Chapter 52 The Spirit of Science and Eastern and Western Cultures (August 20, 1922)

one Today I feel a great honor to have the opportunity to speak at the annual meeting of the Science Society, a cultural group that has the greatest bearing on the future of China.But I was very ashamed and terrified. How can a person like me, who is a complete layman in science, deserve to give a lecture here?This topic——"Scientific Spirit and Eastern and Western Cultures" was appointed by the board of directors of this society to give me a lecture.I remember the joke in the age of science: Some unreasonable scholar took the exam, and he was punished to drink three buckets of ink first, and prepared to drip some ink while hanging upside down.Today’s exam paper of mine is just a drop of ink hanging upside down. I know that I must be generous, but every sentence expresses how much we laymen admire, reverence, and love for the "beauty of the ancestral temple and the wealth of officials" inside the door. Sincerity.I hope that people in China who don't understand science or those who have always looked down on science and hate science will get some enlightenment after hearing my words, then it will be considered as my personal contribution to this society.

The harvest of science in the past hundred years is so rich: we are not crows, but we can also fly into the sky; we are not fish, but we can also enter water; give?No matter how stubborn a person is, the phrase "science is useless" will never come out of his mouth again.But why hasn't China benefited from science until today?Is it still a "non-scientific citizen" until today?I think there are two fundamentally wrong things about the Chinese attitude towards science: First, the science is viewed too lowly, too crudely.Our beliefs for thousands of years have all said that "what is metaphysical is called Tao, and what is metaphysical is called utensils", "virtual success comes first, and artistic success comes lower".Most people think that no matter how advanced science is, it still belongs to the part of arts and instruments. This part is the rough trace of learning. It is not unusual to know it, and it is not a shame not to know it.He also thinks: Although our science is not as good as human beings, we still have knowledge that is more precious than science—such extraordinary abilities, such great economics for governing the country and the world, all of which are enough to be proud of. It is enough to be a kind of subsidy.Because of this kind of old view, starting from Guo Yunxian and Zhang Xiangtao, who advocated new learning, there are two self-satisfied words, saying that "Chinese learning is for the body, and Western learning is for application."Although these two sentences are not as fashionable as they used to be, but because the spirit in the words is most in line with the taste of the Chinese people, the effectiveness of the words still exists in disguise until today.Needless to say, old gentlemen, even in recent years, the so-called new trend of thought and the so-called new culture movement, don’t everyone think that it is vigorous and lively?Try to check his content. Probably the most popular one is talking about politics and economics. I also gave him a name for this spirit and that spirit in literature, which is called the extraordinary ability of the suit.As for those down-to-earth and ordinary sciences, how many people are willing to pay attention to them?How many decent science lectures can there be in a school?Yes, how many people are willing to listen?How many valuable scientific books and scientific papers can there be in the publishing industry?Yes, how many people are willing to read it?Although I dare not say that today's young people are absolutely not interested in science, but the interest is not as strong as other aspects.It should be noted that this is inherited from social psychology accumulated over the years!The concept that science believes that "arts come down" is unbreakable, and until today, it is still the most popular among those who love to talk empty words.Since science can't be done quickly like other kinds of knowledge, and it is not respected by the society, who is willing to devote themselves to learning it?

Second, the view of science is too dull and too narrow.There is no need to blame those who absolutely despise science, even if they respect science relatively, nine out of ten do not understand the nature of science.They only know the value of the results of scientific research, but not the value of science itself; they only have the concepts of mathematics, geometry, physics, chemistry, etc., but not the concept of science.They think that if you study chemistry, you will understand chemistry, and if you study geometry, you will understand geometry; they don't realize that it is not chemistry that can teach people to understand chemistry, and geometry can teach people to understand geometry, but science can actually teach people to understand chemistry and geometry.They think that only chemistry, mathematics, physics, geometry, etc. are sciences, and they think that only chemistry, mathematics, physics, geometry, etc. can be used for science; they don't know that all political science, economics, sociology, etc. , as long as it is enough to be a subject of knowledge, there is nothing that is not science.If we do not use the spirit of science to study, we will not be able to do that branch of knowledge.Because the Chinese have never understood the meaning of the word "science", some people have rewarded learning to build ships and guns in the past 50 years, but no one has rewarded science; mathematics, geometry, chemistry, and physics have been taught in schools for more than ten years. But there is no way to teach people how to do science.Or to say: Only those who major in science and engineering want science. I don’t plan to be an engineer or teach physics and chemistry. Why do I need science?This is how Chinese people view science.Let me boldly say a word: If the two attitudes of the Chinese towards science remain unchanged for a long time, the Chinese will never have the independence of learning in the world, and the Chinese will soon become obsolete citizens of modern times.

two What is the scientific spirit?Let me explain in the broadest sense: "Systematic true knowledge is called science, and the method that can teach people to obtain systematic true knowledge is called scientific spirit." This sentence should be explained in three layers: The first level is truth-seeking knowledge.Knowledge is possessed by ordinary people, even animals.What science wants to give us is to fight for the word "true".It is easy for ordinary people to believe what they know is true; but as long as they study it with a scientific spirit, the more they study, the more difficult it is to find the truth.For example, the saying "Confucius was a human being" can always be said to be true without further study, because the difference between human and non-human is easy to see.For example, if you say "a tiger is a vicious beast", it remains to be seen whether this sentence is true or not.To prove that he is true, it is necessary to study that beasts have a certain quality before they are considered evil. See if tiger fruit has it?If it is said that a tiger killing people is evil, why is it not evil for people to kill tigers?If it is said that killing the same kind is considered evil, you only hear of people killing people, but never of tigers killing tigers, then humans may be called evil beasts, but tigers definitely cannot be called evil beasts.For example, "Xing is good", or "Xing is not good", whether these two sentences are true or not, it is more and more to be tested.What exactly is "sex"?What is "goodness"?Both aspects must be understood first.If what Mencius talked about about sex, emotion, and talent, and what Song Confucianists talked about about righteousness and temperament, were all messed up, then there would be no standard for seeking truth.For example, "China is now a republican government", this sentence is waiting to be tested.If you want to know whether he is true or not, you must first clarify the content of republican politics and see if China agrees with him.For example, the sentence "France is a republic" has yet to be examined.To know whether he is true or not, one must first ask what the word "France" covers. If Annan also counts France, this sentence is of course not true.Looking at these few examples, we can see that it is not easy for us to gain insight into the nature of a thing.You have to drill into this thing to study, you have to study around this thing, you have to jump on top of this thing to study, and after all kinds of analysis and research results, you can roughly study the attributes of this thing. Among similarly promiscuous individuals, the characteristics of each individual are found.In another direction, many things with the same characteristics are grouped into one class, many classes are grouped into one part, and many parts are grouped into one group. If it is the result of comprehensive research, it can be regarded as discovering the relationship between many separate individuals. universality.After all these efforts, you are allowed to say "what is the nature of a certain thing".This is the first major spirit of science.

The second layer seeks systematic true knowledge.Knowledge is not only about knowing one thing at a time, but also the relationship between this thing and that thing. Otherwise, knowledge in bits and pieces is useless.Knowing the relationship between things and things, and thus inferring the other, and finding out the unknown from the known, is called systematic knowledge.There are two systems: one vertical and two horizontal.The horizontal system refers to the universality of things - as mentioned in the previous paragraph.The vertical system refers to the causality of things—if there is this thing, then there will be that thing; if there is this thing, then there will be that thing; or how it changes; this is called the law of causality.Understanding cause and effect is the only way to increase new knowledge, because we rely on him to infer the unknown based on what we know; understanding cause and effect is a guide from knowledge to behavior, because we can choose a goal based on what the outcome is expected to be do it.Of course, cause and effect are not easy to talk about: first, to find evidence; second, to give reasons.Although it cannot be said that the law of causality must contain "necessity", it is always better to be as close to "necessity" as possible. At least it must contain a strong "probability". If it is only "accidental", it is not the law of causality.For example, saying: "The sun that sets at night will definitely come out again tomorrow morning." Saying: "If the water is boiled beyond the boiling point, it will definitely turn into steam." There are no exceptions in the experience of many times; and why this is the case, the reasons can be clearly stated.For example: "The leaves that fall in winter will grow back next spring." This sentence is yet to be tested.Because it is not the leaf that grows again, and the tree may encounter other changes and never grow leaves again.For example: "There are rainbows in the west, and there must be rain in the east." This sentence is more and more to be tested.Because Hauni is not the cause of the rain, he is the same cause as the rain, or it is the result of the rain.Afterwards, he said: "If there is rain in the east, there must be a rainbow in the west." This sentence is also waiting to be tested.Because although the rain can be the cause of Hong Ni, there must be other reasons gathered together for Hong Ni to come out.For example: "An unfilial person will be struck by lightning." This sentence is waiting to be tested.Because although we have heard of an unfilial person being thundered, it is only by accident. Many unfilial people are not necessarily thundered, and many things that are thundered are not necessarily unfilial; and there is a thunder in the universe. Unfilial, these reasons are completely beyond words.For example: "When a person dies, he will become a ghost." This sentence is more and more open to test.Because absolute evidence has never been obtained, and absolutely no reason can be given.For example, it is said: "If there is extreme governance, there will be chaos, and if there is extreme chaos, there will be governance." This sentence is very important to be examined.Because although we have cited many precedents from Chinese history, it is impossible to say that extreme governance is the cause of chaos, and extreme chaos is the cause of governance.For example, it is said: "After China implements the system of inter-provincial self-government, it will definitely be peaceful." This statement also needs to be tested.Because although federal self-government has the possibility of bringing about peace, we have never tried it.Looking at these examples, we can see that it is really not easy for us to apply the law of causality to obtain systematic knowledge.It is always necessary to accumulate countless experiences—either continue to observe faithfully as it is, or use man-made additions, subtractions, and changes to test, so as to find out the real evidence, so as to determine the relationship between the object and the object.This is still the first step.Going a step further, there must be more than one reason for the formation and destruction of a thing. It is not enough to know the relationship between A and B, but it is also necessary to know the relationship between A and C, D, E... and so on.There are reasons among the reasons. If you really want to know the relationship between B and A, you must first know the relationship between B and Geng, Geng and Xin, Xin and Ren...etc.Without going through these efforts, it is arbitrary and unscientific to make a judgment rashly, saying how something is related to something.Based on many facts with evidence, scientists see their causal relationship layer by layer, and invent various principles that contain inevitability or strong probability. Gradually, it gradually covers all of this group of knowledge, and it becomes a science.This is the second main spirit of science.

The third layer is knowledge that can be taught.There is one requirement for all knowledge, which is to be able to "pass it on to others".The reason why human culture can be established is that the knowledge of one person can be passed on to many people, and the knowledge of one generation can be passed on to the next generation.I spend a lot of time acquiring a new kind of knowledge, pass it on to others, and others spend relatively little time receiving all or part of my knowledge, and at the same time spare other time to invent new knowledge.In this way, teaching is mutually beneficial and passed on from generation to generation, and the cultural content will naturally expand day by day.If knowledge cannot be taught, no matter how profound and broad the knowledge is, it is tantamount to "death to the people" and will have absolutely no influence on social culture.All kinds of knowledge in China have a kind of mystery that "can be understood, but not transmitted", which is the biggest obstacle to the expansion of knowledge.For example, medicine, I dare not say that China has not invented it for thousands of years, and I can trust that there are indeed famous doctors.But there is no way to pass it on to others, so today's medicine is the same as that of Bian Que and Canggong, or not as good as it is.Another example is that the realm obtained by a person who practices meditation may be truly complete and solemn.But he has to enjoy it alone, and it has nothing to do with the culture of the whole society.The nature of all Chinese learning is roughly the same.No wonder.Chinese learning was originally "acquired by chance" by a few talented people-it was not obtained step by step along a single path, so why point out a path to follow?Scientists are just the opposite. Their little bit of knowledge comes from hard experience; they always give evidence when they say a word, and they naturally tell people how to collect evidence and how to judge it; , the reason must be able to be restored, so it is natural to narrate in detail the route of one's own thinking.Therefore, when others read one of his books or listen to one of his lectures, they can not only accept the results of his research, but also accept how he can research the results, and can use his methods to criticize his mistakes.The method is popularized in the society, everyone can study it, and naturally everyone will have an invention.This is the third main spirit of science.

three Due to the lack of these three spirits, Chinese academic circles have the following symptoms: One, general.General titles—sometimes it's hard to see what he's studying.General terms - often a sentence can accommodate several interpretations.General thinking—I like to talk about big things that don’t reach the margins, what I stand for, and where I am different from others, I can’t even say it myself. Two, arbitrary.Those who make a theory do not have to bear the responsibility of finding evidence and explaining the reasons, and it is easy to make judgments, which is naturally rash.There are many works written by famous writers that not only violate the truth but also violate common sense.Since there is no accepted standard for discussing learning, no one can refute it even if it is a fallacy, and the fallacy is eroding the hearts of the society day by day.

Three, hypocrisy.Arbitrary or inadvertent error.Since arbitrariness is allowed, hypocrisy is also allowed.There are two kinds of hypocrisy: 1. Hypocrisy in sentences.Such as concealing true evidence, fabricating false evidence, or misrepresenting reasons and so on.2. The hypocrisy of ideological content.He has no experience at all, and looks like a deep secret, deceiving the world. Fourth, follow suit.The spirit of criticism has completely disappeared, and there is no ability to criticize, so blindly follow the ancients and plagiarize some ideas to live.Therefore, the ideological world cannot be elastic and develop according to the needs of the times. Instead, it retains a lot of waste, which is an obstacle to nutrition.

Five, lost.Occasionally, one or two great thinkers have a new invention about a certain kind of science, but there is no way to teach it to others. This invention will be interrupted along with their own lives.Therefore, his knowledge cannot become a social legacy. Although the above five things cannot be said to be inherent diseases in our ideological world, they have been suffered for at least two thousand years since the Qin and Han Dynasties.If we are willing to abandon the title of cultural nationals, what more can we say!If you still can't bear it?Just imagine, two thousand years ago, the content of the ideological world was so poor, and the scope of learning was so cramped. If things go on like this, how can we survive?In order to cure this disease, there is no second dose of good medicine except to promote the spirit of science.

I would like to add a few words at the end: Although I gave a lecture on the topic designated by the board of directors, in fact, the presence or absence of scientific spirit can only be used to cross the old and new cultures, and cannot be used to vertically judge the eastern and western cultures.If it is said that Europeans and Americans are naturally scientific citizens, and the Chinese are naturally non-scientific citizens, we absolutely cannot admit it.Comparing our Warring States period with the European Greek period, neither of them can be said to have the brand-new scientific spirit of modern times, but neither has the anti-scientific spirit.After the Qin and Han Dynasties, the anti-scientific spirit pervaded China for two thousand years; after the Roman Empire, the anti-scientific spirit pervaded Europe for more than one thousand years.Comparing the two sides, in our sui and tang dynasties of buddhism, we still have a bit of "quasi-scientific" spirit from time to time, and we find that we are only stronger than them, not weaker than them.The five symptoms I mentioned were all present in the era when the church monopolized knowledge; it was not until the Renaissance, when the health of the ideological world was gradually restored, that the so-called scientific scholars took root; It's really romantic, but it happened in the last hundred years.A hundred years of advanced and backward, is it worth worrying about in history?As long as we don't shy away from medical treatment and take this good medicine hard, I am afraid that we will ascend to heaven and become a Buddha in the future, and we don't know who will come first!I pray that the Science Society can become a doctor trusted by the people, and I pray that Chinese culture will add this powerful new ingredient and shine again!