Chapter 8 Section 1 Questions are more important than answers

It is no exaggeration to say that the heyday of the Republic of China was ruined by Yuan Shikai proclaiming himself emperor.It was precisely because of Yuan Shikai's frantic reversing of history that the final hope of the Republic of China was destroyed. When it comes to this period of history, every history book is asking: Why did Yuan Shikai, a fat man, proclaim himself emperor? Each book asks the same question and gives the same answer. But in fact, the question is wrong. What kind of wrong method? That’s right, historical research is a part of scientific research, and the first job a researcher does is to ask the right questions. If the questions are asked wrong, the research will go astray.No matter how self-justified the result is, its value is equal to zero, that is to say, it is of no benefit to our ideological progress.

Defining a problem is the first step in scientific research.If you make a mistake in this step, it will be difficult for you to get it right in the future.For thousands of years in ancient China, mature scientific thinking has never been derived. An important reason is the wrong definition of the problem.In other words, the Chinese have never figured out how to ask questions, how to ask questions, and how to get answers? How to ask questions correctly is the first step in professionalism.All scientific theoretical systems are based on the initial hypothesis, and this hypothesis is the first question.If this question is wrongly asked, there will be no way to talk about the scientific theory system.

To put it simply, a correct question must have three basic characteristics: The first one is scientific, which can also be called professional.To make it clear, the question must be professional and expert. The more sincere the attitude of the question raised by the layman, the more it can kill the expert. The second is independence, which can also be called objectivity.That is, the formulation of the problem must be simple, direct, and filter out subjective factors. It cannot be mixed with a priori things, let alone set more than two assumptions in the problem. The third is regularity, which must conform to the law of the development of things, and cannot twist with the law.For example, the question of why Yuan Shikai wanted to be emperor is a typical struggle with the law. The raising of the question not only violates the most basic human nature, but also does not meet the most basic desires in people's hearts, so the answer becomes a rambling .

Why is this question not in line with human nature? Because human nature is self-centered and defines the world from the perspective of self.In the observation of the world, people consciously or unconsciously regard themselves as emperors, taking whatever they want and arranging everything.People naturally think that they are right, great, and reasonable, and they are eager to impose their fantasies on the world.This is the most basic human nature. Although it is not so pure, the law is the law, and it has no moral attributes. It is useless for you to complain. History, on the other hand, is a record of human progress.It must be the eternal human nature that dominates the progress of mankind.The laws of human nature are the laws of history.And vice versa, the laws of history are the laws of human nature.

Since the law of human nature is the law of history, when we ask questions about historical figures, we must conform to this law. Whenever we ask questions that do not conform to the law of human nature, our brains are flooded and we go astray. Deduce the correct theoretical system. In Yuan Shikai’s era, even though history had entered the period of the Republic of China, Great China was immersed in imperial autocracy for thousands of years after all. . To put it bluntly, people's thinking at that time was still stuck in the era of imperial autocracy.The characteristic of this era is that everyone wants to be an emperor, and the characteristics of thinking are still centered on imperial power. No matter who, as long as they have the opportunity, they will quickly advance towards imperial power.This is the most typical human nature. We cannot ask Yuan Shikai to be exempt from common customs and lose this most basic human nature.

Therefore, asking Yuan Shikai why he became emperor is a wrong question in itself, and it will inevitably lead us into a wrong theoretical system, and ultimately make us lose the opportunity to recognize human nature and interpret laws. So, what should the right question be? The correct question should be: Why didn't Yuan Shikai become emperor? This question is very simple to express, but it has surpassed the thinking scope of the Chinese people at that time.The Chinese at that time did not have the ability to ask this correct question. It is not easy for foreigners to ask the right question, because foreigners do not pay much attention to China.The only ones capable of asking the right questions are the Germans who are the most formal, the most rigid, the most disciplined, and therefore the closest to scientific cognition itself.

In fact, this question was raised by Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany.