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Lectures in Philosophy 2.3
Boredom and the meaning of life
The German philosopher Schopenhauer once said, "Boredom is the subjective experience of one's own life time." "Boredom, often thought of as a negative emotion, is a manifestation of a lack of excitement and meaning in life. However, if we dig deeper, we will find that boredom is actually an integral part of life, and it reflects the deep life conditions and psychological needs of human beings.
The English philosopher Russell once emphasized: "Boredom and idleness are the cradle of imagination." ”
True inner peace and wisdom come from accepting and exploiting boredom, not escaping. From a philosophical perspective, boredom is a basic emotion of life. It floats between self and the world. It is in a state of deep boredom that people can see their truest selves. In Heidegger's view, if one can bravely face one's most authentic groundlessness, rather than trying to eliminate boredom in an evasive and recreational way, as is usually the case, then when deep boredom occurs, one can look at everything in life with new eyes, and experience strange and vivid feelings from things that are previously taken for granted.
As Heidegger said, "Boredom is freedom, and we exercise our freedom as human beings through our decisions." ”
There are two major diseases in human society: those who occupy the moral high ground are often all kinds of hypocrites, and those who occupy the intellectual high ground are often all kinds of pseudo-elites.
As for the difference between pseudo-elites and elites, the wise man has long been enlightened: the former lives for price, and the latter lives for value.
There are people in suits and leather shoes who laugh and laugh on the show, and consider themselves elitists, but if you peel back their glossy exterior, you can see a refined egoist heart.
As a "post-30s" who has gone through the vicissitudes of time and has had a life intersection with "six generations of young people", Mr. Qian Liqun once pointed out that "pseudo-elites are actually exquisite egoists". To this end, from Qian Liqun's works "The Vicissitudes of Time" and "Talking to Young Friends", the six major symptoms of the "pseudo-elite" are selected, and it is these six most important issues that determine the difference between the elite and the pseudo-elite.
Happiness in poverty,
is the stupidest idea of the pseudo-elite
The real intellectual elite does not reject money, but uses money to create greater social value.
Human life is divided into two kinds, one is material and the other is spiritual. In this regard, one of the biggest problems of the pseudo-elite is the "pendulum phenomenon":
They always favor one side, and when they emphasize the material, there is no spirit, and when they emphasize the spirit, they oppose the material. The pseudo-elite invented a saying called "Poverty and Happiness", this is the most deceptive thing, don't be fooled, the pseudo-elite who wants you to be poor and happy, you are likely to spend extravagantly.
We must not be in poverty and must defend our basic material interests with confidence. But we must also realize that money is not everything, and material things cannot exhaust the essence of human nature. In the excessive pursuit of material things, people will lose their freedom, they will be obscured by material desires, and they will lose their human nature. It's going to have both, just a balance. When it comes to individuals, there is always a bias: if you focus on spiritual pursuits, you have to sacrifice materially, and if you focus on material pursuits, you don't always feel empty.
Many intellectuals, on the one hand, create "truth" and on the other hand lie The real intellectual elite, maintaining a free soul and independent will, is not enslaved by political power or mainstream opinion.
Since ancient times, Chinese intellectuals have always had an inappropriate impulse to translate learning directly into political action.
The formation of this concept originated from Confucius's "national teacher complex".
The so-called "national teacher complex" is, fundamentally speaking, a kind of servility; if the elite cannot get rid of such a "national teacher complex," they will never be able to get rid of the dependence of academia on politics. In the past, Confucius traveled all over the world, looking for a wise man who appreciated his thoughts and learning, and gave him the opportunity to practice. As a result, he failed and became a "lost dog".
However, it was this failure that ultimately allowed Confucius to become an independent intellectual and to inaugurate the tradition of independent intellectuals in China:
-- Always adhere to ideals, "have knowledge and morality, but have no power and power, dare to criticize the powerful of the world", "dissatisfied with reality", and exalt the spirit of "the three armies can win the commandery, but the horseman cannot win the ambition".
The tradition of "independence, freedom, criticism, and creativity" is what we should really inherit and carry forward.
If you lose the desire to think for yourself, you will become a "slave to tradition"
A true intellectual elite is able to correctly understand traditional culture.
◎First of all, "traditional culture" is not the same as "ancient culture", and traditional Chinese culture includes not only ancient culture, but also modern culture.
Modern culture has a history of 100 years since May Fourth, and it already has its own traditions, and its exclusion from traditional cultural positions is neither in line with the facts, nor is it truly aware of the ancients.
◎ Ancient traditions are not the same as Confucian traditions. Ancient culture is diverse, including not only Confucianism, Mohistism, Legalism and other classic cultures, but also folk customs, etiquette, legends, as well as oral traditions, folk ethics, folk culture, and so on.
When we study traditional culture, we must not only "get in", but also "come out". Ancient Chinese culture is broad and profound, and the deeper you understand, the easier it is to be convinced, which is normal.
But if you change from submission to worship, you will be captured, lose the desire to think independently, become a "slave of tradition", and lose the meaning of research.
Realism without ideals lacks meaning, and idealism divorced from reality causes disaster
The true intellectual elite, the ideals to which they uphold, are by no means utopian.
As an idol among the elite, Hayek firmly opposed utopianism throughout his life, because it was idealism, which lacked a foothold in reality, that repeatedly pushed human society into the fire pit.
When the contradiction between the ideal and the reality suddenly appears in front of us in a sharp form, if we want to take care of both at the same time, we must divide the ideal into two levels of ideals. On the one hand, the realistic conditions are in place and the goals that can be achieved through hard work, while on the other hand, the ideal is that the realistic conditions are not yet in place, and it takes a long time to wait and prepare hard to achieve them.
If a person only has an ideal for the future and no realistic goal, it will become a utopian dream; if a person only has a realistic goal but no ideal, he will be satisfied with the status quo.
Extreme enlightenment will degenerate into a kind of autocracy
A true intellectual elite does not boast of God because of its knowledge.
Intellectuals have always felt that they have a duty to enlighten the people, but if this enlightenment is taken to the extreme, it becomes a conquest, a kind of autocracy. Enlightenment is often divided into two kinds, one is that the enlightener incarnates as the master of the truth, and forcibly instills the "truth" he thinks he thinks, so as to conquer and control the enlightened, the so-called "obedience to the truth" is actually obeying the will of the enlightener, and such enlightenment will inevitably become autocratic. The purpose of enlightenment is to establish the independence of the dual subjects of self and object, it is a two-way stimulation and benign interaction, so as to achieve mutual life growth.
The pseudo-intellectual elite, always in the name of freedom at the beginning, ended up in an even more ignorant environment.
The progress of society is driven by the elite, but the elite who is refined and self-interested only harms society
A true intellectual elite must be able to transcend selfish interests.
Universities are the land of cultivating elites, however, our universities are cultivating a group of "absolute, refined egoists".
By "absolute", we mean that self-interest is the only absolute direct driving force for their words and deeds, and they regard doing things for others as an investment.
The so-called "exquisite" means that they have a high IQ, a high upbringing, everything they do is reasonable and legal, impeccable, they are amazingly sophisticated, old, old, deliberately make a loyal gesture, know how to cooperate, perform, and know how to use the power of the system to achieve their own goals.
The scary thing is that such "talents" happen to be the most welcome in our society.
The key point of this kind of person is that they do not have faith, they do not have great care, great compassion, a sense of responsibility and a sense of responsibility that transcends their own selfish interests, and they regard their personal desires as their only pursuit and goal.
Once such a person gains power, the damage to the country and the nation is greater than that of ordinary corrupt officials and corrupt officials.
......
Mr. Qian Liqun has studied intellectuals all his life and is a landmark figure in contemporary China's reflection on the issue of intellectuals.
In the current situation where pseudo-elites are everywhere, and even occupy the intellectual high ground and spread toxic ideas, such critical writing can be described as sharp and deafening, and every modern reader can draw wisdom from it.
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