Ye Shuibing: Reasons for the Decline of "Atheism" in Universities
In January 2011, the author conducted a survey on the worldviews of university students at the Guangdong Judicial Police Vocational College. Questionnaires were distributed to 1,378 students in the Department of Security and the Department of Law, and 1,240 valid responses were collected and organized. The results showed that 78% of students believe in ghosts and gods, fate, luck, or supernatural powers; 60% of students have their own lucky charms or lucky numbers in their daily lives, and occasionally engage in superstitious games such as fortune-telling, praying to deities, or playing "Bixian" [1], while avoiding certain ominous "taboos." Furthermore, 10%, 11%, and 2% of students identified as Christians, Buddhists, and Muslims, respectively. Seemingly paradoxically, 73% of students considered themselves believers in materialism, while 13% stated they did not believe in materialism, and another 13% "were unclear what materialism is," indicating a blurred understanding of the concept aomng university students.
To verify whether this survey holds general significance, the author searched the China Academic Journal Network Publishing Database and the China Excellent Master’s Degree Theses Full-text Database. Among the representative findings: in 2003, Yang Xianyong published his survey results in New Vision, stating: "We conducted a survey on the worldviews of university students. Despite differences in classes, majors, and academic systems, the results were strikingly similar: students who considered themselves thoroughgoing materialistic atheists accounted for less than 10% of those surveyed. The vast majority stated they were unclear, or claimed to believe in materialism under normal circumstances but believed in the existence of ghosts or gods at certain times or regarding certain phenomena. This indicates that university students have not formed a unified, consistent, and thoroughgoing materialistic worldview." [1]
The 2008 master's thesis by Chen Yongyan also presented survey results: "1.4% of university students have a high degree of superstition; 20.1% have strong superstitious motivations; 3.5% possess strong superstitious beliefs, and 13.9% have engaged in superstitious behavior." She concluded: "University students who believe in superstitions to varying degrees account for 47.1% of the total population." [2]
From the aforementioned surveys, it is evident that the materialistic "atheism" taught by political instructors from primary school through university is facing severe challenges. If this is the case for university students, it is even more so for middle and primary school students.
1. Characteristics of Superstition Among University Students
What is superstition? Guo Xiaobing argues that superstition "is a specific psychology of veneration that people hold toward certain illusory, non-scientific values, which usually produces a corresponding system of witchcraft-like, intensely utilitarian behaviors." [3] In essence, both feudal superstition and religious belief are blind worship of mysterious forces or deities. Lacking a basis in scientific theory or objective facts, they belong to the idealistic worldview and theoretical system and are anti-science. According to traditional understanding, the degree of superstition is inversely proportional to a person's level of knowledge—the higher the knowledge level, the lower the degree of superstition—which is why the superstitious are mostly illiterate or semi-illiterate. University students represent the highest knowledge tier of society. Based on the knowledge they possess and the education they receive, they should be immune to superstition. However, reality proves otherwise. Unlike the superstitious populations of the past, the superstitious behavior of contemporary university students exhibits several new characteristics.
First is the integration of superstition with scientific knowledge. Some superstitious students infinitely extend Einstein's theory of relativity, believing that ancestors exist in another dimension. They argue that contemporary science contains many unknown fields and that theories outside of materialism can explain problems in these areas. Their lives are highly dependent on the internet, which they use for online fortune-telling or predicting their luck. Despite having a foundation in astronomy, they are obsessed with horoscopes and astrology.
Second is the integration of superstition with campus culture. In recent years, it has become fashionable in universities to re-read the I Ching (Book of Changes). Many students in the liberal arts and even the sciences diligently study the I Ching with a sense of veneration. Because the I Ching is difficult to understand, some students turn to books that interpret it. However, such books vary in quality; some are interspersed with superstitious viewpoints. Students lacking discernment become immersed in these books, failing to absorb the dialectical thinking within while instead adopting idealistic rhetoric, leading to a firm belief in Feng Shui. The BBS (Bulletin Board Systems) on campus networks were intended as places for students to express opinions freely under their own management. Yet, due to a lack of effective supervision, almost all campus BBSs feature "Horoscope" columns, such as "Horoscope Career Recommendations," "Horoscope Interpersonal Relations," "Horoscope Personality Analysis," "Horoscope Weaknesses," "Horoscope Romantic Traits," and so on, alongside various Feng Shui theories. These superstitious columns combine with elite culture and spread rapidly through the campus networks, flourishing among students. Beyond campus networks, major websites like Baidu, Yahoo, and Sina have also opened horoscope channels and forums. Statistics once showed that entering the term "fortune-telling" into Baidu yielded 3.8 million related pages, "divination" yielded 3.68 million, and "horoscopes" reached as high as 16 million [3].
Third is the integration of superstition with religious belief. All religions are theistic, and the formation of theism in the minds of a significant number of university students is influenced by religion. According to the survey at Guangdong Judicial Police Vocational College, 23% of students hold religious beliefs; this group forms the foundation for the superstitious student body. The religious beliefs of university students differ greatly from the religious psychology of illiterate or semi-illiterate populations: they lack participation in religious activities, lack cognitive clarity regarding religious concepts, lack identification with religious belonging, lack transformative power in religious conversion, and lack sublimity in religious experience [4]. Furthermore, they are rarely utilitarian, seeking only a spiritual anchor. Nonetheless, religious theism has taken root in their hearts.
Finally, there is the integration of superstition with entertainment and leisure. Contemporary university students conduct most of their leisure activities online. The internet is virtual; encountering virtual superstition in a virtual space oddly gives students a sense of reality. Many superstitious behaviors are transformed into exciting games, causing students to unconsciously accept superstitious thoughts while finding them hard to put down, reinforcing these ideas through daily entertainment. When these students return to real society, they involuntarily bring these superstitious thoughts from the virtual space back with them.
2. Social Reasons for the "Loss" of Atheism
The loss of "atheism" in universities is, to a large extent, rooted in the loss of materialism in these institutions. Where does materialism come from? It primarily comes from the education in Marxist materialism received from childhood onward. Materialism is inseparable from Marxism. The deeper reason for the loss of materialism in universities is the loss of Marxism itself. University students born in the 1990s are not as compliant as previous generations; they prefer to observe society with their own eyes to form their own worldviews. They grew up in an era where the international communist movement faced unprecedented trials: the dissolution of the Soviet Union—the collapse of the world's first socialist state; the drastic changes in Eastern Europe—the continuous weakening of the socialist camp; and China's reforms entering "deep water"—the eruption of long-accumulated social contradictions. They did not personally experience the pioneering process of Chinese socialism and have no firsthand feeling for the tectonic shift from the Chinese people "lacking enough to eat" to being "well-fed and well-clothed." Instead, they have witnessed the difficulties of socialism and the prosperity of capitalism. Some students compare the current status of developed capitalist countries with our own, comparing their achievements with our problems while ignoring the vertical historical contrast between past and present. Consequently, they reach the erroneous conclusion that the capitalist system is superior to the socialist system. From this erroneous conclusion, they develop doubts about Marx's assertion that "imperialism is moribund, dying capitalism," and subsequently abandon Marxism, thereby abandoning Marxist materialism. Because most political instructors focus on classroom teaching effectiveness and lack active guidance of students' thoughts in daily life, these students' minds are slowly captured by theism.
The loss of "atheism" in universities is also related to the loss of the humanistic spirit and value orientation in a society in transition. Currently, China is undergoing a transition and transformation from a traditional agricultural society to a modern industrial society, entering a critical period of social transformation where per capita GDP is between $1,000 and $3,000. This period is the most unstable, characterized by sharp contradictions. Profound social transformation has not only brought significant changes to the material realm of society but has also caused tremors and conflicts in the spiritual sphere. The psychological evolution of the average person lags behind objective changes. Social reality impacts people's ideological concepts, ethics, and ideals. Old beliefs have waned while new ones have yet to be established; people have generally fallen into a spiritual crisis and confusion, to which university students, as the social elite, are even more sensitive. As interpersonal relationships grow cold, some students hope for supernatural powers to help them. As concepts of right and wrong or standards of good and evil become confused and blurred, some students use superstitious means to "take revenge" on classmates they dislike. The prevalence of instrumental rationality has led the public to blindly pursue profit maximization as a goal while ignoring basic moral and human values, thereby triggering superstitious activities centered on deities and ghosts for the fundamental purpose of profit. As one scholar noted: "Modern people are already in a post-belief era, living in a time of missing meaning; the arrival of the age of commodity fetishism has accelerated people's absence of faith." [3]
The loss of "atheism" in universities is further related to the negative impacts of science and technology. Materialistic "atheism" emerged alongside the development of science and technology and is inseparable from them. While science and technology have brought immense progress to modern society, their irrational use has produced negative consequences: "First, it causes humanity to face a crisis of survival and development on a global scale; second, it suppresses and distorts individual freedom." [5] The development of science and technology has brought about the global threat of nuclear war, energy crises, environmental pollution, ecological crises, and population explosions. The accelerated pace of scientific development has also greatly shortened the cycle of knowledge renewal; much knowledge is marginalized before it can even be applied, causing intense mental tension and psychological imbalance, leading to the alienation of man. Some pessimistic university students attribute all these problems to the development of science and technology, turning instead to the Daoist idea of "a small state with few people" [2], and some have even proposed the "doctrine of scientific original sin." Under these circumstances, materialistic "atheism," which developed alongside science and technology, has gradually been lost. A survey at the Guangdong Judicial Police Vocational College showed that 11% of students believe "the development of science has played a negative role in human society," and 35% believe that "science exists in the material world and cannot explain the spiritual world."
Responsible for the decline of "atheism" in higher education is the irresponsible propaganda broadcast by the media, which bears an inescapable blame. The media act as operators of mass cultural products. These products possess a dual nature: they function as both mass culture and ideology. As mass culture, they satisfy the aesthetic and entertainment needs of the masses through content and forms that are "popular and pleasing" [N1]; as carriers of ideological infiltration, they are internally embedded with ideological content [8]. A survey of the Guangdong Justice Police Vocational College indicates that 18% of college students derive their worldview primarily from newspapers and television, while 13% derive it from the internet. This means 31% of students develop their worldview mainly through the media. Simultaneously, 40% derive their worldview from books, demonstrating the profound influence media exerts on their outlook. A 2008 survey by Li Tingting showed that when asked "How did you first come into contact with horoscopes and fortune-telling?", 42.6% of respondents chose "books, magazines, and the internet," ranking first; "hearing about it from those around them" ranked second at 39.2%. Together, these account for 81.8% of the total, showing that the vast majority of students encounter horoscopes and fortune-telling through the media.
Since domestic media shifted toward a model of "public institutions managed as enterprises," some media outlets have forgotten their identity as the "mouthpiece of the Party" [N2] in favor of profit-seeking. To attract audiences, provincial-level newspapers in major metropolises do not hesitate to open columns on feng shui; provincial television stations scramble to launch programs analyzing names, marriages, and fortunes; and some stations even disseminate superstition under the guise of "unsolved mysteries." To appease advertisers, some newspapers, radio, and TV stations give free rein to advertisements promoting folk beliefs in scenic areas and run advertisements from telecommunications operators enticing mobile users to subscribe to superstitious services. If regular media under government supervision behave this way, the "fourth media"—the internet—which lacks supervision, is even more of a "mixed bag of fish and dragons" [N3]. According to incomplete statistics, there are already 172 websites with superstitious content. Sites like "Oriental Divination," "Zhouyi Prediction," "Horoscope Explanations," and "Feng Shui Theory" are flourishing online, attracting widespread participation under the guise of life and marriage predictions, with the sole aim of reaping illegal profits [5].
On one hand, we see irresponsible propaganda from domestic media; on the other, we see the conscious cultural colonization by developed capitalist countries. These two forces act in a pincer movement to accelerate the decline of "atheism" in universities. Cultural colonization refers to the subtle promotion of values, culture, and lifestyles on a global scale through discourse hegemony and network technology [10]. While college students gleefully drink Coca-Cola, eat McDonald's, and enjoy Hollywood blockbusters, the cultural colonization of the United States and other Western nations has already quietly begun. Relying on formidable economic strength, Western nations mass-produce cultural products that align with their ideology, making them ubiquitous. Due to their "new, rare, and unique" aesthetic forms, these products become fashionable consumer goods for residents of developing countries, especially highly educated college students. Through the consumer's sensory experience, they release ideological contagion, causing consumers to unconsciously accept Western worldviews amidst physical and spiritual enjoyment. Statistics show that the United States currently provides over 80% of all online information [11]. Even the American scholar Samuel Huntington admitted: "The spread of Western consumption patterns and mass culture around the world is creating a universal civilization" [12].
At the same time, China's eastern neighbor, Japan, continuously markets animated films with ideological appeal to the Chinese market: Hayao Miyazaki’s film My Neighbor Totoro promotes the "animism" (spirit in all things) of Japanese Shintoism; Kihachirō Kawamoto’s puppet animation Dojo-ji Temple is tinged with Buddhist colors; and Osamu Tezuka’s Phoenix embodies the Bushido spirit of sacrificing one’s life for the Emperor. These cultural products dilute the propaganda effects of materialistic "atheism" and lead some students to form erroneous worldviews.
3. Internal University Reasons for the Decline of "Atheism"
Foreign scholars such as Musch have found that belief in the supernatural is correlated with lower cognitive ability [13]. I believe an objective reason for the decline of "atheism" in universities is the relative decline in students' cognitive abilities following the expansion of university enrollment. A comparative study by scholars such as Aarnio on vocational school students and university students found that vocational students have higher supernatural beliefs (except for the dimension of religious belief) [14].
Aarnio’s findings provide indirect validation of Musch’s conclusion. Furthermore, irrational curriculum design and the incomplete knowledge structures of students are also causes. To facilitate student employment, science and engineering colleges overemphasize basic professional knowledge and technical courses at the expense of humanities and social sciences. Conversely, liberal arts colleges overemphasize their own subject matter while ignoring the history of science and technology and natural science courses. Consequently, science students fail to understand dialectical materialism and fall into confusion when encountering problems that modern science cannot yet explain; liberal arts students lack the scientific spirit, acting on habit, emotion, and experience, making them prone to mysticism when they face setbacks in life.
According to my survey of students at a justice police vocational college, 50% of students hope to study philosophy in depth. Although all universities currently offer courses on the Principles of Marxist Philosophy, these cannot substitute for specialized "atheism" education. Lenin said: "The greatest and worst error a Marxist could make would be to think that the millions of people (especially peasants and artisans) who have been condemned by all modern society to darkness, ignorance and superstition can reach the light of knowledge only by the direct route of a purely Marxist education. It is essential to give them the most varied atheist propaganda material, to tell them the facts from various spheres of life, to influence them in every possible way... to rouse them from their religious slumber, to shake them up by all kinds of methods" [15]. Materialist "atheism" should possess three qualities: the full application of contemporary scientific research; a thorough scientific explanation of religious theistic phenomena; and a philosophical foundation in dialectical and historical materialism [16]. Judged by this standard, university courses on the Principles of Marxist Philosophy are merely the worldview foundation for "atheism" and cannot be equated with "atheism" education. Moreover, today’s philosophy courses have completely devolved into "knowledge education." Marxist philosophical thoughts and spirit have been transformed into rote-memory knowledge points. The soul of philosophical thinking has vanished, leaving only concepts and principles that can be turned into multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, or essay questions. For students, professional knowledge is what they want to learn, while Marxist philosophy is what the school wants to teach. Thus, while the lecturer is "spraying saliva" [N4] on the podium, students below are preparing for civil service exams, memorizing English vocabulary, studying professional books, playing mobile games, reading novels, chatting, or sleeping. Some even skip every single philosophy class. Before the exam, they "burn the midnight oil" [N5] to memorize the material just to pass. The teaching results can well be imagined.
4. Individual Reasons for the Decline of "Atheism"
The psychological mechanism behind the formation of superstition in students can be explained through observational learning theory, attribution theory, psychological suggestion, and operant conditioning.
College students are not yet mentally mature. On their journey through life, they often use observational learning to imitate the behavior of peers or adults in order to follow the crowd. Today, superstitious behavior is everywhere; when students see adults burning incense, choosing "lucky" numbers, or wearing superstitious amulets, they involuntarily observe and learn. Over time, these behaviors form a superstitious psychology. Scholar Bernard Weiner further developed Heider’s attribution theory in 1972 and 1986, arguing that individuals attribute success or failure to factors like ability, effort, task difficulty, luck, mood, and help from others. These factors fall into three dimensions: locus of causality, stability, and controllability. Superstitious individuals tend to attribute outcomes to external, unstable, and uncontrollable factors [17]. Specifically for today's students—largely from single-child families—there is often a lack of responsibility. When facing setbacks, they tend to attribute failure to external factors rather than their own effort in order to achieve peace of mind. These external factors are unstable and uncontrollable, providing fertile ground for superstition. Once students begin to imitate superstitious behaviors, their predictions regarding the outcomes of these behaviors enter their "psychological field," influencing their consciousness and actions. A favorable prediction provides positive psychological suggestion, making them feel happy and causing them to act toward the expected result, making the behavior more likely to match the prophecy. This is the effect of suggestion. If the predicted outcome happens to occur, the superstitious psychology receives "positive reinforcement." Through repeated reinforcement, an operant conditioning reflex is formed, sinking the student deep into a mire of superstition from which they cannot extricate themselves. If the outcome does not occur, psychological observations show they usually choose to forget the failure.
Beyond these mechanisms, superstition is significantly correlated with mental health, particularly anxiety. Superstition and anxiety share a common theme: a sense of powerlessness in controlling anxiety-inducing events [18]. My survey at the Guangdong Justice Police Vocational College showed that 50% of students believe the main external factor affecting their ideology is "high competitive pressure and the need for psychological balance." What are these pressures? 49% feel the pressure of job hunting, 48% feel academic pressure, 31% feel financial pressure, and 11% feel pressure from romantic relationships.
Data from the 2008 conference on psychological education in provincial universities convened by the Guangdong Department of Education showed that from 2003 to February 2008, there were 75 student suicides in Guangdong universities. The top three causes were physical illness, emotional problems, and academic pressure, accounting for 80% [19]. These various pressures cause psychological anxiety. Combined with the loneliness of being far from family, students hope to rely on supernatural forces to escape their troubles.
5. Reclaiming the Lost "Atheism" Education
Superstition can drown out a student’s cognitive and innovative abilities; it is no exaggeration to say it could ruin a generation of social elites. The report of the 16th National Congress clearly stated: "We must form a good atmosphere in the whole of society that advocates science, encourages innovation, and opposes superstition and pseudoscience." At present, "atheism" education must form two combined forces. The first is a multi-disciplinary force. Mao Zedong once said: "We cannot abolish religion by administrative decree or force people not to believe in it. We cannot compel people to give up idealism, any more than we can force them to believe in Marxism" [20].
Ideological issues must be resolved through thorough explanation to convince people. To this end, universities should aim to strengthen dialectical materialism education for science students and cultivate the scientific spirit in liberal arts students. Adding "atheism" courses and restoring the conscious self-reflectiveness and criticality of Marxist philosophy—thereby establishing a materialistic, rational, subjective, and creative cultural model—should be the goal of university education. Modern education technologies like audiovisual materials and the internet should be the primary means. At the same time, if "atheism" education is only carried out in political classes, it appears utilitarian and politicized, easily triggering a rebellious psychology in students. It should be integrated with professional courses: for example, physics teachers can refute theism while explaining natural phenomena; geography teachers can analyze the anti-scientific essence of astrology when discussing constellations; Chinese teachers can analyze the "dross and essence" of the I Ching (Book of Changes) during instruction. This allows students to exist in a harmonious atmosphere of "atheism" education, thereby establishing a correct worldview.
Addressing the characteristic of contemporary university students' preference for online superstition, the primary task for universities at present is to strengthen education in network ethics. Students must be made to understand that the internet is neither objective nor comprehensive, and that online behavior is equally subject to the constraints of law and morality. Meanwhile, efforts must be made to purify the online environment, block superstitious information, and strengthen the propagation of atheism, ensuring that university students surf the web within a healthy environment.
Another synergy that must be formed for education in "atheism" is the joint effort of the school, the family, and society. For schools, they must first pay attention to the mental health of university students, and second, actively build an "atheist" campus culture. A positive campus culture can make the lives of university students more fulfilling and their moods more cheerful, thereby reducing superstitious behavior at its root. For families, parents should lead by example; on one hand, they must not engage in superstitious activities themselves, and on the other hand, they must correctly guide their children, stimulating their initiative and encouraging them to establish themselves in society through their own strength. For society, the government must strengthen the construction of laws, regulations, and systems, unifying educational, legal, and economic means. It must strictly investigate and ban all illegal publications containing the propagation of feudal superstition [8] and theism, strictly control the promotion of superstition in the media, and simultaneously promote scientific knowledge to foster a social climate that venerates science.
The whole of society should take action, sparing no effort to "beat the drum and cry out" [9] so that the next generation may form a correct worldview!
References [8] Yang Xianyong. "The Dualistic Tendency of University Students' Worldview and Its Irrational Roots." Education Perspectives—New Horizons, 2003, (3): 4-5. [9] Chen Yongyan. "Research on the Superstitious Psychology of University Students." Master's Thesis in Basic Psychology, Southwest University, 2008: 16. [10] Guo Xiaobing. "Analysis of Several New Changes and Enlightenments in University Students' 'Superstitious Behavior'." Youth Exploration, 2008, (2): 27-29. [11] Zhang Xiaomei. "A Preliminary Probe into the Psychological Deficiencies and Religious Psychological Phenomena of University Students." Journal of Huaihua University, 2007, (7): 108-109. [12] Tao Delin. Specialized Research on Frontiers of Contemporary Philosophy. Wuhan: Wuhan University Press, 1998: 30. [13] Sun Bailiang. "The Concealment of Western Ideological Infiltration and the Innovation of Ideological and Political Education in Chinese Universities." Academic Forum, 2009, (7): 176-180. [14] Li Tingxiang. "Investigation and Countermeasure Research on the Superstition Situation of University Students." Journal of Hebei University of Economics and Business (Comprehensive Edition), 2008, (3): 103-105. [15] Li Shangzhi. "Main Forms and Dangers of Western Ideological Infiltration under the Background of Globalization." Theory and Reform, 2007, (2): 123-126. [16] Han Bingcheng. "Building a Modern Network Security Barrier." Liberation Army Daily, 2002-09-18 (11). [17] Samuel Huntington. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. Beijing: Xinhua Publishing House, 2002: 55. [18] Musch J, Ehrenberg K. "Probability Misjudgment, cognitive ability, and belief in the Paranormal." British Journal of Psychology, 2002, (93): 169-178. [19] Aamio K, Lindeman M. "Paranormal beliefs, education, and thinking styles." Personality and Individual Differences, 2005, (39): 1227-1236. [20] Lenin. Collected Works of Lenin (Volume 4). Beijing: People's Publishing House, 1990: 648. [21] Yu Qiming. "Talking about Scientific Atheism Education in Institutions of Higher Learning." Science and Atheism, 2010, (4): 28-29. [22] Zhao Ping, Lin Yiqi. "Analysis of the Psychological Causes of Superstition among University Students." Health Education and Health Promotion, 2007, (3): 44-46. [23] Wolfradt U. "Dissociative experiences, trait anxiety and paranormal beliefs." Personality and Individual Differences, 1997, (23): 1. [24] Cai Maohua. "Investigation and Analysis of the Stress Situation of Contemporary University Students' Romance." School Party Building and Ideological Education, 2008, (8): 49-51. [25] Mao Zedong. Selected Works of Mao Zedong (Volume 5). Beijing: People's Publishing House, 1978: 368.
Network Editor: Jiafei