Scientific spirit refers to an important form of scientific realization of its social and cultural functions.One of the main contents of scientific culture.It includes the fine tradition, cognitive style, behavioral norms and value orientation formed by the development of natural science.It is mainly manifested in the following aspects: advocating that scientific knowledge comes from practice, and practice is the standard for testing the truth of scientific knowledge and the driving force for the development of knowledge;Attach importance to qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis as a method of scientific understanding;Advocate that science has no national boundaries, science is an open system of continuous development, and does not recognize the ultimate truth;He advocates free scientific exploration, equality in the face of truth, tolerance of different opinions, and no superstition of authority;Advocate the spirit of doubt, criticism, and continuous innovation and progress.[1]
Emphasizing rationality and positivism is the core of scientific spirit, and "exploration and innovation" is the vitality of scientific spirit.
Insist on treating and evaluating problems in a scientific manner without borrowingNon scientificperhapsPseudoscienceThe means is called scientific spirit.We should also have the spirit of innovation.
Have the spirit of perseverance, not afraid of difficulties, tireless, and innovative.
The scientific spirit is the rational spirit of seeking truth from facts, seeking truth and pragmatism, and pioneering and innovating, which is basically summarized as:
（1） Criticism and skepticism
（2） The spirit of creation and exploration
（3） The spirit of practice and exploration
（4） Equality and team spirit
（5） Dedication and humanistic spirit
Pursue embodiment
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Human's pursuit of scientific spirit is reflected in many aspects, and it can include the following contents if not strictly speaking:
Rational spirit
Scientific activities must rise from the level of empirical knowledge to the level of theoretical knowledgeScientific abstractionProcess.To this end, we must adhere toreasonprinciple.
Positivism spirit
Scientific practice is the only criterion to test the truth of scientific theory.
Realistic spirit
Science must correctly reflect the objective reality, seek truth from facts and overcome subjective assumptions.
Repeatable and verifiable
Science is to correctly reflect the objective reality, seek truth from facts, study laws and use them to transform objective knowledge.The study of objective laws (things that are inevitable under certain conditions) should have the principle of repeatability and verifiability.Therefore, mastering laws can predict and transform objective things.For example, economics should study the essence of material exchange rather than economic phenomena.
Truth-seeking spirit
In the strictly definedScientific factsIn front of you.Scientists must have the courage to uphold truth and oppose authority, arbitrariness, hypocrisy and fallacy.
Spirit of exploration
According to the enlightenment or foresight of existing knowledge and experience, scientists always have direction, confidence and perseverance in their own activities.
At the same time, discourse expansion also has the following characteristics:
The spirit of accepting the scientific heritage modestly
Scientific activities are like a step by step climb. Scientific achievements are in essence the result of accumulation. Science is one of the most inherited cultural forms.
Strict and precise analytical spirit
Science does not stay at the level of qualitative description. Certainty or accuracy is one of the prominent characteristics of science.
Collaborative spirit
Due to the expansion of the scale of modern scientific research projects, it is necessary to rely on multidisciplinary and social cooperation and support to effectively complete the task.
Democratic spirit
Science never believes in authority and dares to challenge it.
Openness
Science has no borders. Science is an open system, which does not recognize the ultimate truth.
Practical spirit
Without practice, science is meaningless and authentic.
Critical spirit
We should dare to question the tradition and authority, adhere to the truth and dare to challenge them.
Related quotes
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1. If we admit failure too readily, we may not find ourselves very close to being right.（Karl Popper ）(UK)
2. The same is true of "difficulties". In the face of cliffs, there is no crack in a hundred years, but with an axe, one can go inch by inch, one can go inch by inch, and one can go foot by foot. Keep accumulating, leap will come, and breakthrough will follow---Hua Luogengbest-known Chinese mathematician(China)
3. I really want to invent a characteristic or machine with such terrible large-scale destructive power that war will become impossible forever---Nobel（Sweden）
4. Only by obeying nature can we control nature---Bacon (UK)
5. The sea of truth, let all things that have not been found lie in front of my eyes, let me explore---Newton (UK)
6. Scientific spirit is a powerful force to promote social progress---Zhou Haizhong(China)
7. The true scientific spirit should be developed from correct criticism and self-criticism.Real scientific achievements must stand the test of facts---Li Siguang (China)
8. The benefits of falsehood are temporary, while the benefits of truth are permanent;When truth has its ills, they will soon be eliminated, while the ills of falsehood are always accompanied by falsehood---Diderot (France)
9. Anyone who has a flippant attitude towards the truth in minor matters is also not trustworthy in major matters---Einstein
10. It is man's duty to be brave in exploring truth---Copernicus (Poland)
11. I don't know what people in the world think of me.But I think this way: I seem to be playing on the sea, sometimes finding a smooth stone, sometimes finding a beautiful shell and happy children.Nevertheless, the ocean of truth still mysteriously unfolds before us---Newton (UK)
12. Scientific inspiration is never something you can wait for.If there is any accidental opportunity in scientific discoveries, this "accidental opportunity" can only be given to those who are prepared, those who are good at independent thinking, and those who have the spirit of perseverance, but not to lazy people---Hua Luogeng (China)
13. A scientist should consider the comments of later generations, not the insults or praises at that time---Pasteur (France)
14. We are enjoying the great benefits brought to us by the inventions of others, and we must also be willing to use our own inventions to serve others---Franklin
15. My philosophy of life is work. I want to reveal the mysteries of nature and benefit mankind---Edison(USA)
16. I have never made an accidental invention in my life.All my inventions are the result of careful consideration and rigorous testing---Edison
17. The development of the general ability of independent thinking and independent judgment should always be the first priority, rather than the acquisition of professional knowledge.If a person has mastered the basic theory of his discipline and learned to think and work independently, he will surely find his own way, and he will be better able to adapt to progress and change than those who mainly focus on acquiring detailed knowledge---Einstein
18. All reasoning must come from observation and experiment---Galileo (Italy)
19. Learn to do the rough work in science.We should study, compare and accumulate facts---Pavlov (Russia)
20. My most important discoveries were inspired by failure---David (UK)
21. Thank God for not making me a skillful craftsman.My most important discoveries were inspired by failure---David (UK)
22. With the help of science, man can correct the defects of nature---MechinikovRussia
23. Respect but not superstition authority, and pursue but not monopolize truth---Zhou Haizhong(China)
24. I love my teacher, but I love truth more---AristotleGreece
25. To love science is to love truth. Therefore, honesty is the main virtue of scientists——Feuerbach(Germany)
semantic analysis
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Perhaps the most commonly used words are those we do not understand, such as "socialism", "culture", "science", "democracy", "Internet", and "scientific spirit".
What is the "scientific spirit" and what are its main contents?How to translate it into English?What is the relationship between it and humanistic spirit?It is true that people talk about it, but it is not easy to follow up and say something logically self consistent.In other words, it is easy to list a bunch of qualities without logic and come at once, but that is not conducive to the discussion of problems.
In the past, I also talked about the spirit of science in Scientific Truth and Scientific Norms: "What is the spirit of science? To put it simply, the spirit of science is to seek truth from facts, dare to explore truth and defend truth. Specifically, the spirit of science includes the spirit of seeking truthcreative spirit, scepticism, tolerance, etc.One of the most important is to be realistic and innovative.Without seeking truth, science is not science, and without innovation, science will not develop.The spirit of doubt and the spirit of tolerance are derived, and both should not be neglected.Simple doubt and simple tolerance are both inadequate and easy to lead to heresy. "（《Science and Atheism 》After a period of reflection, I should correct the above statement.The advantage of the above statement is that it links suspicion with tolerance, and emphasizes that one cannot only talk about one side.There are many unsatisfactory aspects, mainly including: 1) the introduction of words such as "yes" and "truth" that are more difficult to define.It seems unnecessary now, because we say that science should emphasize the process rather than the result.2) If we just focus on the truth, we can't explain many problems about the choice of theory without talking about the logical self consistency.3) "Innovation" does not need to be mentioned separately, it is not the core attribute of science.4) Neither tolerance nor doubt should be introduced.However, it can be properly described as the secondary or tertiary nature derived from it, and the humanistic spirit also talks about these.The two must be discussed together, not just on one side.In addition, doubts are not all doubts, but methodical doubts.According to my current understanding, there are only two aspects of scientific spirit: logical self consistency and empirical evidence, which are detailed below.
1. If "scientific spirit" is a subject predicate phrase, it is equivalent to saying that science is fashionableEnergizeIt's like asking "Is that person still alive?" and answering, "Still in spirit!" In principle, it can be understood in this way, but it seems that people do not often use "scientific spirit" in this sense in reality.Make a hypothesis, if the subject predicate phrase is really understood, is this statement correct?The answer is: 1) It is correct orally and in propaganda reports, at least in contemporary China;2) It is not correct in the actual society.In the past, science was underdeveloped, and society did not recognize the budding science, so the spirit did not rise.In modern China, science is just a catchphrase. Chinese society is far from accepting scientific concepts. Our traditional culture seems to be out of tune with science.Despite the impact of a century, China's mainstream culture and scientific culture are far from each other, but its opposite is still thriving.
2. There are still two interpretations of "scientific spirit" as a biased phrase.One is the "spirit of science", the other is the "spirit of science".If the former is translated into English, the word "science" uses the adjective "scientific";If the latter is translated into English, the modifier is of science.This happened to the term "philosophy of science" in the last century.At that time, there were two different understandings of scientific philosophy and philosophy of science, which were very different. Those who had studied "philosophy of science" understood this.As for the subject "spirit", there are many different choices when translated into English, and the meaning of each choice is also very different.It is said that the English language seems to have no corresponding scientific spirit and humanistic spirit.The survey shows that scientific spirit and spirit of science are often used in English (see the annex below for details).
2.1 For "scientific spirit", is there "unscientific spirit"?It seems that we can also say so.If so, the subtext seems to be that science has become a standard. "Scientific" is equivalent to "correct" and "noble". Of course, logically, it can also be reversed: "scientific" is equivalent to "wrong" and "low-level".But this kind of understanding is rare, at least in China.Only in the eyes of some anti science scholars and some philosophers who dare to criticize the hegemony of science can the latter understanding be possible, but it may not be true.
2.2 As for the "spirit of science", it is about scientific activities, a kind of immaterial thing that science as a whole shows, which is second order relative to science itself.It is equivalent to temperament, realm, norm, concept, etc.This is probably the most commonly used way of understanding.If so, famousSociology of SciencehomeMertonThe "four norms" theory of is used, which refers to universality, "communication", disinterestedness, and organized suspicion.These four principles were put forward by Merton in 1942 as the ethos of science under the normative structure, which had a great impact.Later, people continued to "add bricks and tiles", so it changed from four to many.The important thing is not the positive development, but the negative opposition to Merton's views. In the past 20 years, it seems that the opposition voice has outweighed the affirmative voice.To develop, of course, we need to break through Merton's paradigm, but accumulated, the total effect of various developments is that they are more and more far away from Merton's context, and the problem itself has changed.To understand Merton's original ideas, please refer to the third part of his collection Sociology of Science, which has three articles, and the English version is 223-278 pages.
Add a personal comment.I think Merton's normative structure is an ideal, which does not mean that the actual science is really like this.The four items he mentioned are all "ideal types", meaning that "should" be, rather than always.Critics often criticize Merton with the actual scientific operation, which is unfair to Merton.Even if many counter examples are found in reality and the history of science,Merton specificationIt can still be established and still has value.
The question now is whether Merton's four articles are enough to represent what we call the spirit of science?Is there any extra?Speaking logically, are these four principles sufficient or necessary for the spirit of science, or are they neither sufficient nor necessary?Unfortunately, although this is the easiest question to think of in serious discussions, it is too strict for many humanistic and social issues.such asChen JiayingMr. Liu proposed that "philosophy is argumentation" (later changed to "philosophy is about argumentation"), which could not withstand the examination of sufficiency and necessity at all.If we consider it strictly, the result can only be that "argument" is neither sufficient nor necessary for philosophy.The reason is that many philosophies do not talk about argumentation at all, but they are indeed philosophies, so "argumentation" is not necessary for philosophy;It is not necessarily philosophy that talks about "argumentation". Science talks about argumentation, mathematics and logic even more talk about argumentation, which cannot be generalized as philosophy, so "argumentation" is not sufficient for philosophy.So is Mr. Chen's proposition meaningless?No.It just said that his proposition could not stand the strict semantic analysis, and it was not LC (literally correct).But in other senses, this proposition is still of great significance. It is tantamount to calling for more argumentation when talking about philosophy, which is indeed a valuable criticism of many so-called philosophies that only focus on conclusions and do not care about the process of argumentation.Looking back at Merton's Four Rules, strictly speaking, they are neither necessary nor sufficient for the spirit of science.This is a basic understanding.With this understanding, it may not matter much to add or subtract one item from the four items, or change another item.The reason is that the original rules are neither sufficient nor necessary.
3. Based on the above considerations, I propose my personal understanding of the spirit of science.Of course, this time refers to the "spirit of science".
3.1 Scientific spirit is abstracted from the process of scientific history, scientific philosophy, scientific social operation, etcscientific methodGeneral description of the theory.As it is abstract, it must be normative in a sense, rather than representing the actual situation.However, there is a need for coordination between norms and practice.If there is too much difference between the standard and the reality, it will not become the standard.The actual situation is diverse. As a general norm, it is impossible to take into account various possible actual situations, so there is always a distance between the norm and the reality.
3.2 Scientific spirit is rightscientific knowledgeThe basic definition of system, scientific exploration activities and scientific procedures, so the core content of scientific spirit is: 1) to pursue logical self consistency, that is, to pursue the unity and compatibility of knowledge.New things trying to become science must first strive to be compatible with the existing knowledge system. When it is found that it is really not feasible, we can start to break through the old system.To be recognized, innovation must strive to be downward compatible.In this sense, science is not tolerant.If we are tolerant, the system of science will be disordered and logically inconsistent, and science will not become science.However, in terms of concrete mastery, it has great flexibility, and self consistency is only a relative concept, which cannot strictly reach the "compatibility" (consistency) in the sense of logic.However, all natural sciences today are relatively unified. Although each discipline has its own emphasis and different levels, there are similarities in research methods, knowledge composition and interpretation methods.In human society, other claimed knowledge has not achieved the high degree of unity of natural science (not completely unified, and it is unlikely to be completely unified in the future).2) Seek repeatable empirical evidence.Modern science isEmpirical scienceAll theories are required to be put into practice and tested constantly. Only when enough empirical evidence is obtained can theories be recognized.In particular, the evidence should be as repeatable as possible, and not different due to changes in space-time location and experimental subjects.Of course, the actual situation is also very complicated, especially the evidence has different quality, so we cannot simply take quantity as the standard.There is also a logical difficulty. Experience is individual, but theoretical propositions are full or nearly full. Experience will never support theory adequately.So science is always wrong, or in principleFalsificationOf.The theory that can never be wrong is absolutely not science.With regard to repeatability, the specific situation is also complex. In some fields (such as geological history, species evolution and astronomy), it is impossible to do repeatable experiments, and other comparison methods need to be used (for example, space is sometimes used to replace time, and the evolution sequence in time can be inferred from the coexistence of space).Pseudoscience often does not deny empirical evidence, but does not emphasize repeatability or comparability. Many pseudoscientific evidence can be exposed by double blind method, and of course there are many other methods.Many people say that pseudoscience is hard to distinguish, which is a great misunderstanding.I dare not say that all pseudosciences are easy to distinguish. At least 80% of pseudosciences can be distinguished with the above two methods. Of course, there are other ways.
Can I add something else besides these two items?I have no objection to this, but I personally think these two items are basically enough.In principle, some items to be added can be deduced from these two items.The above two items are the most basic and cannot be inferred from other items (of course, there can be circular definitions, such as the treatment of "supremum" and so on in real number theory).I dare not say that these two are sufficient, but they are necessary.These two are nothing but logic and experience. One school of philosophy of science in the 20th century is called“Logical empiricism”I think it better captures the essence of science.Although today's logical empiricism seems to have been criticized to pieces, I never think so.Many people have made a one-sided understanding of logical empiricism and distorted the original intention of those masters.Their criticism developed philosophy of science and created a new school (not limited to philosophy of science), but this does not mean that the original logical empiricism is not important, nor does it mean that logical empiricism is wrong.In contrast, logical empiricism has made the most essential characterization of science, which is also a norm and does not represent the actual situation. It has no power to refute logical empiricism with cases in the history of science or some situations in contemporary science.Of course, I avoided an important question: how did the norms come from?In short, it is inductive and abstract.It's very complicated to talk in depth.I can't explain clearly.
3.3 People will immediately ask: whether doubt, criticism, factualism, innovation, dedication, etc. should also be added to the spirit of science?The answer is: No."Organized skepticism" is a good quality and is important for any academic research, but it can be inferred from the previous two items.To pay attention to logical self consistency and provide empirical evidence, it is necessary to ask for organized skepticism.In particular, it should be pointed out that simply speaking of "doubt" does not have any value and may be very bad.Doubt is all the more flawed.The same is true of "criticism".Meaningful criticism must be reasonable (logically self consistent) and provide evidence (Article 2), otherwise criticism and abuse cannot be distinguished."Seeking truth" or seeking truth from facts refers to the relationship between subjectivity and objectivity, which can be inferred from the second article."Innovation" is not a unique quality of science. Pseudoscience, nonsense and heresy may be more innovative than science, but they have no connection with science.Although science talks about innovation, without innovation, science cannot develop, but it is still not the most essential attribute of science, because without innovation, it was originally a scientific thing, it is still science, and innovation itself is not the essence of science.Innovation is vital to the development of Chinese science, but it cannot be counted as one of the scientific spirits.Science must be downward compatible, so its innovation must be strongly restricted and can't be fooled around.All innovations cannot violate the basic laws of nature, so scientific innovation is very difficult.Of course, the more difficult it is, the more valuable it is.As for "dedication", it should not be included in the spirit of science, because other things, such as religion, emphasize dedication more.To do a good job in science, of course, we should concentrate and love science, but dedication is only an external thing.In a word, I hold a simple view on the determination of the scientific spirit, that is, try not to drag more non essential things into the scientific spirit. The benefits are self-evident.
4. When talking about the scientific spirit, we must mention the humanistic spirit.In China, the two are put forward and compared in a relative situation.The reason why scientific spirit is understood narrowly above is also to compare with humanistic spirit.Science is a part of human life. Although it is very important, it is by no means the whole.Science has a certain right to explain the world and life, but not all of them, at least not now, and unlikely in the future (conservative estimate).In short, both the scientific spirit and the humanistic spirit are born from the same matrixThe RenaissanceRelated, they are partners rather than enemies.But later, with the great development and differentiation of disciplines, science and humanities took different paths, and in some aspects, the two paths had some conflicts (many were the same).Therefore, there is a discussion about the level of the two, and the tone of calling one spirit against the other.However, if we observe carefully, we will find that when opposing the other party, people do not first define the other party better, but often distort the other party arbitrarily, and put false charges on the other party, and then criticize it.Although this is a common tactic in academic debate, it is particularly prominent when discussing these two spirits.
5. What is humanistic spirit?Humanistic spirit emphasizes human dignity, and human can only be an end rather than a means.Specifically speaking, there are two aspects of humanistic spirit: 1) People are equal (absolutely not in reality), and efforts should be made to safeguard the diversity of individuals or minorities and the diversity of values.Diverse individuals or minorities constitute human groups and ensure the richness of human society and culture.This means that freedom is higher than democracy.The richness of individuals ensures the complexity of human nature and the healthy development of society.2) The value of human beings is above everything, so it is very important to ensure the natural survival of human body and spirit.This means that killing people or making people unable to think is the biggest crime.Humanistic spirit can be added with many items, and I think only these two items are the most important.
This provision is intended to remove the overlap between scientific spirit and humanistic spirit.In fact, these two spirits are both positive and people need them.I do the immature description above, just try my best to make them perform their own duties.As an ideal situation, as a modern person, we should strive to act according to the requirements of scientific spirit and humanistic spirit.But they are all some norms, which are very complicated in reality, and there are too many counter examples.Some people have stronger scientific spirit and weaker humanistic spirit;Some people are just the opposite.There are also extremes. The scientific spirit is extremely strong, and the humanistic spirit is almost zero, and vice versa.It is not difficult to find typical examples of this in reality.Let's consider Chinese celebrities and classify them.There are not many people who are strong in both, but they should be advocated. Our education should also incline to these two spirits.Chinese traditional culture lacks both scientific spirit and humanistic spirit.If you don't believe it, you can compare it with the above four items.Of course, if you don't agree with my rules, it is another matter.I don't want to participate in an argument without definition.
Three levels
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From the perspective of structure, scientific spirit has three levels:
Epistemological hierarchy
Mainly shown asScientific knowledgeThey directly reflect the essential characteristics of science and form the basis of all scientific spirit;
Social relationship level
Merton, a famous American sociologist of science, revealed four norms - universality, public ownership, selflessness and organized skepticism, which are the basic contents of the scientific spirit at this level;
Value hierarchy
By seeking truth, science can seek beauty and goodness. Science regards the unity of truth, goodness and beauty as its highest value criterion, which is the highest level of scientific spirit.
The ethical spirit of science is embodied in various relationships based on reason and mediated by creation. Whether the spirit of reason or the spirit of creation is good, its final expression must lie in the treatment of the relationship between man and nature, man and society, and man and man. The ethical spirit is the norm and regulation of mutual relations.Therefore, the ethical spirit is the core of the whole scientific spirit structure. The scientific spirit not only contains the ethical spirit, but also is the external norm for people's behavior.
From chaos to civilization, from weak to strong, looking back at the development of human beings, the scientific spirit and humanistic spirit blend together to illuminate the road of human progress.
realistic meaning
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"The spirit of science is indispensable for a country to be prosperous and a nation to be progressive and prosperous."
"We should promote the spirit of science in the whole society..."
On March 4,Hu JintaoComrades said this when they visited the members attending the fifth session of the tenth CPPCC National Committee, participated in group discussions, and listened to the opinions and suggestions of the members.The words of the General Secretary are meaningful and thought-provoking.
Scientific spirit is the spirit of seeking truth and pragmatism.In building an innovative country, we should have a scientific attitude of seeking truth and pragmatism and a spirit of striving for every minute.In solving people's livelihood issues such as medical care, housing, education, and social security, which affect the vital interests of the people, we should also have a scientific spirit of seeking truth and pragmatism. We should not ignore, shuffle, or "play the ball", and really take the people's affairs to heart.At this year's two sessions, the deputies brought a large number of bills and proposals reflecting the social situation and public opinion, some of which were forward-looking and tried to solve them as soon as possible through continuous efforts;Some are operable and can be solved as soon as possible through careful work.To solve the problem of people's livelihood, we need to have feelings for the people first, but also have scientific methods and measures.Only with a scientific attitude and spirit can we truly share the concerns and difficulties of the masses, not verbally.
The spirit of science is the spirit of reform and innovation.Science has no end, and reform has no retreat.Only through reform and innovation can all work keep pace with the times and remain invincible.In recent years, the CPPCC's proposal work and members' inspection work have been fruitful. However, the CPPCC National Committee still carries out improvement, innovation, and several discussions and studies to promote the implementation of the CPC Central Committee's views on strengthening the work of the CPPCC.The work reports of the Standing Committee of the CPPCC in previous years were comprehensive and solid. This yearJia QinglinThe report made by the Chairman on behalf of the Standing Committee of the CPPCC has been further improved. The number of words has been reduced to 7000, which is short and solid.At this meeting, some members proposed that we should not only improve economic legislation, but also improve social management legislation toharmonious societyServices.All these reflect the scientific spirit of reform and innovation, and also make China's deliberative democracy play an important role.
The spirit of science is also the spirit of civilization and progress.Promote the construction of democracy and the legal system, strengthen the construction of citizens' morality, and maintainSocial fairness and justice, establishSocialist concept of honor and disgraceIt not only conforms to the reality of national development and social progress, but also is welcomed by the people.We have a civilization history of more than 5000 years, and we have been infiltrated by the long feudal culture.In some places, there is still a certain market for feudal backwardness, and there is no need to hide official corruption.The hot issues concerned by the masses have almost reached a consensus with the focus issues studied by the deputies, and the call for civilization and progress has pushed the society forward.It can be seen that the spirit of science is not limited to general scientific research and popular science work. It is a weapon to resist mistakes and replace the dark light, which is really related to the prosperity of the country, national progress and people's happiness.
The scientific spirit is a soul of the scientific outlook on development. It will guide our work for a long time and lead us to victory step by step.
First, it is an idea, an idea, and then it is a courage to adhere to a certain idea, which is called a spirit.So we say that the spirit of science is a scientific concept, which means that we not only have this concept, but also have the courage to adhere to it, so it reflects a person's psychology, personality and temperament.
The value and spirit of science
This year marks the 30th anniversary of reform and opening up.Over the past 30 years, the face of China, the life of the Chinese people, and China's position and influence in the world have undergone tremendous changes.
This year, tooNational Science Conference30th anniversary.From March 18 to 29, 1978, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held a grand National Science Conference in Beijing. Comrade Deng Xiaoping made an important speech at the conference, put forward the famous conclusion that "science and technology are productive forces", took the lead in bringing order from chaos in the scientific and technological circles, righted the status of intellectuals in politics, played a pioneering role in emancipating the mind, reform and opening up, and China ushered in the spring of science.
Over the past 30 years, China's science and technology have also made considerable progress, and its understanding of science and technology has also been deepening. The concept and strategy of scientific and technological development have kept pace with the times.Comrade Deng Xiaoping and the Party's second generation of central collective leadership put forward“Science and technology are the primary productive forces”The famous thesis of "the first step of science and technology" emphasizes that science and technology should go ahead.Comrade Jiang Zemin and the third generation of central collective leadership of the Party proposed to implementStrategy of rejuvenating the country through science and education, emphasizing that innovation is the soul of a nation's progress and the inexhaustible power of a country's prosperity, and proposing to build Chinese characteristicsNational innovation systemA great idea.The new CPC Central Leading Group with Hu Jintao as General Secretary stressed that improving the ability of independent innovation and building an innovative country is the core of the national development strategy and the key to improving the comprehensive national strength, and proposed the grand goal of taking the path of independent innovation with Chinese characteristics and building an innovative country.
In 2006, General Secretary Hu Jintao also pointed out at the Academicians' Meeting of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Sciences that "science and technology are the first productive force and the revolutionary force to promote the progress of human civilization." This statement is a profound and comprehensive exposition of the contemporary characteristics of the value of science and technology, which not only reveals the role of science and technology in material civilization, but also reveals the role of science and technology in social progress and spiritual civilization construction,It is the inheritance, enrichment and development of Marxist scientific and technological thought.
Over the past 30 years, under the leadership of the Party, the Chinese people have emancipated their minds, carried out reform and opening up, advanced with the times, innovated and developedsocialist market economyThe road of socialist political development with Chinese characteristics, the road of building a national innovation system with Chinese characteristicsNew military reformThe road, the road to a well-off socialist society with Chinese characteristics, and the road to socialist modernization with Chinese characteristics.This is also the way to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
The new era and new situation have put forward new requirements for China's scientific and technological innovation. A clear understanding of the value and spirit of science and technology, as well as the historical mission and responsibility undertaken by the scientific and technological community and scientific and technological workers, will help to deeply grasp the essential characteristics of science and technology, actively adapt to the development of the times, effectively promote the healthy development of science and technology, and mobilize the whole society to improve China's independent innovation capability,Build an innovative country.
Economic and social reform and scientific and technological innovation are inseparable from the innovation of ideas, culture and systems.I want to talk againScientific valuesAnd scientific spirit.The main content includes four parts.
The value of science and technology
The role of science and technology as a productive force is gradually emerging in modern society.For example, the development of shipbuilding technology, guidance and orientation technology, and surveying technology has promoted the great discovery of geographyGreat Geographical DiscoveryIt not only promotes the development of earth science, astronomy, navigation, weather forecasting and shipbuilding technology, but also promotes theprimitive accumulation of capitalThe emergence of the world market and even the concept of globalization can be traced back to the period of the great geographical discovery.Another example is:,Newtonian mechanicsEstablishedindustrial revolutionThe industrial revolution marked by the invention of the steam engine opened the prelude to the industrial society.Again,maxwellThe equation has laid the foundation of electromagnetism, promoted the development of electrification and communication industry, lit up the road of human progress, and mankind began to enter the era of electrification.
The progress of science and technology has promoted the development of the power system of human society from manpower, animal power and water power to steam engine, internal combustion engine and motor, and constantly injected new power into the progress of human society.Every major progress in science and technology has had a tremendous impact on social productivity and brought incalculable changes to human production and life.
Since the 20th century, science and technology have become the first productive force.Einstein's photoelectric effect theory promoted the development of laser and communication industries;The development of atomic theory has led to the military and civilian use of nuclear energy;The development of solid state physics has led to the development of semiconductor, transistor, integrated circuit, magnetic storage materials, computer technology, as well as superconducting and solar cell industries;Built onMendelThe breeding theory based on Morgan gene theory has led to the optimization of crop quality and the large-scale improvement of yield;WienerThe cybernetics has laid a theoretical foundation for contemporary engineering technology, and led to the birth of intelligent production lines.Since the 20th century, science has promoted technological innovation and breakthrough with unprecedented depth and speed.In today's world, any major scientific and technological innovation can not be separated from the support of scientific innovation. Technological progress not only provides new means and impetus for productivity but also for scientific innovation. The two roles complement each other.
Science has also changed people's world outlook.Newtonian mechanics' understanding of matter and its motion law promoted the emergence and development of materialism and dialectics, and becameEuropean Enlightenment The ideological basis of;DarwinismReveal the law of the occurrence and evolution of life, and subvert the theory of God creation that Westerners have long believed in;The discovery of gene structure and function has revealed the molecular basis and change law of biological reproduction, development, heredity and variation;Mathematics and system science reveal the law of quantitative change to qualitative change under the complex appearance of things and the rhythm of natural quantity and form;Relativity and quantum theory have deepened people's understanding of the rapidly changing world of small matter;Astrophysics andBig Bang TheoryThe proposal of the World War II changed human's view of the universe.
Science has changed people's values.Scientific research shows that land and other natural resources and ecological environment capacity are limited.The development of knowledge economy has proved that it is impossible to maintain competitiveness simply by relying on capital and skilled labor, and knowledge has become the core and foundation for creating new wealth.The financial crisis triggered by the United States today also shows that economic growth can not be sustained without the support of scientific and technological progress for the real economy through virtual economy and speculation.Innovation has become an inexhaustible driving force for the prosperity of a country, region and enterprise.Knowledge has become an inexhaustible resource in today's world.Of course, the key is the people who create knowledge. Taking science and education as their own responsibility and innovation as the purpose should be the core of the values of contemporary Chinese scientific and technological workers.
stayKnowledge economy eraThe value connotation of science and technology is still expanding.Science and technology is the understanding of the objective world system and the basis of correct world outlook, epistemology and methodology;It is the source and foundation of engineering and management innovation;It is the first productive force, the knowledge base and fundamental support for the healthy and sustainable development of the economy and the harmonious and progressive society;It is also the guarantee of public security and national security capacity.
Science and technology are an important part of advanced culture, an important basis for major decisions and legislation, an important means of creating employment and solving poverty, the main content of scientific education and lifelong learning, the cornerstone of human survival and development and the harmonious coexistence between man and nature, the inexhaustible power for the sustainable development of human civilization, and even the inexhaustible human civilizationThe most important resource for continuous development.
Science and technology have also changed people's outlook on development.The progress of earth science has not only eliminated human's fear of nature, but also warned human beingsEarth systemThe complexity and fragility of, warning mankind: we only have one earth, we should love this earth.In 1963, Rachel Carson, an American ecologist, published the book Silent Spring, criticizing the damage of traditional extensive industrial production to the environment and starting the environmental movement.The development of environmental science reveals that the carrying capacity of the natural environment is limited, and some damages are irreversible. Human beings should "revere" and respect nature.The progress of science has put forward the idea of sustainable development, which makes the development view of human beings experience the evolution from recognizing nature, developing nature to harmonious and coordinated development with nature.Our Party Central Committee has put forward the scientific development concept of people-oriented, comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development by scientifically summarizing the modernization development process of countries around the world and the experience and lessons of China's development.
Scientific spirit
The scientific spirit is the most valuable spiritual wealth in human civilization, which is gradually developed in the process of human civilization.The spirit of science originates from the spirit of seeking knowledge and truth and the tradition of rationality and positivism in modern science.The spirit of science is concentrated on pursuing truth, advocating innovation, respecting practice and promoting rationality.Scientific spirit advocates unremitting pursuit of truthbeliefAnd the courage to defend the truth.The scientific spirit insists that everyone is equal before the truth, respects academic freedom, and constantly enriches and develops the scientific knowledge system with an attitude of inheritance and criticism.The scientific spirit encourages the discovery and creation of new knowledge, encourages the creative application of knowledge, respects existing knowledge, and advocates rational questioning.The spirit of science does not recognize any eternal dogma, and science has an endless frontier.The scientific spirit emphasizes that practice is the standard for testing truth, and requires empirical and logical testing of research, statements, opinions and assertions made by anyone.Scientific spirit emphasizes the rigorous method of combining objective verification and logical demonstration, and scientific theory must be tested by experiment, history and social practice.
The essence of the spirit of science is to advocate the pursuit of truth, encourage innovation, advocate rational questioning, scrupulously abide by rigorous and rigorous methods, adhere to the principle of equal and free exploration, and emphasize that science and technology should serve the well-being of the nation and all mankind.
In the history of human development, the spirit of science has guided human beings to get rid of ignorance, superstition and dogma.Advocate getting rid ofTheocracyThe main ideas of the European Enlightenment, which was superstitious and autocratic, came from the rational spirit of science.The advocacy of rationality, positivism and materialism advocated by the scientific spirit played an important role in promoting the transition of European countries from feudal society to constitutional society.
Today, when the material achievements of science and technology are fully demonstrated, the scientific spirit has more extensive social and cultural values.Focusing on innovation has become the value orientation with the characteristics of the times, advocating rationality has become a widely recognized cultural concept, and the pursuit of social harmony and the coordinated development of man and nature has increasingly become the common pursuit of mankind.In contemporary China, emancipating the mind, seeking truth from facts and keeping pace with the times, rich in scientific spirit, have becomeThe Party's ideological lineAnd become a powerful ideological weapon for our people to constantly reform, innovate and forge ahead.
Scientific thinkingAnd scientific spirit has become the basis of advanced culture;Advocating seeking truth from facts and pursuing truth has become the consensus of the whole party and society;Respecting labor, knowledge, talents and creativity, and constantly enriching and developing socialist culture;Emphasizing science, loving science, learning science, and using science has gradually become a social trend.Of course, compared with developed countries, we still have a certain distance to go, and we still need to continue to work hard.
Scientific morality
Because scientific research is a creative human intelligence activity, noble moral standards must be an important guarantee for the healthy development of science.In the long-term scientific practice, scientific and rigorous codes of conduct, profound cultural traditions and internationally recognized institutional ethics have provided a self evolving mechanism for the scientific system and formed scientific ethics.
As science and technology increasingly become the grand cause of socialization, a cause that has both social status and certain interests, misconduct in scientific research also begins to breed and develop.For China, the modern scientific tradition is not very long,Scientific communityThe internal moral constraints and institutional basis are not sound.China is in the period of economic and social transformation, and the bad atmosphere in society and the market will inevitably be reflected in the scientific and technological circles.At present, throughscientific misconduct The problems of obtaining reputation, position, benefits and resources are relatively prominent.Strengthening the construction of scientific ethics, ensuring the academic honor of science, and maintaining the social reputation of science have become an important task in China's scientific and technological circles.
Some basic principles should be observed in the construction of scientific ethics.
The first is the principle of honesty and trustworthiness. Honesty and trustworthiness is the prerequisite and foundation to ensure the reliability of knowledge, and is the most basic norm that scientific and technological workers must abide by.The principle of honesty requires that scientific and technological workers should adhere to the principle of seeking truth from facts when designing projects, collecting and analyzing data, and publishing scientific research results, while respecting the contributions of others.We must also adhere to the principle of seeking truth from facts in terms of job hunting and evaluation, and should admit the mistakes and mistakes of research results in a timely and appropriate manner.
The second is the principle of complementarity between trust and doubt.Science is a kind of human innovative activity that is constantly accumulating and progressing. Future generations can always advance on the basis of their predecessors.Therefore, the so-called trust means trusting and respecting the knowledge creation of others or predecessors, and attributing some errors in scientific research to the natural difficulties and twists in the process of finding truth.Questioning requires scientific and technological workers to always be alert to possible errors in scientific research. Even if such errors are proposed by famous scientists or so-called authorities (in fact, science does not recognize authority), they should not hesitate to correct them.Trust and doubt also require scientists to always be vigilant, not ruling out the possibility of some people having violations.
The third is the principle of openness.Science is based on the public publication of research results and the recognition of peers. The ultimate purpose of scientific research is to benefit all mankind. Therefore, the principle of openness emphasizes that only open knowledge and discoveries can be recognized in the scientific community and have effectiveness.In today's emphasis on intellectual property protection, the scientific community should still emphasize the principle of maintaining openness, pursue the maximization of social benefits of scientific research activities, and promote and promote the sharing of public knowledge products among the whole people.This is complementary to the protection of intellectual property rights, and the two are not contradictory.
The fourth is the principle of mutual respect.Mutual respect is the basis of scientific cooperation.Scientific research requires respect for the copyright of others;Acknowledge and commend others' research by citing their research achievements;Take an open and impartial attitude towards others' doubts;Respect others' confirmation, refutation and questioning of their own scientific research hypothesis;The partners should undertake the obligation to respect each other and respect their dignity, ability, performance and value orientation.
Rigorous scientific ethics not only contribute to the healthy and sustainable development of science and technology in China, but also contribute to the formation of a good social atmosphere.Chinese scientific and technological circles and scientific and technological workers should conscientiously fulfill their social responsibilities for science, cherish their professional honor, and assume the responsibility of evaluating the consequences of science and technology.Check and assess the possible social consequences of your work. Once you find that there are drawbacks or risks, you should change or even interrupt your work. If you can't make a choice alone, you should suspend or suspend relevant research, and give timely warnings to avoid or reduce the negative impact of science and technology to the maximum extent.Building a Harmonious Socialist SocietyMore importantly, we need to keep faith and promise.The scientific and technological circles in China should vigorously advocate the scientific spirit of seeking truth and being realistic, practice the long formed style of being honest, telling the truth, doing honest things and being serious, rigorous and rigorous in the scientific and technological circles in China, and promote the formation of a social atmosphere of honesty and trustworthiness.
Social Ethics of Science and Technology
Modern Science and TechnologyNew breakthroughs are brewing, which will inevitably lead to major changes in the future production mode, lifestyle and social structure of mankind, as well as new moral and ethical issues.For example, information technology will continue to have a positive, extensive and profound impact on people's daily life, production methods, business and social management, but it may also bring or have brought about problems such as network fraud, hacker attacks, information leakage, data forgery, falsehood, illegal dissemination of gambling and pornographic information.Moreover, due to the imbalance of information access and application among countries, regions and individuals, a new gap between rich and poor - the digital divide - has emerged.
Another examplelife sciencesThe development of biotechnology will bring new revolutionary changes and make immeasurable contributions to agriculture, medical care, resource utilization and environmental protection.However, it is also possible to have ethical problems such as the disclosure of personal life information, the difficulty in defining the social attributes of people, and lead to artificial attacks on ecological security, new threats to human genetic development and health, and other ethical challenges.
Another example is the development of nanotechnology, which will certainly lead to new revolutionary changes in information, electronics, manufacturing, chemical industry, medicine, materials and environmental protection industries.However, if nanotechnology is applied on a large scale without scientific prevention, it may also cause many challenges in human health, social ethics, ecological environment and other aspects.Research shows that some nanomaterials have special toxicity. Nanoparticles and carbon nanotubes may cause tumors, and have the ability to penetrate the brain blood barrier of animals, including humans.The disposal of nanomaterial waste will also be a new topic facing mankind.Once nanotechnology becomes an offensive weapon, human beings have not yet prepared a way to prevent it.
For another example, the progress of cognitive science will bring revolutionary changes to computer, communication, brain neuroscience, and even learning and education, and provide more effective means for the health, development and prevention of mental diseases of human brain and mental system.However, once cognitive science is abused, it may lead to psychological induction, psychological injury, cognitive misleading and other controls on human behavior, emotion and thinking, and bring about new serious ethical problems such as illegal infringement of human privacy and behavior autonomy.
Another example is space technology（Global Positioning System, Global Information System andRemote sensing system）The improvement and wide application of the technology have expanded the horizon of human cognition, promoted the development of earth, resources and environmental science, and provided strong scientific and technological support for ensuring agricultural production, monitoring changes in the ecological environment, forecasting climate change and natural disasters, and building a digital earth.However, under the new means of space monitoring, it is difficult to guarantee the privacy of individuals, and the business secrets of enterprises are easy to leak. Countries that master advanced space technology naturally grasp the advantages of information, thus resulting in new information asymmetry between countries, groups and even individuals, and new inequities in survival and development.
With the development of science and technology, these ethical problems are not caused by the development of science and technology itself, but mainly due to the improper use of science and technology.Ethics cannot be the reason for human beings to give up or limit the development of science and technology.Exploring the unknown world, innovating production and lifestyle, and protecting the ecological environment are the eternal power and pursuit of science and technology development.Science and technology are also the inexhaustible driving force and cornerstone of human civilization.It is the common social responsibility of scientists, engineers and all mankind to develop science and technology and benefit mankind.The combination of scientific spirit and humanistic spirit will certainly develop new human ethical standards while developing science and technology.
Science and technology are knowledge wealth jointly created by human beings, which can be accumulated, integrated, shared and recreated, and should benefit all mankind.At the same time, we must be soberly aware that science and technology is also a double-edged sword.Once science and technology are abused, it may also endanger the natural ecology, human ethics, and the harmonious and sustainable development of human society and nature, bringing new inequalities, insecurity, disharmony, unsustainable, and even man-made disasters.
Therefore, human beings should jointly abide by scientific social ethics: scientists and engineers should not only have innovative interest and passion, but also have a lofty sense of social responsibility;Scientific and technological innovation should respect life, including human life and biological life, and respect natural laws;Scientific and technological innovation should respect the equal rights of people, not only the equal rights of contemporary people, but also the equal rights of generations. We cannot sacrifice the right to development and survival of our descendants just for the well-being of our contemporary people;Scientific and technological innovation should respect human dignity and should not be based on race, property, gender, age and belief;Scientific and technological innovation should respect nature, protect ecology and environment, achieve harmonious coexistence between man and nature, and sustainable development between man and nature.
Therefore, I firmly believe that as long as we strengthen the close combination of scientific spirit and humanistic spirit;As long as we persist in emancipating the mind, reform and opening up, and innovative development;As long as we continue to improve laws, regulations, conventions and norms, and strengthen public understanding and supervision of science and technology;As long as scientific and technological workers and all sectors of society work together to meet challenges, strengthen exchanges, and fully cooperate, we will certainly achieve the scientific, harmonious and sustainable development of China's economy and society, and we will be able to jointly create a new glory in China's science and technology, build an innovative country, and achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and create a better future for mankind.
