In this era of material abundance and entertainment diversity, people are surrounded by a variety of consumer goods and entertainment options, as if they are in an endless paradise.
The dazzling array of goods in the shopping mall and the colorful entertainment content on the Internet immerse people in a seemingly endless consumption and pleasure, bringing people a short-term satisfaction and pleasure.
However, a speech by Peng Lin, a professor at Tsinghua University, gave a different assessment of this era.
He pointed out that despite the tremendous progress we have made in technology and science, there are still some drawbacks, and most people today are incomplete and can only be called "half-human".
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Where does the "half-human" basis come from?
In recent years, some cases of highly educated people involved in crimes have occurred from time to time, which has aroused widespread concern in the society.
In 2022, Feng Mouping, a doctor from the Department of Energy of Peking University, with his highly educated background, joined the Investment Department of the Planning and Development Department of a large power generation group, but he took advantage of his position to defraud many people of a total of more than 2,600 yuan.
Although he was eventually sentenced to 10 years in prison, the case has provoked deep reflection on the issue of social responsibility and professional ethics among highly educated people.
In addition, the expulsion of three graduate students (one doctoral student and two master's students) from Fudan University on suspicion of soliciting prostitution shows that some highly educated people lack moral qualities.
In addition, there is also a graduate student Shi Moumou who illegally developed and operated the "smart code" operation software, and was suspected of cyber criminal activities and was sentenced to six months in prison.
A man who graduated with a master's degree in Beijing has been imprisoned many times for multiple burglaries and has been sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment for robbery and theft.
Obviously have a high degree of education, but do despicable things, why is this happening?
The term "half-human" was first proposed by modern scholar Liang Sicheng in order to criticize the education system at that time.
And "half-human" means people who are not well-rounded and people who are biased.
In some of the above examples, we can also feel that although these people have enviable academic qualifications, they have a great lack in a certain aspect, so in the end they go astray.
The frequent occurrence of these cases has not only aroused widespread concern in society, but also reflects the reality that we have neglected humanities education for a long time.
Although a high degree of education provides a broader space for an individual's career development, if there is a lack of good humanistic qualities and moral concepts, a high degree of education itself cannot guarantee a person's high moral character and good behavior.
In fact, the widespread neglect of humanities education has existed in the Chinese education system for a long time.
The human dilemma in education
Education pays too much attention to scientific and technological knowledge and tool knowledge, while ignoring the cultivation of humanistic spirit, moral education, and the inheritance of world outlook, outlook on life, and values.
Compared with foreign education, the education system in mainland China seems to have some deficiencies in this regard.
Mr. Pang Pu pointed out at the "Humanities Classroom" held by Southeast University that China's education has always been "half education", which only attaches importance to the inheritance of scientific and technological knowledge and tool knowledge, but does not pay enough attention to the cultivation of humanistic spirit.
This phenomenon is particularly pronounced in primary and secondary schools, where the content of education is mainly based on the content of examinations rather than the overall development of students.
In the past education, especially since the reform and opening up, school education paid too much attention to test scores and admission rates, while universities pursued too much exchange methods and interest mechanisms in the market economy.
Slogans such as "education is an industry" have been widely disseminated, and the trend of marketization and industrialization of education has been increasing, which has directly brought about the alienation of human nature.
Professor Xu Zhuoyun of the University of Pittsburgh pointed out that today's education places too much emphasis on logical thinking ability, and primary and secondary education has basically become training for exams, and teachers' in-depth research focuses only on test topics, rather than students' innovation ability or personality development.
The harm of the industrialization of education lies in the excessive commercialization of education, which leads to the alienation of human nature.
Education has become a tool for the market economy, rather than for the all-round development of the human person. This phenomenon is not unfounded, but the consensus of scholars and educators who have been observing it for a long time.
Professor Dong Jian of Nanjing University's School of Liberal Arts pointed out bluntly that China's university education is not about building people, but about making "machines."
This phenomenon is particularly evident in the ideological and moral education curriculum, where the content of this course is detached from the law of internalization of humanistic and moral education in the process of students' growth.
This kind of ideological and moral education is simply summarized by some education scholars as the indoctrination of some rigid theories, while ignoring students' understanding and experience of Chinese history, culture and culture.
From another point of view, if children lack the understanding and recognition of the history and culture of the motherland, their souls will lack this nourishment, and thus may lack important support in terms of outlook on life and values.
Therefore, neglecting humanities education not only affects the personal development of students, but may also have a negative impact on the values and morals of society as a whole.
Balance between general and professional knowledge
The separation of arts and sciences is a topic of great concern in the field of contemporary education, and its concern is rooted in the concern that the separation of arts and sciences education may lead to one-sidedness.
The discussion of this problem can be traced back to the proposition of "the age of half a man" put forward by the famous architect Mr. Liang Sicheng in a speech at Tsinghua University more than half a century ago.
Mr. Liang Sicheng warned that the "Shuimu Tsinghua", that is, the division of liberal arts and sciences education may limit the all-round development of people, and thus go to a certain extreme, this view is similarly elaborated in Western scholar Marcuse's "One-dimensional Man".
They believe that the separation of arts and sciences will lead to a kind of "half-human education" that will lead to a deformed situation.
With the separation of technology and humanities in education, there is a growing concern about the separation of arts and sciences.
The strength of modern science and technology has promoted the development of society and people, but at the same time, it has also brought about the separation of science and technology from humanities. This separation has become more severe across the globe, making the "one-dimensionality" of human beings increasingly prominent.
In particular, under the influence of the capitalist commodity economy, the commodification of human beings has become more and more serious. Under the market economic system of the mainland, there is also the phenomenon of commodification of human beings.
In this context, if there is a lack of consideration for all-round development in the process of cultivating people, the phenomenon of separation and antagonism between the arts and sciences will be exacerbated, and the educated people will become more deformed.
The tendency of school education to focus only on scientific and technological knowledge and instrumental knowledge, but not on humanistic education and moral inheritance, has led to the "dehumanization" of education.
This kind of "half-person education" makes people yearn for the "liberal education" of the West, because the goal of liberal education is to broaden their horizons and realize the comprehensive development of people.
However, liberal education was not a purely foreign concept, in ancient China, the education of the Zhou Dynasty included liberal arts education, although knowledge was not as detailed as it is today, but the entire education system focused more on the all-round development and moral character of the person.
However, with the development of society and the growth of knowledge, people began to pursue specialization, and the differentiation of knowledge also brought about the alienation of personality.
This alienation of knowledge makes people more likely to fall into extremes, because over-focusing on knowledge in one area can lead to the neglect of other aspects, which affects the perfection of personality.
In the economy and society, people are more inclined to pursue knowledge that can bring practical benefits, and this dominance of "instrumentalism" and "value rationality" has led to the decline of the humanistic spirit.
How to shape the humanistic spirit
The core of humanities education lies in cultivating people's overall literacy and values, not only focusing on the imparting of knowledge, but also paying more attention to the cultivation of people's spiritual realm and moral character.
In the implementation of humanities education, we should first attach importance to national character and value rationality. Unlike science and technology, humanities have a national character, and it is closely related to a specific country, nation, and culture.
Therefore, when conducting humanities education, we should pay attention to promoting national culture and inheriting the national spirit, so that students can achieve cultural identity and further achieve cultural pride.
At the same time, humanities education should also focus on value rationality, that is, to answer the question of "what should be", guide students to think about the value of life, ethical norms and other issues, and shape a correct outlook on life and values.
People's ideology, morality, and humanistic spirit should not be ignored either.
The humanistic spirit includes traditional virtues such as patriotism and backbone, which are an important part of traditional Chinese culture.
Through education, it is necessary to enable students to love the motherland, cherish traditional culture, and cultivate correct patriotic sentiments and firm character.
At the same time, the humanistic spirit is also constantly developing, and it is necessary to pay attention to the changes of the times, guide students to establish a correct outlook on life and society, and have the qualities of tolerance, tolerance and understanding.
Finally, the broad humanistic spirit also needs to pay attention to the harmonious relationship between the individual and the group, between human beings and nature, and between the human heart and the way of heaven.
In education, it is necessary to cultivate students' active participation in society, care for others, and promote harmonious interaction between individuals and groups; Pay attention to ecological civilization education, cultivate students' awareness of respecting nature and protecting the environment.
At the same time, it guides students to explore the relationship between the human heart and the way of heaven, and cultivates the ability to think about the universe, life, life and other ultimate issues.
epilogue
"Half-human" is not only an academic concept, but also a profound reflection on the current situation of contemporary society.
Only through comprehensive humanistic education, guiding people to pay attention to values, ideology and morality, and attaching importance to the harmonious relationship between the individual and society, human beings and nature, can everyone truly become a complete person.
May we continue to pursue material prosperity while not forgetting our original aspirations, reshaping the humanistic spirit, and becoming truly "perfect".
Resources
1. Etiquette scholar Peng Lin gave the sixth lecture of the "Humanities Tsinghua University" forum: people, what is human - Tsinghua University News, released on November 18, 2016
2. Tsinghua University Professor Peng Lin: How to go from "half human" to "perfect" - Tsinghua University News, released on November 14, 2016
3. "Emphasizing science over literature", is secondary education cultivating "half a person"? ——Guangming Daily, published on October 30, 2018