Chapter 5 1-7 (Continued)
【The Sword of Thinking, Raising Language Skills】
Thinking perspective: the one who controls things achieves the self-control
Lao Tzu once said: "Those who know others are wise, and those who know themselves are clear; those who win are powerful, and those who win are strong." "I think that in the face of the development of human society, we may add a sentence: those who control things reach, and those who control themselves advance.
People's ability to control things and self-control is an important driving force for social development. Whether it is the exploitation and utilization of natural resources, or the creation and use of tools, we all embody the technological progress that people obtain through the control of things.
As for the human beings themselves, on the one hand, we set requirements and limits for ourselves as individuals, and control our own actions with moral laws and codes of conduct, and on the other hand, people establish systems and cultures in the group to regulate the dynamic changes of the community. In this process, human civilization has been cultivated, and the development and change of human society have been promoted, so that the control of things and self-control are attached to the important significance.
Theoretically, it seems that the control of things and self-control do not go hand in hand, but in fact, the development of control and self-control ability is often not balanced. The Shang and Zhou civilizations were developed and the etiquette and music were orderly, but they suffered from the low level of science and technology and productivity.
At present, science and technology are highly developed, but a series of problems emerge one after another: increasingly severe environmental pollution and extreme weather have questioned people's ability to control things, the powerful capabilities of artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT and Sora have dwarfed many people, and behind the huge benefits and prospects of nuclear energy are immeasurable risks and hidden dangers. As a result, many people turn their attention to the relationship between people and things, trying to attribute the problem to the conceit of people trying to control external objects with small strength, which is the defect of controlling things.
Admittedly, there are indeed flaws in control, but I think the root cause is that self-control has been paid too little attention. Nature is a thing outside of man, and appreciating nature and coordinating the relationship between man and nature should be the attitude of human beings, but out of greed and short-sightedness, human beings have broken through the limitations of this layer of behavior, and only then have they ended up in today's embarrassing situation.
When people are shocked and angry that ChatGPT instigates others to defraud, have you ever thought that the instructions followed by the agent are still from human hands? People's excessive pursuit of technology often exceeds the standard line of being human, so breaking through this line again and again is only to promote the progress of technology. "We have created a desert with reason. As Camus admonished, the loss of self-control and the mere pursuit of control over external objects can only lead to the desolation of civilization.
Although the productivity of the Shang and Zhou dynasties was low, the civilization was developed, so even though these two dynasties no longer existed, their influence and value were still there. However, in the era in which we live, in order to control things, we have let go of human nature and feelings, and have turned ourselves into slaves of technology, where will we go? How can development lead to this? Ortega said that without civilization, technology cannot last forever. This is something to be wary of.
I think that we should pay attention to that humanity, regain that humanity, and rebuild the norms of self-control in order to nurture civilization. Only under the nourishment of civilization can the development of technology be meaningful and sustainable, and the control of things can achieve better results. In this way, the development of society can see the light.
The controller is developed, and the self-controller is finally progressive. May I regain self-control and be born to the sun.
Editor's Comments:
The micro era is rolling in, and Weibo and WeChat have become indispensable in our lives. Micro, so that the threshold of expression is lower, everyone can come to the foreground, show themselves, share life, many ordinary lives in the micro era glow with a different kind of brilliance. But behind the prosperity of the micro era, there are also hidden worries.
The headlines on the Internet, who are good at "micro-news", are often taken out of context; those who are addicted to "micro-media" are not looking at knowledge but at lace news...... They lack holistic thinking and are too lazy to deeply understand. When a few words of complaining turn into a noisy carnival of all beings, values are also "micro" into superficiality! For the development of the micro era in civilization, it is necessary for the public to enhance their moral awareness and critical thinking ability.
To be continued