Wen/Shi Yigong
-1-? When all elites want to work in finance
Now our GDP is already the second in the world, but looking at technology In terms of innovation and basic research innovation capabilities, as a country we rank outside the 20th place. Some people may be doubtful and think that what I said is wrong. They may say that we have already gone to the sky to grasp the moon and go to the sea to catch turtles. How can we not innovate enough? We have high-speed rail all over the motherland. How can we be ranked outside the 20th place in terms of scientific and technological strength.
What I want to say is that the indicators and phenomena you see are determined by economic strength, not technological strength. What advantage do we have? What we have is the advantage of economic size.
When I was overseas, whenever someone said something bad about my motherland, I would argue with all my strength because I felt that I was very patriotic.
In April, I received the award at the annual meeting of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. During the dinner, I chatted with a well-known Swedish professor. When talking about China's scientific and technological development, he was very dismissive. I felt very aggrieved. , very angry, but I said lightly: Anyway, our country has achieved the moon landing, where are you? But he said something back that left me speechless. He said: Professor Shi, if we had your Chinese economy, we could send five hundred people to the moon and come back safely.
In China, I feel like I am a critic, because it is difficult for me to tolerate ourselves not being prepared for danger in times of peace. We should have a clear understanding of the country's scientific and technological strength and current situation, how to develop it, and what to do, and form a certain political awareness, instead of just staying at the level of debate.
First of all, I want to say that university is the core. The first point I want to make is that research universities are never employment-oriented, and employment should never be discussed in universities. Employment is just an outlet. Once a university is established, employment will naturally follow. How can a university be run for the purpose of employment?
Employment is an economic issue. The number of jobs China will provide when its economy reaches a certain level has no direct relationship with universities.
Universities, especially research universities, are places that cultivate talents, national pillars and national leaders. What will be the consequences if students want to find a job after entering? That is, everyone is trying their best to get into the fields where they can make more money.
Where did 70% to 80% of Tsinghua University’s college entrance examination top scorers go? Went to the School of Economics and Management. Even my best students, the students I most want to train, told me, teacher, that I want to go to a financial company.
This is not to say that finance cannot innovate, but when all the elites in this country want to switch to finance, I think there is a big problem.
Management is very popular in Tsinghua University, Peking University, and throughout China. This is something that goes against the laws of education. The concept of running a college is to cultivate professional talents and provide screws for the industry. However, universities are a place to cultivate everyone's talents and cultivate elites and leaders in various industries in the country. They should not be confused.
Learning cannot be applied. You heard it right, we used to place too much emphasis on applying what we have learned. When I was in college, I felt that there was no point in studying a certain course and I didn’t need to take it. In fact, studying at university, especially undergraduate study, has never been for practical purposes.
But this does not mean that it is not useful, because you cannot predict the future, whether it is scientific development or technological innovation. This unpredictability will always happen first, and it will not be called if you predict it. Innovation.
There is a big problem with the orientation of the university, so what should we do? In fact, it is very simple. Universities should be diversified and should not be one-size-fits-all. Instead of providing employment guidance in every school, every school should use the employment indicator for assessment. This will seriously interfere with universities.
I also have an opinion on basic research. Our country attaches great importance to the transformation of results, and the most common saying now is "strengthening transformation." But I want to ask, where does conversion come from?
Is it because there are many high-tech technologies in our universities that have not been transformed into productivity, or do we simply not have these high-tech technologies? I think it's the latter. Our universities' current basic research capabilities are too poor and cannot be transformed. It's not that there is a lack of transformation, but that there is nothing that can be transformed.
When a university professor has an invention, no matter how basic it is, as long as it has application prospects and the possibility of industrial transformation, multinational companies will flock to it. I am an example.
Fourteen or five years ago, I made a simple discovery that I was not even aware of, and I was targeted by a company and came to me. These companies are like those drug-resistant dogs that are constantly smelling, looking, and listening. They are too sensitive to miss a meaningful discovery.
What was the straw that broke the camel's back? It is to encourage scientists to start businesses. You heard me right. I felt very heavy after hearing this at the National People’s Congress meeting this year.
There are specialties in the technical field. I only know my basic research and a little education. If you ask me to do business management, run a company, and be the president, you are using my talents and wisdom in the wrong way. place. It is impossible for a person to be a university professor, a company manager, and manage finance at the same time.
We should encourage scientific and technological personnel to transfer their achievements and patents to enterprises. They can participate in the form of consultation and scientific advisors, but letting them start their own enterprises is putting the cart before the horse.
I can give you an example. Joseph Leonard Goldstein won the Nobel Prize in 1985 for discovering the LDL receptor that regulates cholesterol metabolism in the blood and cells. He is the behind-the-scenes controller of many large companies in the United States, including Pfizer. He is now very wealthy and should be said to be the person who emphasizes transformation the most.
He wrote an article in Science magazine two years ago, criticizing the special emphasis on transformation. He said that transformation comes from basic research. How can transformation be achieved when there is no strong basic research.
He said that when he realized how important basic research was, he just did basic research, and the transformation came naturally. When the research results were available, the natural transformation was very fast, and there was no need for Destroy the seedlings and encourage them to grow.
He listed how nine medical students at the National Center for Health Research in the United States did basic research and changed the history of medical pharmaceuticals in the United States. It was very interesting.
We must look at history, not just the history of modern China, but also the history of scientific development, and see how each country became powerful, instead of taking it for granted.
The cultivation of innovative talents is also related to our cultural atmosphere. The same problem arises when a person wants to innovate. What is innovation? Innovation means being in the minority and being controversial.
Three years ago, after I won an award in Israel, I was invited to a celebration reception at the Israeli Embassy. During the reception, the Ambassador talked to me about how Israelis value education, and I also talked to him about how Chinese people also value education. . He looked at me with a smile and said, your education method is different from ours.
He gave me the example of former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres. He said that when he was in elementary school, his Israeli mother only asked two questions when he came home every day. The first one was, did you ask anything at school today? The teacher can't answer one question. The second question is, did you do something today that impressed the teacher and classmates?
After hearing this, I sighed and said that I have to admit that when my two children come back every day, my first sentence is to ask: Did you listen to the teacher today?
But I want to say that I am not pessimistic. In fact, I am very optimistic. I encourage myself every day. Our country has a bright future. Especially in the past two years, I really see hope.
Now whether it is in the political field or in the educational field of deep thinking and reform, this trend has really begun.
In such a tide, it is enough for each of us to do one thing well. Speaking out our own views realistically and doing our own thing well in our own field is our contribution.
In this way, our country will have a bright future.
-2-? What do we lack?
I was born in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, but grew up in Zhumadian, Henan Province. Why should I mention Zhumadian in particular? Because this place is particularly representative.
Zhumadian is to Henan, just like Henan is to China, and China is to the world. This is true from geography, economy, science and technology, and culture. I happened to grow up in Zhumadian when I started to have memories and feelings about society.
When I was promoted from Zhumadian Primary School to junior high school, the elementary school general knowledge teacher at that time said to me: Shi Yigong, when you grow up, you must bring glory to us Zhumadian people!
You may not have imagined that this very simple sentence has stuck in my mind to this day.
From then on, every time I received any honor, I felt in my heart that I was bringing glory to the people of Zhumadian.
Today, I also want to say: Hello, teacher! I'm still trying to win glory for our Zhumadian store. I went to Zhengzhou for middle school and Tsinghua University for college. I often miss home and my folks in Zhumadian. I can’t help but wonder: What kind of life do my folks live? What kind of life do you live like?
An incident in 1987 had a huge impact on me and almost completely disrupted my life and worldview. Before this, although I received a traditional education and although my father told me to be a scientist or engineer, I actually had no idea what I wanted to do or what I could do in the future.
On September 21, 1987, my father was knocked down by a taxi driving fatigued on the bicycle lane. When the driver sent my father to Henan Provincial People's Hospital, he was still in a coma and his heartbeat was pounding. 62 beats per minute, blood pressure 130/80.
But he lay in the hospital's emergency room for four and a half hours without receiving any help, because the hospital said that he needed to pay money first before rescuing people.
When the driver who caused the accident came back after raising 500 yuan, my father had no blood pressure and no heartbeat. He died in the hospital emergency room without receiving any treatment. This incident had a great impact on me. Even now, in the dead of night, I still can't help thinking about my father.
This incident caused a fundamental change in my view of society. I once resented and wanted to take revenge on this hospital and the doctor on duty in the emergency room who refused to save him: Why didn’t he save him? My father?
But later I figured it out, and I really figured it out: in a country as big as China, with so many people, I don’t know how many people and families are experiencing tragedies like my father. If I am truly ambitious and responsible, I should change society so that tragedies like this will never happen again and let more people live a better life.
On the Qingming Festival in 2012, I went back to Zhumadian to attend a reunion of my elementary school classmates, and I was very emotional. Two of my classmates are no longer here, one suffering from cardiovascular disease and the other from cancer. At that time, there was another classmate who was undergoing chemotherapy for terminal cancer, and he is no longer there now.
I often think: I am the same human being. I am so lucky. I don’t have to worry about food and clothing. I have received higher education, have been abroad, studied abroad, and have a job I love; but we in China have Many people are not as lucky as me.
My fellow villagers and their children are not as lucky as me. Even though they are not as lucky as me, they are always very proud of me and they encourage me.
I am different from many persistent scientists in some ways. What's different? They are doing scientific research out of interest. I was interested, but I didn’t have such a strong interest in doing research at first. My interest was developed very late. What drives me is more responsibility and obligation.
I grew up in Zhumadian, and I am a genuine Zhumadian person. The neighbors and folks there have never treated me as an outsider. This kind of family affection often touches me; I want to repay me with my own efforts and creations. My parents and fellow villagers, even if I achieve results, they will be proud of me. This is what I have been taught since childhood, and I am really grateful and want to repay it.
Unconsciously, my ideas seem to be very outdated. I don’t understand why today’s society has become so materialistic and why so many people are focused on money.
People are not commodities, people live one breath at a time. When college graduates use income as the only criterion, price themselves, and choose companies that offer slightly more money for employment, I really don't understand it, and the world around me becomes unfamiliar.
I sometimes wonder if the world is changing too fast and I am too old to keep up. Why can’t I understand it? Even the people around me, including some of my colleagues, classmates, and friends, I can’t understand. I don’t know what’s wrong with this society. Our focus is so incredibly narrow!
There are really many, many people in China who are not as lucky as us. They really need our help. They need every lucky person to pay attention to their living environment. They need all of us here today to work together.
I don’t want my students to do formal social practice, but I strongly support them to choose underdeveloped areas in China to see and experience, such as volunteer teaching.
Here I will give an example of teaching support. In 2008, I worked full-time at Tsinghua University, and one of my undergraduate students returned from teaching at a Hope Primary School in rural Shaanxi.
In my office, he burst into tears. He said: Teacher Shi, you know, even though it is Hope Primary School, the children there, from grade one to grade five, are very thin and only have two meals a day, one at ten in the morning and one at four in the afternoon.
Why? No money!
They have no meat to eat and can only eat two full meals; they cannot get up too early in the morning and go to bed as early as possible in the evening because they want to save energy and use it from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Class time is between four o'clock.
But they are all satisfied and happy...
I don’t know what we who do basic research can do and what can we change. I have received a deep education in traditional Chinese education. As a responsible scholar, I should not only listen to the sound of reading in the wind and rain, but also be concerned about family affairs, national affairs, and world affairs.
It’s a pity that my time and energy are too limited. I always want to find some like-minded friends to do something, and I always want to have the opportunity to go back to my hometown and do something for my fellow villagers. I am quite ashamed. In fact, I neither took good care of my mother nor my wife and children.
What do we lack? We lack this sense of responsibility to society, and we lack this action of repaying our parents and fellow villagers.
At Tsinghua University, every time I give orientation education to freshmen in the School of Life Sciences, I tell them: You must never forget that when you come to Tsinghua, you not only represent yourself, but also represent As an individual, you also represent a village, a county, a region, a group of people, and a nation. You must never forget that this responsibility rests on your shoulders.
I really hope that, whether it is myself, my students, or my colleagues, each of us will really take some social responsibility and do our part for those people and fellow villagers who are not as lucky as us. obligation.
This is all the motivation besides my interest in science itself, and it is also the most important support for me to move forward in the future.