A lecture in a middle school inadvertently became a national news event. This can really be said to be a big discussion caused by a microphone.
In the final analysis, people's concern about this incident is confusion and concern about the purpose of reading, learning, education, and work, which highlights the contradictions and oppositions on this issue.
For this reason, Mo Luohan wrote "School has started, let me grab a microphone" ("FD New Academic Circle" official account, February 22, 2023), pointing out that studying for the sake of the family, the country, and the world, or studying for one's own family, these two seemingly contradictory purposes and motivations have been running in parallel for at least a thousand years. The relationship between them is very complicated, there are separations, exteriors and interiors, but also similarities, which is very meaningful. What they have in common is the emphasis on economy and money. "As long as it is legal income, RMB is a reward certificate from society for wealth creators." Some scholars have prejudices and misunderstandings about "money", "feelings" and "revival".
The article also specifically pointed out that both of them are actually used for reading, not the body of reading. "The nature of reading is probably to pursue truth, wisdom and morality." Those with strong roots are actually successful, and those with rich anointing are bright. If you really read a book well, it will naturally radiate a warm brilliance, and it will have unexpected positive effects on the reader himself, his family, others around him, or the country, the world, and nature. This is what is called "purposiveness without purpose." On the other hand, if one aspect of the purpose is overemphasized, it will not only squeeze out other purposes, but also cause harm to the nature of reading and backfire on the emphasized purpose. Just like haste makes waste, if the purpose is too strong, the goal will not be achieved.
The more you think about doing well in a certain exam, the more you fail in the exam. If you just study normally and take the exam without thinking too much about the purpose and importance of the exam, it will be easier to get good grades. Many readers may have experienced this kind of experience. After planting rice and barley, you can not only pay public grain to the country, but also sell it in the market. You can also provide yourself and your family with three meals a day. When needed, you can also help the poor who have no food to eat, whether they are in Africa or in the mountains. Why not? Without good rice cultivation, no matter how beautiful your goals and wishes are, they will be nothing. Purpose justice is not justice.
If we put aside the intrinsic nature of reading and only talk about the external purpose of reading, we can say that "reading for the great rejuvenation of China" and "reading for a good (personal) life" only emphasize different directions, and they both have their own rationality. The grand narrative of family and country and the personal narrative are not sharply opposed. Everyone can have their own choice. As long as they are understood and handled properly, they can all lead to the overall goal of "making individuals, society, the country, and the world naturally better."
No matter how big the words are, they are not empty words as long as they can be implemented into reality; as long as they are spoken from the bottom of the heart and are not false as truth, they are not lies; as long as they do not say one thing on the lips and think another thing on the stage, but they are another on the stage, it is not a lie; as long as it is not (for) coercion and infringement on others, it is not an evil word; if it is not an empty lie to deceive evil, then it is a very rare good word.
No matter how small the words are, as long as you still have relatives and friends in your heart, it is not a vulgar word; as long as you still think about others sometimes, it is not a common saying; as long as you do not think that everyone is like this, it is not a stupid word; as long as it does not offend others, it is not a poisonous word; if it is because of survival and life, then it is a responsible and sensible clear word.
When it comes to reading and non-study matters, what you need to be more careful about is lies, empty words, lies, bad words, vulgar words, vulgar words, stupid words and poisonous words, rather than whether the words are grand narratives or detailed narratives.
To be honest, as a front-line teacher, I have no particular worries about the purpose and direction of teaching, and I am confident in the learning goals and judgment of the new generation of students. What I am really worried about is that ChatGPT has already arrived. What is the irreplaceable value of teachers? In a diverse era, how do we understand and meet the needs of different students and provide them with useful help?
All I can think of is: in terms of teaching concepts and practices, let students understand and get used to learning by themselves, that is, learn by themselves, learn independently, learn happily, learn outside the classroom, learn in real life, and learn to solve practical problems; in terms of teaching content, do not focus on teaching static knowledge; in terms of teaching methods, use chatting instead of teaching.
I started trying to do this many years ago and have been doing it for about twenty years. Unfortunately, due to not doing well enough and objective reasons, not many students, teachers and schools accept this kind of chat class.
About the author
Magic Arhat, also signed as Demon City Arhat, real name Luo Shuhua, professor at Fudan University, main writer of the public account of "FD New Academic Circle", and programming enthusiast. Main teaching and research directions: Dream of Red Mansions, Chinese literature and criticism, traditional Chinese culture, academic research theories and methods, Chinese writing, education and culture in the Internet era, network architecture and design. His books include "Two Phoenixes Protecting the Pearl: The Structure and Narration of the Dream of Red Mansions", "A Close Reading of the Red Mansions", "Mainstreams of Chinese Fiction", "The Study of Chinese Narrative", "History of Chinese Prose", "Chinese Writing Tutorial", etc. In the field of "Dream of Red Mansions", the theories of "Two Phoenixes Protecting Pearls" and "Chai Dai competing for marriage" were proposed. In the field of culture, "Don't do to others what others don't want you to do to them; don't do to me what you don't want to do to me" is the golden rule of Chinese culture.
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Machine-translated from the Chinese original 魔罗汉：我们应该为什么读书/教书/工作？ (published 2023-02-28). WeChat original ↗