Why do we study science？This is the best answer I heard

Why is science born in Greece?

Teachers, classmates, guests, friends who watch online, good at night!

I am from the Department of Science History of the Tsinghua University of Humanities. Science and humanities are two completely different cultural types to ordinary people. How can we put together in Tsinghua?

In fact, this system configuration implies extremely profound philosophical secrets, that is, there is a very deep historic connection between science and humanities.

1. Misunderstanding of the history of science

Today, I want to talk about a small phenomenon, that is, the Chinese people’s misunderstandings about science. These misunderstandings are a special humanistic phenomenon, which is worthy of our reflection.

Common common sense of scientific history misunderstandings

(Video comes from the production team of the Tsinghua Tsinghua Forum)

Just now we saw in a small video that many people on campus may be our students, or tourists, and have made low -level errors in the common sense of scientific history.

First, many people can’t figure out who is burned to death by the Holy See in Bunno, Copernicus, and Galileo.

Of course it is Bruno.But why was Bruno burned to death?In the past, we thought it was the heart of the spread that Bruno died in order to defend his religious beliefs.

When he was burned to death in 1600, he said that he was a legal theory.

Second, Copernicus was the proposed of the sun, but he was not burned to death, and his life was ended.

He worked in the Cathedral of Felongburg, a small town in northern Poland for a lifetime. He was buried somewhere in the church after his death, but he was not a great man during his lifetime, so we did not know where the Copernicus’s tomb was for a long time.

In 2005, the Fulongburg Cathedral was renovated, and a male bone was dug under a pillar. The preliminary test was a 70 -year -old man. Based on the preliminary judgment of the craniotomy, it may be Corbney, DNA detection, CryphonicIn the early years, the hair was sandwiched in the book, and the DNA of the hair was matched with the DNA of the bone, and it was found that it was him.

Also, who threw an iron ball on the Pizza Land Tower?Of course, it was thrown by the legendary Galilei, but a long time of scientific historians did not think he threw it.

What Gali wants to prove is that it is heavy, and the light things are falling at the same time, but we know that there is air resistance. If you really do experiments, you cannot prove this.I haven’t done this experiment.

But later discovered Galileo’s manuscript, showing that he did perform this experiment, and the experimental results were very strange. He found that the heavy things fell slowly, and the light things fell fast.

This experiment report shows that he did have done this experiment.

There are also scientific historians who do experiments, and found that they can indeed fall slowly and lightly.

The reason is that the two hands are grasping different weights, and the heavy ball grabs more firmly, so put down the lightly first, and put it on the heavy late, resulting in a strange result.

So, did Galileo throw the ball?The first is indeed thrown away. Second, although it was thrown, the experimental results were strange and did not prove what he wanted to prove.

Also, did Newton’s Apple hit him?Does Apple fall down, have it led to the discovery of the law of gravity?

The law of gravitational gravity called out after Capeller’s law came out. At that time, many people were thinking about this problem. It was definitely not because Newton’s apple smashed him after he smashed him.

Where did Apple smash this statement?It was not groundless. In his later years, Newton told the fans that their apples smashed him in the early years, so they wrote it in his biography, and I do n’t know if he was old or joke.

In short, these simple problems actually have many rumors in China.

Say Copernicus or Galileo was burned to death by the church.

Such low -level errors are widely circulated, which shows that the misunderstanding of science is a very common phenomenon in Chinese society. Of course, these misunderstandings are knowledgeable and easier to eliminate.

There are also some misunderstandings a little more advanced.

For example, we generally think that scientific theory is the correct theory, right?Nor can it be said to be all wrong.

However, science is a process of historical development. It is correct during a period, and the later theory is partially correct.

For example, Newtonian mechanics is a standard scientific theory at the time of birth, but after the theory of relativity, it becomes a local correct theory.

Another example is the old manifestation of Copernicus’s great doctrine — the Hexin said that it is easy to ugly Copernicus’s negative Ptolemy, and for a long time, people even think that Ptolemy is a bad person.

However, the Geoxin said it was the greatest scientific theory in the ancient world. He combined mathematical models with astronomical observations so that it compared with each other and improved each other. It is a standard scientific theory.

You can’t be denied because of the heart, and the sun is acceptable, so he said that it is not a scientific theory.

The Copernician era believed that the universe was limited, so the universe was center.Today we know that there is no center in the universe, so it is not entirely correct that the sun is in fact.

Is scientific theory summarized by experimental data?

The actual scientific development process is very complicated. Scientists face many variables and face complex historical conditions. It is only one of them with data, and there are other requirements, such as logical integration, such as the theory that has established an authoritative status.

Some scientists believe that aesthetics is also a very important motivation for scientific development, and even more important motivations.

For example, Dirac said: “It is more important to make an equation aesthetics than to make it in line with the experiment.” If I say, scientists will think that I am nonsense, but Dirac said that it is worthy of our thoughts.

Heisenburg is also a great physicist and one of the founders of quantum mechanics. He said: “When nature leads us to an unprecedented and extremely beautiful mathematical form, we have to believe that they are true.”

Therefore, aesthetics plays a very important role in the entire scientific development process.

2. Misunderstanding about scientists

Chinese society admires scientists and believes that scientists are noble people, indifferent fame and fortune. Is this really the case?

Regardless of whether scientists are as high or low as ordinary people, that is, scientists with a high level of morality are not willing to give up on the priority issues of their results.

why?Because the priority is the institutional arrangement that guarantees scientific discovery.

For example, Newton and Hu Ke did not deal with them all their lives. The two of them did not like each other. The law of the square reaction of all gravity was the dispute that they proposed first.

Newton has a famous saying: “If I look farther than others, it is because I stand on the giant’s shoulders.” Many people think that this sentence is ironic, because Hu Ke is a dwarf.

This sentence means “I want to stand on the shoulders of the giant, I will not stand on your shoulder, and I always grab my priority to do what I do.”

Newton and Leibniz were also unsure. Newton once instructed that the Royal Society of his chairman to organize a court to make a court judgment.

Now in the history of science, it is generally believed that Newton is probably the first idea, but Leibniz was invented independently, and Leibniz published early.The calculus symbol is the version of Leibniz.

There are also many stories about the discovery of Neptune.

British Adams and Leviti in France use mathematics to calculate the trajectory of the stars behind Uranus.

Since ancient times, people know the five major planets. Tianwang Xing discovered that the rails running or Newton’s laws in the future have deviations. Some young people think that there must be a star in the future that it can be interrupted by it and can be reached.

Adams calculated that Levili was calculated. In the end, Levile’s calculation results were actually observed. After the Neptune was observed, the British found that Adams had been calculated before, and it was handed over to the Observatory to see it.The dispute over priority.

The two of them were not arguing. The two were very low -key, but fans of the two countries did not do it and fight each other. The French resolutely asked to name the star Levilie Star, and it was resolutely named George Star over there.

The latest research shows that Adams is not right, he is wrong, and he can’t see it at all. It should still be Levilie’s credit. The two of them did not fight, but someone helped them fight.

Look at Darwin and Wallace.

Darwen is very noble. His natural choice theory is called evolutionary theory. In fact, Darwin received a letter written by a young Wallace to him when he did not publish this theory. The letter completely described the natural selection theory.

Darwin was frightened at a glance. When he saw this thing as if he wrote himself, he was very frustrated. He felt that the greatest achievements were snatched by young people.

But he was honest. He said that you will publish Wallace. Later, his friend Lyle gave him justice and published the results of both of them at the same time.

Therefore, whether it is a great scientist or a small scientist, no one is willing to let go of the priority. The Nobel Prize only rewards the first person discovered.

Is scientist a narrow expert?

This era likes experts.In fact, scientists are not narrow at all. Many scientists are very emotional and versatile.

Einstein loves violin.

Bohr is not only an important founder of quantum mechanics, but also a famous football player.

In 1922, local newspapers reported “my country’s famous football player Bohr won this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics.”

He was a famous goalkeeper at the University of Copenhagen at the time, and later went to the famous team of their country, but his level was not as good as his brother. His brother kicked into the national football team and won the runner -up of the 1908 Olympic Games.

Are scientists all ascetic monks?Of course not, some scientists are also tenderly like water, and some people are full of ranger.

Xue Dingzheng is an important founder of quantum mechanics. Xue Dingxuan, the fluctuating dynamics, is what he came up with. How did he think of it?This is also related to his romance.

In Christmas in 1925, he eloped with others and came up with Xue Dingzhang equation during the elopement.

From December 1925 to the first half of 1926, the creativity of Xue Dingzheng’s genius broke out violently. Historically, it was generally believed that this was because his love blooming strange sparks made scientific progress.

Ferman and Xue Dingzheng are completely different. He is very dedicated.His wife is his middle school girlfriend, but he suffers from serious tuberculosis, but Ferman will not give up and must marry her.

After three years of marriage, his wife died. At that time, Ferman was participating in the atomic bomb plan. He did not tell his wife what he did when he died.Ferman is a versatile person who can sing. It is said that he would call the Mai to sing, and he would also play drums.

These misunderstandings are small misunderstandings, and we blame us for not working enough.There is another type of misunderstanding that is a big misunderstanding, which is a misunderstanding of concept categories. This kind of misunderstanding is related to culture.

3. Conceptual misunderstanding:Science and technology are not divided.

There are two misunderstandings in the particularly common concepts of Chinese people: science and technology are not distinguished. They are used by technical sciences. This is the most common misunderstanding of science by the Chinese.

For example, in modern Chinese, it is easy to say that science is easy to become technology, and technology thinks about technology, which shows that the collective unconsciousness of the entire society is that there is no science in our minds.

We always look at science from the perspective of utilitarian and practicality.

We can particularly understand that technology is the first productive forces, and technology is a huge leverage to promote economic development. We regard technology as a means to achieve some noble purpose. Therefore, scientific toolization and means are the deep -rooted ideas of our culture.

So what is science if science is not useful?

From the beginning of the origin, its basic spirit is scientific and scientific. Science is this way of self -sufficient, self -sufficient, and autonomous theory. The origin of science is not satisfied with certain practical applications.

1.Reasons for misunderstanding

Why are these two misunderstandings?There are two reasons:

The first reason is that science is an exotic product, not a specialty of China.

“Science” is not an inherent term in ancient Chinese. The word comes from Japan and is translated by Japanese scholars in Western Zhou Dynasty.

In the early years, the Chinese translated by the Chinese people translated Science into Gezhi, Student, and Western Studies. In the May 4th period, they were called Mr. Sai according to the transliteration. Later, people slowly adopted the translation name from Japan. It was determined in 1915 and called “science”.

The science of English is from the Latin Root Scientia, and Scientia in Latin is from the Greek Episteme.

Einstein said that there are two sources of modern science, one is the Greek formal logical idea represented by “Geometry Originally”, and the other is an experimental idea from modern times.So the real origin of science comes from Greece.

What do the Greeks think of science?

Aristotle has a famous saying, he said:“They are pursuing science for science, not for some practical purpose.“

The basic purpose of science is set up purely for the knowledge itself, and this spirit is lacking in the Chinese nation.

Taking Ou Jili as an example, a student learned with him for a few days and asked him. What is the use of this thing for teachers?

Ou Ji Li, who has always been good -tempered, is furious, “Who do you scold? How can I teach you what useful things, I teach you completely useless things.”

The more useless things, the more pure, the noble, and the more real science.Therefore, the Greeks take useless, free, and pure science as true science.

Chinese culture can be said to have no science and technology, and there is no science. Therefore, it is easy to understand technology and not easy to understand science.

What is the attitude of Chinese traditional culture to knowledge?

In ancient Chinese traditional culture, the knowledge itself has no independent status.Reading is just a means, not the purpose.

Learn and excel,Reading as an official, the most unpleasant reading is to support his family, for filial piety to his parents, for the sake of Guangzong, you can also say better.

Few people say that I like to read.Therefore, the traditional culture respects reading as a means to achieve a more noble purpose, lacks the spirit of utilitarianism, and has a very powerful consideration.

2.2Second Western Study East

The second reason for the first two misunderstandings is related to the history of Chinese science in modern times.

Western sciences follow the wave of two waves of western learning east.

For the first time in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, a group of Catholic missionaries came to China to preach, bringing western science. At that time, the three representative missionaries were Matteo Ricci, Tang Ruowang, and Nan Huairen.

Matteo Ricci came to China during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. He and some outstanding intellectuals in China at that time, such as Xu Guangqi and others, opened the door of Western Xue East, and they cooperated to translate the first six volumes of the famous “Geometry Original”.

After the death of Matteo Ricci, Tang Ruowang took his banner.

Emperor Shunzhi particularly likes Tang Ruowang to listen to his lectures often. Nan Huairen is Kangxi’s teacher.

The three representatives walked into the Chinese palace through superb astronomical skills, which is also the prerequisite for Western Xuedong to gradually develop.

The Chinese people’s interest in them mainly focuses on the level of utensils. They are not interested in Western thoughts and theoreticals, and they are not even understood at all.

We were almost not interested in the Western cosmic theory. At the beginning, the Ptolemy system came in. We fully supported it. Later, we also fully supported the Copernicus system.

Except for very few people, there are almost no one who is interested in western scientific theories.Only interested in their astronomical calendar calculation technology.

Xu Guangqi, the translator of “Geometry Original”, deeply realized that the Chinese nation lacks geometric thinking, so he asked to translate this book in Listep. Unfortunately, after translating the first six volumes, Xu Guangqi’s father died.Later Ricci died, and almost no one was interested in studying this delay.

Kangxi is a little interested in geometric science. Nan Huairen often teaches Kangxi geometry, but his main purpose of learning geometry is to shake his cleverness, instead of recognizing its importance.

For example, I learned the geometric theorem for the first night. The next day, I said that if Ai Ai Qing can prove that the internal angle of the triangle is equal to 180 degrees, teasing the minister.

The other half of the “Geometry Original” has not been translated until 1857. This delay of the Chinese nation has delayed 250 years. These 250 years are exactly the era of western science and technology development.

Therefore, in the case of the common potential of East and West, Chinese culture did not show special interests to western science.

When is interested in science?It was the second Western learning east.

Beginning in 1840, Western powers opened our closed national gate with artillery fire, and this time was forced to learn from others.

3..Utilitarian science concept

The slogan of the Westernization Movement was to control the long skills of Shi Yi. At that time, the reason why the foreigners were firing were not just advanced craftsmanship, but scientific behind them.

What science?If you want to build a ship, you must have physics and mathematics, and you must have chemistry.

From then on, the Chinese have been reported that it is not afraid of learning mathematics and physics well, so in the understanding of the Chinese people, science is first of all the grown skills and military technology.

Under the special historical encounter, the science in the minds of the Chinese is actually the science of strength and technology.

In the minds of Chinese people, scientists usually have three categories, either can make military forces, or they can solve the problem of hunger, or they are struggling for the country. They are practical.

The rich and strong soldiers and the revitalization of China are the fundamental motivation of Chinese modern learning science, and it is also our basic cultural identity in science. This identity has a positive significance to a certain extent.

The main motivation of the entire modern driving Chinese people to learn science is indeed the feelings of the country. The Confucian thoughts used in the world played a key role in the process of promoting the development of modern Chinese science.

Take two examples, such as Mr. Qian Weichang, the old student of Tsinghua University. In 1931, he passed the history department of Tsinghua.

At that time, the September 18th incident occurred. He could not save the country with pain in pain. He decided to change the physics, and as a result, he became a generation of mechanics masters.

The other is Academician Wang Yichang and the two bombs. At that time, what do you think you think you want you to participate in this project?He said, “I am willing to use Xu Guo”, and the 28 -year -old surname is anonymous, and his children have never seen him for 28 years.

So at that time, the best scientists had strong Confucian thoughts and family feelings.

Under the motivation of Confucianism, the science and technology of China have produced fruitful results for more than 100 years.

Today, there are more than 80 million human resources in Chinese science and technology, the world’s first.In 2016, Chinese papers produced 426,000 copies, the world’s first.The amount of our doctoral degree is more than 50,000 per year, the world’s first.

This shows that China has initially established a large country with science and technology and science and technology education. We can cultivate scientists, technical inventors, engineers, science and technology managers, etc., and more importantly.In the United States.

But is this enough?Not enough.The scientific concept of utilitarianism has positive significance in a historical period, but the limitations of the new historical period are becoming more and more obvious.

In 2016, the State promulgated documents on the innovation strategy, and pointed out sharply that our core technology is still subject to people, and our original innovation is seriously inadequate.

Why?Of course, there are many reasons, but the scientific concept of utilitarianism or extreme utilitarian science view may be an important reason for China’s original weakness, or even the fundamental reason.

Because the deepest creativity cannot be achieved through pure utilitarianism.

Where does the real original innovation come from?

First, the enthusiasm for exploration without utilitarian.

There are so many people in the Chinese nation and so many excellent minds, but our education has not activated the enthusiasm of non -utilitarian exploration. Unfortunately, our current education is too utilitarian. Our students seriously lack the enthusiasm and right of the truth itself.The urge to exploit the universe mysteries.

Second, unrestrained free exploration, we imagine and creativity are based on this.

Fourth, why scientific spirit

It originated in ancient Greece instead of China?

1. Chinese culture main body

Why does the scientific spirit appear in ancient Greece instead of China?

Mr. Feng Youlan wrote an article in the 1920s to explore this issue. He said that the main reason why Chinese culture does not produce science is not that the Chinese are not smart, but our cultural type does not need this science itself.

In terms of the values of Chinese culture, this thing does not need this thing, so we do n’t like both science nor disgust, in short, it has nothing to do with us.

Our best minds do other things. For example, the best people in ancient China are groaning poetry. From a aesthetic perspective, we dig at a poetic perspective, so we have not embarked on the road of scientific development.

In general, Chinese culture is a farming society, and it is a farming culture, rejecting marine culture, rejecting business culture, and rejecting nomadic culture.

The basic symbol of the farming society is settlement, and settlement has become a very important structural factors for Chinese culture, affecting the basic characteristics of Chinese culture. The result of settlement is not migrating.

What is the result of not migrating?You are surrounded by acquaintances. You live within ten kilometers of your birthplace in your life. Everyone has something to do with you, either to know it directly or indirectly. Therefore, Chinese society is an acquaintance society.

Mother -in -law society has made cultural construction through blood, so the blood relationship of Chinese society has a strong taste.

What are the consequences of blood culture?It has generated a unique spirit of benevolence. It is believed that the symbol of people as a man is affection, righteous and loving, and Confucianism summarizes it as “benevolent”.It’s a beast.

What are the humanistic motivations led in Chinese culture to achieve it?

Confucianism says that “rituals” are the fundamental forms that make people into a heart love, and “rituals are adults.”Therefore, the essence of Chinese culture represented by Confucianism is a “ritual” culture.

Whether it is an emperor or a trafficking, everyone must talk about “rituals”, and the culture of etiquette is permeated in every link of Chinese culture.

Chinese astronomy is particularly similar to Western science on the surface. However, in the context of ancient Chinese cultural context, it is not a scientific thing in the Western sense, but part of ritual.

Its goal is to establish the legitimacy of imperial power and provide life guidance for ordinary people in Chinese, because the Chinese pay attention to the so -called time and place.

The goal of Chinese astronomy is to regulate everyone’s daily etiquette behavior, and they do not acknowledge that there is an objective law that does not take human will as a transfer.

Of course, how can he regulate the emperor if he has such a law?

In ancient China, some peculiar heavenly phenomena warned the emperor. For example, the full -eclipse was to warn the emperor not to mess around. If the daily food is completely the objective law of people’s will, it will not be warned by the emperor.The role.

Therefore, Chinese astronomy is not science in Western sense.

2. Western cultural subject

Western culture is the main body of the two Greek civilizations, and the Greek civilization and the Hebrew civilization were the frequent culture of migration.

Greece is a marine nation and attaches importance to trade, so migration has become the norm.The characteristics of migration culture are the culture of life.

How to build a social order for life?Relying on the spirit of the contract to build social order through contract.

Contract civilization requires everyone to be independent individuals. Independent individuals are abstracted by Western thinkers into two words- “freedom”, so the spirit of freedom is the core value of Western culture. This core value is a very important way to understand Western civilization.Healthy words.

The Greeks believe that in order to cultivate a free man, he must learn the science of freedom.

What kind of science is free science?The type of non -utilitarian, autonomous, self -sufficient, and self -developed knowledge is free science.

At the beginning, science was free science, super utilitarian, self -interpretation, proof, reasoning science, and useless science.

I think this framework can explain why Chinese culture has not bred science, and science only appears in Greece.

The Greeks have a unique understanding of free humanity, that is, theoretical and intellectual. The Greeks think that you are free to have knowledge. On the contrary, it is bad to have no knowledge.

Socrates said, “A person cannot take the initiative to make mistakes, and mistakes are caused by ignorance.” Therefore, knowledge has become the highest pursuit of the Greeks, so his freedom is also the freedom of knowledge theory.

The birth of science in Greek civilization is related to this unique cultural atmosphere.

3.. For the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation

Comparing the spirit of the West with the spirit of benevolence and scientific science with etiquette, I think this is a very simple contrast between Chinese and Western culture.

Today we have seen that over the past hundred years, Chinese culture has relied on its own spirit of love, relying on its own family feelings, and relying on our sense of responsibility to family, family, and country to revitalize the Chinese nation from a state of dying.

However, we must notice that continuing to develop science and use science as our foundation is the true road to rejuvenation of Chinese civilization.

So the biggest problem in front of us is how to integrate this free scientific spirit into the soil of our Chinese nation’s benevolence. This is the difficult task we face in the future.

In a sense, after more than 100 years of efforts, the Chinese people have basically solved the problem of beating and hungry. The rest is the so -called scolding problem.

The original meaning of the problem of scolding is the issue of cultural identity. How can we build a future Chinese culture today?

How to make this culture not only keep the traditional virtue and traditional love spirit of the Chinese nation as an important element, and at the same time integrate the effective scientific spirit of hundreds of years in modern times?

Today we must be soberly realized that if we only use a simple utilitarian attitude to science, we still cannot go to the forefront of the world, we can only follow others.

In terms of science and technology scale and volume, there are many first in China, but in the each year the Nobel release season, the Chinese are very depressed.

The Nobel Prize is awarded the original results, and the original results cannot be promoted through some utilitarian ways. Of course, some people say that continuous high -intensity support will always make breakthroughs in the future. I admit that there may be this possibility.

However, the Nobel Prize is fundamentally encouraged to encourage original achievements. The original things cannot be broken through the plan and the military regiment.

I think artistic creation is good or great scientific discovery. It is similar, and they must be based on the spirit of free exploration.

Under the premise that we Chinese are more familiar with and recognize technology as the first productive forces, we must call on the spirit of free science.

(Video comes from the production team of the Tsinghua Tsinghua Forum)

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