Modern Chinese Dictionary is interpreted as: studying the principles and laws of things and summarizing them into rational knowledge. The word "learning from things" comes from "university". Grid, to also. Things or things. Go, go putter, get to know, get to know. Knowing knowledge from things is a very important philosophical concept of Confucianism. In the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhu thought: "A governor wants to do what I know, but he is poor in what he knows." This is the most general and accurate expression of Zhu's "knowing people from things". Push your knowledge to the extreme and want to know everything. I am so poor that I want to be everywhere. As for Zhu's explanation, our understanding is that "materialism" means "materialism", and everything should be understood and explored. To know is to be a real wise man and never be careless in doing things.
Words, words, things and knowledge
Send géw zhi zh and
Shi Yige: Inference; To: I see. Investigate the principle of things and gain knowledge.
In the Book of Rites University: "Know what is in things, and then know it."
For example, although Gu's western learning began in ~, China was not ignorant. Why is the wisdom of the people more and more like this? (Yan Fu's "Yuan Qiang")
Example: There should be a spirit of understanding things-Ding Zhaozhong.
Ding Zhaozhong (1936——), American physicist. Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan. 1962 received a doctorate in philosophy. 1969 became a professor at MIT. Mainly engaged in high-energy physics research. The research group led by 1974 found a new particle (J/ψ particle) in the experiment, which triggered the discovery of a series of new particles related to it and made particle physics enter a new development stage. So he won the Nobel Prize in Physics with Li Xite 1976.
It is a great honor to accept the special honor award of "Love China" issued by Outlook Weekly. My father was brought up with a traditional education in China. My education was partly traditional and partly western. In memory of my father, I wrote the article Reminiscence. Over the years, I have come into contact with many China students at school, so I would like to take this opportunity to talk with you about how China students studying natural science should understand natural science.
In traditional education in China, the most important books are "Four Books". The university, one of the "Four Books", said that the starting point of a person's education is "learning from things" and "knowing". In other words, knowledge is obtained from the object of exploration. It is no longer appropriate to use this word to describe modern academic development. The foundation of modern scholarship is field exploration, which is what we now call experiment.
However, traditional education in China does not attach importance to real things and knowledge. This may be because the purpose of traditional education is not to seek new knowledge, but to adapt to a fixed social system. "University" itself says that the purpose of learning knowledge from things is to make people achieve sincerity, integrity, self-cultivation, keeping the family in order, governing the country and leveling the world, thus pursuing the highest ideal of Confucianism-leveling the world. Because of this, the true meaning of knowing things is buried.
Everyone knows Wang Yangming, a theorist of the Ming Dynasty, whose thoughts can represent the traditional Confucian attitude towards experiments. One day, Wang Yangming will follow the instructions of "University" and start with "Wu Ge". He decided to plait the bamboo in the yard. So he moved a stool and sat in the yard, thinking hard about bamboo for seven days, and failed because of a headache. This gentleman obviously mistook exploring the outside world for exploring himself.
Wang Yangming's point of view was understandable in the social environment at that time. Because the traditional view of Confucianism holds that there is an unchangeable truth in the world, which is understood by "saints" from the heart. When the saints know the truth, they pass it on to ordinary people. Therefore, the truth in the scriptures can be "pushed to the four seas and passed down from generation to generation." Experience tells us that this view is not applicable to today's world.
I am a student of science. Let me talk about the importance of experimental spirit in science.
The history of scientific progress tells us that new knowledge can only be obtained through field experiments, not through introspection or philosophical empty talk.
The process of experiment is not passive observation, but active and planned detection. For example, if we want to understand the nature of bamboo, we must plant bamboo specially to study its growth process, and we must cut off the leaves and observe them under the microscope. We can never gain knowledge by standing by.
The process of the experiment is not an indiscriminate measurement, it needs careful and specific planning. It is particularly important to have a suitable goal to guide the whole exploration process. As for how to choose this goal, it depends on the judgment and inspiration of the experimenter. A successful experiment needs foresight, courage and perseverance.
It can be understood why breakthroughs in basic knowledge are not common. We can also understand why academic progress in history only depends on the key discoveries of a few people.
Today, Wang Yangming's thoughts continue to support the thoughts of some China scholars. Because of this cultural background, most students in China tend to be theoretical and despise experiments, and tend to think abstractly instead of doing it. Students in China often do well in their homework and get nearly 65,438+000 points in the exam, but they are often at a loss when faced with research work that needs ideas.
I have personal experience to prove this. I received a traditional education since I was a child. When I went to an American university to study physics, I thought at first that as long as I "worked hard" and listened to the teacher's guidance, I would be able to go smoothly, but this is not the case. At the beginning of my research, I found that I can't just rely on teachers, I need to put forward my own opinions and ideas. At that time, I didn't know how much I suffered because I didn't prepare in advance. What scared me the most was that the only way at that time-burying oneself in reading to cope with everything, did not help the actual needs at all.
I think the true spirit of understanding things is indispensable not only in academic research, but also in coping with today's world environment. In today's general education, we need to cultivate experimental spirit. In other words, whether studying science, humanities or personal actions, we should keep a skeptical and realistic attitude and rely on practice to discover the truth of things. Nowadays, the world and social environment are changing rapidly. The communication between different cultures in the world is getting closer and closer. We can't blindly accept the truth we thought in the past, nor can we wait for instructions from "academic authority". We should have our own judgment. In today's drastic environmental changes, we should re-recognize the true meaning of things by studying the things in the scriptures thousands of years ago. This meaning has two aspects: first, the only way to seek truth is to explore things objectively; Second, the process of exploration is not passive and passive, but imaginative and planned exploration. I hope that our generation will have a new understanding and thinking about the concept of "matter and knowledge", so that the experimental spirit can truly become a part of China culture.