Promoting the Scientific Spirit and Improving the Quality of Our Citizens
Humanity is the subject of social development, and the primary requirement for constructing socialism with Chinese characteristics is the improvement of the nation’s popular quality. Over the sixty years since the founding of the state, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has relied on the broad masses of the people, fully mobilizing their enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity, thereby achieving brilliant successes in the cause of reform and opening up and socialist modernization. However, we must also recognize that a significant gap remains between the quality of our citizenry and the requirements of modernization, and that it is not yet commensurate with China’s status as a major power. To realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, we must improve the quality of our people and undertake a thorough transformation of ignorant and superstitious concepts. Due to the influence of traditional culture, there is a severe deficit of the scientific spirit among our citizens, which fundamentally constrains the improvement of national quality.
I. Remedying the Deficiencies of Traditional Chinese Culture with the Scientific Spirit
The power of culture is deeply fused into the vitality, creativity, and cohesion of a nation. Like the air, it is ever-present, exerting a tremendous influence on the thoughts and mindsets of the citizenry, shaping a nation’s character, and manifesting as the nation’s popular quality. The lack of a scientific spirit in traditional Chinese culture has a profound impact on the quality of our populace; improving national quality must therefore begin with promoting the scientific spirit and transforming traditional culture.
The scientific spirit refers to the concepts, consciousness, and forms that take shape during long-term scientific activity and are embodied in scientific knowledge, thought, and methods. It manifests first and foremost as a rational spirit in the pursuit of truth. The scientific spirit originated in Ancient Greek philosophy and was further strengthened alongside the development of modern Western natural science. Ancient Greek philosophy championed freedom, possessed a spirit of "seeking knowledge" and "loving wisdom," emphasized the rationality of "theory" and "logic," and utilized an "objectified-subjectified" mode of thought. [1] These intellectual traditions nurtured Western scientific rationality and provided fertile soil for the development of science, especially the natural sciences. As is said, "Science actually begins with man facing objects"; [2] the "objectified-subjectified" mode of thought juxtaposes man against objects, separating the subjective from the objective, such that the object becomes an objective existence independent of human consciousness. By directing research toward objective existence and employing experimental methods to explore objective truth, a scientific spirit of pursuing truth was cultivated. Modern Western natural science is the direct heir to this Ancient Greek rational spirit, and the increasingly rigorous demands of modern science have further reinforced this spirit, shaping the rational character of Westerners.
By contrast, traditional Chinese culture formed and developed over thousands of years in a relatively closed environment. The culture it produced, represented by "functional rationality" [3], possesses a moral-centric orientation that stands in stark contrast to the Western cultural tradition represented by scientific rationality. Traditional Chinese culture was built on the foundation of feudal patriarchal autocracy and was adapted to an agricultural mode of production. It reached an "overly precocious" state during the early stages of human development; thus, while it does not lack the profound light of human wisdom, it also carries many negative toxins that obstruct the modernization of our citizenry and cause national quality to fall short of the requirements of modern social development in many respects. Therefore, promoting the scientific spirit and transforming traditional Chinese culture are of fundamental significance for improving the quality of our nation’s people.
II. Promoting the Scientific Spirit to Improve the Ideological and Moral Quality of the Nation
The scientific spirit manifests primarily as a rational spirit of exploring truth. It consists of the universally recognized and followed value standards, mindsets, and behavioral norms formed during the development of science and the process by which scientists engage in research and explore the mysteries of nature, society, and thought; it is the concentrated expression of human rationality. What the scientific spirit creates is a rationalized personality temperament, which is often first internalized by scientists as personal character—becoming the scientist’s "conscience"—and subsequently influences society at large, sublimating into a spiritual and social personality that becomes a precious asset to society. In particular, the development of contemporary science and technology has led to mutual influence, infiltration, and increasingly close links between technology and the social sciences. Consequently, the scientific spirit has entered the realm of cultural values, becoming a vital human value in the technological era.
In contemporary China, the primary manifestation of low national quality is a lack of rational spirit. On one hand, due to the influence of traditional culture, our citizens have developed imprecise and vague mindsets and are unaccustomed to precise and rational thinking, while feudal superstitious ideas remain deeply rooted. On the other hand, contemporary China is in a period of intense social transformation; many individuals lose themselves in this transition and easily develop characters characterized by impetuousness and a drive for quick successes and instant benefits. Therefore, it is essential to cultivate a scientific and rational ideological character among the entire population. Once formed, the scientific spirit can not only inspire people to learn, master, and apply science—encouraging them to continuously scale new heights on the scientific path—but also holds great significance for establishing a correct worldview, outlook on life, and values, for mastering scientific work styles and methods, and for performing leadership and management work in economic, political, and cultural spheres.
The scientific spirit is a spirit of pursuit that fears no hardship. The long path of scientific development has been a process filled with difficulties and obstacles. During the long, dark Middle Ages in the West, religion suppressed and cruelly persecuted science in every possible way. Copernicus risked everything to publish On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres to propose the heliocentric theory; Bruno was burned at the stake by the Roman Inquisition in the Campo de' Fiori; Galileo was sentenced to life imprisonment. Since the 20th century, outstanding scientists such as Einstein suffered persecution by fascists. In the more than 400 years of modern scientific development, science has engaged in a struggle of blood and fire against religious theology, secular powers, and fascist dictatorships. Those pioneers used their blood and lives to carve a rugged path for scientific development through a wilderness of thorns. Marx wrote in the preface to the French edition of Capital: "There is no royal road to science, and only those who do not dread the fatiguing climb of its steep paths have a chance of gaining its luminous summits." This was an encouragement to his readers and a portrayal of Marx’s own life. In his pursuit of revolutionary truth, he lived his entire life under persecution, displaced and in poverty, yet he remained undaunted by hardship and full of revolutionary optimism. Through arduous exploration, he finally founded Marxism, making an immortal contribution to the cause of human liberation. He devoted forty years of diligent, tenacious, and meticulous labor to write the monumental work Capital. The scientific spirit of pursuing truth embodied in Marx is an incomparably precious spiritual treasure, serving as a model for countless successors and transforming into an inexhaustible spiritual force for changing the world.
The scientific spirit also encompasses a noble moral personality, moral character, and moral cultivation. It is the crystallization of the outstanding ideological and moral qualities of scientists. Throughout the history of science, many scientists have displayed noble characters—such as being indifferent to fame and wealth, seeking truth from facts, fearing no hardship, and being willing to sacrifice—which are worthy of study by everyone. Copernicus, Bruno, Galileo, Madame Curie, Franklin, Einstein, as well as Qian Sanqiang, Zhou Peiyuan, Zhu Kezhen, and Qian Xuesen [4]... they are like a galaxy of brilliant stars. They all took the promotion of technological progress to repay their country, serve society, and benefit humanity as their lifelong goals, continuously perfecting their ideal personalities. They were the spiritual paragons of their respective eras. As Einstein noted in his piece In Memoriam: Marie Curie: "The moral qualities of its leading personalities are perhaps of even greater significance for a generation and for the course of history than purely intellectual accomplishments." Since the founding of New China, our scientists have demonstrated a spirit of patriotism, realism and innovation, hard work and dedication, and unity and cooperation. They have become role models for the people, creating a powerful spiritual force in society and inspiring people to strive for the nation's modernization.
III. Promoting the Scientific Spirit to Improve the Scientific and Cultural Level of the Nation
Scientific literacy is a vital component of national quality. A citizen possessing basic scientific literacy generally refers to understanding necessary scientific and technological knowledge, mastering basic scientific methods, establishing scientific ideas, upholding the scientific spirit, and possessing a certain ability to apply these to handle practical problems and participate in public affairs. Improving the scientific literacy of the populace is of great significance for enhancing the citizens' ability to acquire and utilize technological knowledge, improving the quality of life, and achieving all-round development. It is also crucial for raising the nation's capacity for independent innovation, building an innovative country, achieving comprehensive, coordinated, and sustainable economic and social development, and building a socialist harmonious society.
At present, however, the majority of our citizens do not yet possess basic scientific knowledge or a scientific spirit. Over the thirty years of reform and opening up, the scientific and cultural quality of our nation has improved significantly; the illiteracy rate has dropped drastically, and many regions have basically eliminated illiteracy among young and middle-aged adults. Yet, compared to developed countries, a significant gap remains. "According to relevant surveys, the level of scientific literacy among Chinese citizens lags far behind that of developed countries; the gap between urban and rural areas is particularly marked, and the scientific literacy of the working-age population is not high. Most citizens have a low level of understanding of basic scientific knowledge and are even more deficient in terms of scientific spirit, thought, and methods. Certain unscientific concepts and behaviors are widespread, and ignorant superstitious ideas are prevalent in some areas. Low scientific literacy has become one of the bottlenecks restricting China’s economic development and social progress." [3] In China, feudal superstitious ideas still persist in people’s consciousness; fraudulent activities involving pseudo-science and anti-science are still rampant in some places, and cult forces have caused great harm to society. Therefore, we must "promote the scientific spirit, disseminate scientific knowledge, and improve the ability of cadres and the masses to identify and resist feudal superstition and pseudo-science." [4]
Promoting the scientific spirit is also of particular importance for developing China’s educational undertakings and improving the cultural quality of our citizens. Education is an undertaking related to the future and destiny of the state and the nation; it occupies a primary strategic position in economic construction and plays a foundational role in improving national quality. However, China's educational philosophy has long been dominated by "exam-oriented education" while neglecting "quality-oriented education" [5]. Our education has consistently emphasized the transmission of ready-made conclusions and the acceptance of existing knowledge while neglecting the cultivation of a scientific spirit and attitude. Consequently, it can be said that the education we provide to students is incomplete; at best, students learn some scientific knowledge and conclusions but do not develop a scientific attitude or spirit. Scientific knowledge and conclusions may even degenerate into dogmas that, in turn, constrain the students' future development.
During the modernization of education, China directly introduced foreign natural science education. When scientific education entered semi-colonial and semi-feudal China, it immediately took on a clear instrumentalist tendency; the scientific spirit and scientific knowledge, which should have been an integrated whole, were artificially dismembered and separated. The Westernization Movement [6] established new-style schools that focused on the direct utility of "strong ships and sharp cannons" [7] to enrich the country and strengthen the military, but they did not care about the thoughts and spirit behind those "strong ships and sharp cannons." While the contents of natural sciences like physics, chemistry, and biology were adopted wholesale, the philosophical and logical dimensions at the level of scientific thought and spirit were rejected and replaced with traditional Confucian thought. As Mr. Lu Xun [8] poignantly pointed out: "Learning foreign skills while preserving old Chinese habits; the skills must be new, but the thoughts must remain old." "In the morning, it's acoustics, light, chemistry, and electricity; in the afternoon, it's 'The Master says' and the Classic of Poetry." This tendency toward the instrumentalization of education severed the link between knowledge/skills and mindsets, attitudes, emotions, and spiritual motivation. It lacked the intellectual foundation from which the brilliant results of natural science and technology directly emerge, as well as the scientific spirit of seeking truth and realism. This situation has not been seriously reflected upon in the century since modern science was introduced to China; instead, it has continued. The education of the scientific spirit has not grown well in China. Therefore, we need to change this highly utilitarian instrumentalist tendency. Cultivating students' scientific spirit and attitude while they learn scientific knowledge and skills is an urgent problem that current education must solve.
IV. The Important Role of the Scientific Spirit in Cultivating the Subjective Consciousness of the Nation
Historical materialism holds that the human being is the subject of social development, the driving force of social development, and simultaneously the object of social development. The objective laws of social development do not shift according to human consciousness, yet they are realized through conscious and purposeful human activity. The force that determines social development does not reside outside of the human being, but within human activity itself. However, during the thousand years of the dark Middle Ages in the West, religious theology occupied a dominant position; God was the creator of the world and history, the Lord was supreme, while man was base and lowly—human subjectivity was replaced by the Divine. Under China's long period of feudal autocratic rule, the Chinese people were shackled by the chains of divine authority, political authority, and clan authority [9]; human subjectivity was lost, people occupied a passive position, and the initiative and enthusiasm of the people to create history were greatly constrained. To this day, these toxins continue to exert an influence on people's thinking, manifesting as low levels of political participation, poor quality of political engagement, and a weak sense of citizenship.
Advocating for the scientific spirit can cultivate an independent and sound personality. The scientific spirit encompasses the spirit of free inquiry, the spirit of skepticism and critique, the spirit of bold innovation, and the spirit of rigorous realism. Its core value lies in cultivating a personality temperament that pursues truth and insists that everyone is equal before the truth. Individuals possessing a scientific spirit often manifest a rational attitude that respects objective reality; they do not blindly believe in authority, are adept at thinking independently and autonomously, possess a pioneering and enterprising spirit of inquiry, and have attained subjective consciousness within social development.
Science and democracy are twin brothers. Lenin said: "An illiterate person stands outside politics." If a country's citizens lack basic scientific literacy—including scientific knowledge, scientific methods, and the scientific spirit—then that country’s democratic politics cannot develop. In China, a socialist country, the people being masters of the country [10] is the essential requirement of socialist democratic politics. The governance of the Communist Party of China is precisely to lead and support the people in being masters of the country and to maintain and realize the fundamental interests of the masses. At the same time, the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics must rely on the masses. Only by giving full play to the subjectivity of the masses can we most broadly mobilize and organize the people to manage state and social affairs, as well as economic and cultural undertakings, in accordance with the law. Only when the masses truly possess subjective consciousness can they, with the attitude of masters, give full play to their intelligence and wisdom in the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics, continuously liberating the mind [11] and innovating, thereby providing an inexhaustible impetus for the cause of socialist reform and construction.
The theory of the free and comprehensive development of the individual is a vital component of Marxism. The Scientific Outlook on Development [12] proposes putting people first and promoting the comprehensive development of the individual through scientific development. Improving our national quality is not only a requirement for the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics but also creates the conditions for realizing the comprehensive development of the individual. The scientific spirit is an essential quality for modern people in the age of science and technology. For contemporary China—which lacks a scientific spirit in its traditional culture, is currently in a period of rapid social transformation, and is in the midst of reform and opening up and socialist modernization—advocating the scientific spirit is of particularly vital significance. Conducting in-depth research into the important role of the scientific spirit in improving our national quality possesses not only theoretical significance but also important practical significance.