism, mechanical materialism and dialectical materialism under the new situation is imminent.Regrettably, due to various complicated reasons, this kind of debate and confrontation failed to go deep, and the focus of the confrontation was not highlighted, so it failed to bring greater enlightenment and benefits to social progress.It can be said that one of the reasons for these situations is that the structure and system of "high-level think tanks" are in the early stages of development and are not yet perfect.

Today's "high-level new think tanks" are mainly concerned with basic social issues, such as social relations, social structure, social interests, social differences, and social trends.They are not limited to their own majors, and the different types of professional knowledge they possess are just ladders and bridges for them to understand and analyze society, as the saying goes, "all roads lead to Rome".As the sharpest nerves of society, they consciously or unconsciously feel that the original driving force of social change should be institutional change, the adjustment of distribution relations, the reallocation of resources, and the improvement of public psychology and national quality.It is precisely because they focus on the society and act on the upper class that they have attracted the attention and focus of the society and the upper class.While instilling some new concepts into the society, they also triggered a new round of spiritual liberation and intellectual enlightenment. The introduction of "three theories" such as "system theory" in the 1980s and 1990s and the establishment of futurology in China are proof.There are many similar ones.

The significance of the existence of "high-level think tanks" is: as long as China is advancing, there must be drummers and standard bearers in the advancing phalanx; as long as the Chinese look forward to the future, there must be thinkers, recognizers, designers and implementers of the future .I only hope that those who are lucky or aspiring to be frontier Chinese people can have lofty aspirations and endure loneliness.