Chao News reporter Jiang Xiaorong
Do robots have free will?
In the era of artificial intelligence, this may indeed be a philosophical question worth exploring; The magic is that tens of thousands of netizens discussed this issue with teachers from Fudan University on Douyin.
In May 2022, "Fudan Philosophy" officially entered the Douyin platform. A year later, this number has nearly 400,000 fans and a cumulative number of views of more than 40 million.
Unexpectedly, this session of netizens not only took a high math class on station B, but also took a philosophy class on Douyin.
01
They also didn't expect fire
Open the Douyin account of Fudan Philosophy, you can see Professor Zhang Rulun's "Guide to Analects", Professor Xu Yingjin's "Artificial Intelligence Language and Ethics", Professor Guo Xiaodong's "Guide to Spring and Autumn", Professor Ding Yun's "Guide to "Ideal Republic", etc., these courses are presented in the form of short videos.
Many people don't understand why philosophy, a seemingly traditional and serious discipline, should enter the Douyin platform.
In fact, Douyin was not optimistic about "Fudan philosophy" at first, and felt that there would not be too many people who paid attention to philosophy. But to everyone's surprise, "Fudan Philosophy" reached more than 40 million hits in one year after its launch, which shows that netizens are still quite interested in philosophy.
At that time, Douyin's knowledge area was under construction, and there were no official organizations in the field of philosophy, hoping that Fudan University could open up this "blue ocean".
Sun Xiangchen, dean of the School of Philosophy of Fudan University, also believes that on the one hand, the School of Philosophy should cultivate professional talents, but on the other hand, it should also assume the responsibility of public philosophy education.
With the psychology of giving it a try, the "Fudan Philosophy" Douyin number is online.
At first, the teachers in charge of Douyin's operation thought that maybe only an already well-known professor like Wang Defeng would attract everyone's attention, but in fact, every teacher was very popular. In September last year, the School of Philosophy conducted a live broadcast of the opening season, with 3.6 million viewers, including many netizens who saw the end from the beginning.
In terms of operations, the team is actually quite "Buddhist" and has no special know-how. However, they also made some summaries of videos with relatively high traffic. In addition to special topics, "Fudan Philosophy" is mainly problem-oriented, such as how to face the impact of artificial intelligence. In general, videos with Chinese elements will be a little more popular.
02
When the philosophy professor walked into the live broadcast room
The faculty of the School of Philosophy of Fudan University is luxurious, and big coffees such as Wang Defeng, Zhang Rulun, Sun Xiangchen, Xu Yingjin, Guo Xiaodong, and Ding Yun are called "philosophical heavenly groups" by netizens. Philosophy professors on the Internet don't seem to be far away from everyone.
Professor Wang Defeng, because of his erudition, humor, and unique "smoke voice", was praised as the "Prince of Philosophy" by Fudan students. Wang Defeng has opened a knowledge video open class on Douyin, and exchanged philosophical topics such as "cultural differences between China and the West" and "why do people need art" with post-90s and post-00s generations through live broadcasts and short videos. With the theme of "Love is the End in Itself", he discussed the philosophical meaning of love with four young friends, attracting more than 6 million people to watch online.
In April this year, Douyin released the "2023 Douyin Reading Ecological Data Report", and Professor Zhang Rulun's "Analects of Confucius" was selected as the TOP10 most popular reading open courses. In this series of open courses, Professor Zhang Rulun explained in easy-to-understand language, sharing with everyone the practical significance of the Analects, the study of Confucius, the culture of gentlemen, benevolence and etiquette.
As an important supporter and promoter of philosophy classes entering the Internet, Dean Sun Xiangchen also walked into the live broadcast room. In his lecture series last year, he spent two hours explaining the proposition of "how to understand the history of Western philosophy in the Chinese-speaking world."
Many people think philosophy is very profound and abstract, and I know all the Chinese characters, but I just don't know what it says. But in all aspects of life, you will encounter philosophy, philosophy of life, philosophy of love, philosophy of death, etc., and any field you can think of plus philosophy is not inconsistent.
Sun Xiangchen once explained in an interview that philosophy focuses on the underlying logic and reflective ability, just like a wave, the higher the more turbulent, the lower the more calm. In a rapidly changing society, there is a lot of confusion, and philosophy can more or less tell the truth behind the point.
03
"Be an understanding person"
In recent years, with the help of short videos and live broadcasts, the "wall" of universities has gradually been broken. According to the "2022 Douyin Knowledge Annual Report", from January to November 2022, there were 21,103 live broadcasts of Douyin universities, and 95 million Douyin users watched live broadcasts from universities.
The philosophy class on Douyin also broke the shackles of time and space. Philosophy, a seemingly ancient discipline, is also gaining new vitality on the Internet.
Why is philosophy popular on the Internet? Sun Xiangchen believes that in everyone's stereotype, philosophy is always unattainable. But through platforms such as Douyin, the mysterious and profound barriers between knowledge and people can be removed, and there are more channels to communicate with the best scholars in the industry to achieve knowledge sharing. This is something that is difficult to achieve in a traditional classroom.
On Douyin, who is watching philosophy class?
According to data provided by Douyin, the age group of the audience of "Fudan Philosophy" is mainly 45 to 55 years old. The head of the Fudan philosophy operation team analyzed that in general, people in this age group have strong resonance with many philosophical issues, especially those related to philosophy of life, because they have rich experience and more understanding of life.
Not only middle-aged people, but also young people are paying more and more attention to their inner world and mental state. "How to stop mental internal friction" has become one of the most concerned issues for many young Internet users, which to a certain extent has also boosted the "philosophical fever".
Some netizens said that in the in-depth philosophy class, they gained spiritual nourishment and gained strength from the classics. Some netizens followed Professor Wang Defeng's philosophy class on social platforms. "How fortunate that at the age of 35, I started to listen to lectures and take notes like a high school student, and from last winter to this spring, I didn't stop Chinese New Year's Eve nights." This netizen wrote, collect your spirit, make your own claims, and be your own big hero.
As President Sun Xiangchen said, "Life with philosophical care, will be more calm and free, in layman's terms, we must be a person who understands." ”
Source: Zhejiang Daily