Authors: Li Yongsheng, a special researcher at Socialism with Chinese characteristics Research Center for Theoretical System in Shaanxi Province and a professor at Marxism College of Xi ‘an Jiaotong University.
How can science and technology develop when the world is facing unprecedented changes and new challenges in economic globalization? On November 10th, the Supreme Leader of president sent a congratulatory letter to the opening of the first session of the Boao Forum for Asia International Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation, pointing out that in today’s world, a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation is in the ascendant, which has brought profound changes to human development and provided a new path for solving and coping with global development problems and challenges. Science and technology should benefit all mankind. This profoundly clarifies the essence, purpose and value of science and technology, and points out the direction and provides follow-up for promoting scientific and technological progress and development.
The initial intention of science and technology is to benefit mankind.The development of science and technology has profoundly changed the fate of mankind and reconstructed social life. In today’s era of rapid development of science and technology, the importance of science and technology is more prominent. Tracing back to the history of scientific and technological development, it is not difficult to find that the initial intention of scientific and technological research is to explore the unknown, pursue the truth and benefit mankind. Newton said: "The sea of truth, let all the undiscovered things lie before my eyes and let me explore." Einstein said: "All I have to do is to serve truth and justice with my meager strength, even if I don’t like it." Bacon said: "The real and legitimate goal of science is nothing more than this: to give new discoveries and new strength to human life." Edison said: "My philosophy of life is work. I want to reveal the mystery of nature and benefit mankind." The wise words of these scientists and technical invention experts brilliantly tell the essence, purpose and value of scientific and technological research from different aspects, that is, to benefit mankind, which runs through the development of science and technology, becomes a strong background for the development of science and technology, and supports and promotes the progress and development of science and technology.
Only by benefiting mankind can science and technology keep its vitality forever.Science and technology is a social activity loaded with value, and it is not and cannot remain value neutral. Science and technology not only have the function of seeking truth, but also have the function of seeking goodness and beauty. People study science and develop technology for the purpose of improving life, creating a better world, enhancing human well-being and promoting social development. Reflecting on the course of the development of science and technology, those technologies that safeguard human survival, promote human well-being and create a better life often have strong vitality and development vitality, such as information technology, big data, artificial intelligence, life science, new materials, new energy technology, space technology, marine technology, etc., as well as the hybrid rice technology engaged by Chinese scientist Yuan Longping and the science and technology of treating malaria with traditional Chinese medicine engaged by Tu Youyou, which have brought many conveniences and benefits to human life, so they have strong vitality and vitality. On the contrary, those science and technology that are harmful to human dignity, rights and morality and endanger human life, health and survival and development are often despised by human beings and have no future. For example, the technology of human cloning, the technology of making nuclear weapons, and the artificial intelligence technology of making killing machines. Because these science and technology violate human morality, laws and ethics and challenge human rights, dignity and value, they have no market, no development soil and growth conditions, and it is difficult to sustain and achieve sustainable development. Human needs are the fundamental driving force for the development of science and technology, as Engels said: "Once there is a technological need in society, this need will push science forward more than ten universities."Among all kinds of human needs, the pursuit of truth, goodness and beauty is the deepest, most lasting, noblest and most meaningful need. Science and technology that tends to truth, goodness and beauty and benefits mankind will inevitably last forever, keep its vitality forever, and play its own value to the greatest extent.
Science and technology benefit mankind and need value navigation and social care.The essence and initial intention of science and technology is to benefit mankind and promote social development. The purpose of scientific and technological development is to care for, care for and promote human beings and promote their free and all-round development. However, in modern times, driven by the interests of capital chasing profits, science and technology have made great strides, resulting in environmental pollution, ecological destruction, accelerated species extinction, and various new types of germs constantly appearing, creating chaos such as nuclear weapons, nuclear leakage and pollution, and global warming, which directly threatened human survival and development. On the one hand, it shows that the development of science and technology is increasingly deviating from its essence and initial intention, which urgently needs human vigilance. On the other hand, it shows that science and technology will not automatically improve and benefit mankind. The healthy and sustainable development of science and technology needs value navigation and social care.
Science and technology have instrumental rationality and value rationality, which are dialectical unity. Instrumental rationality solves the problem of means and efficiency, that is, metaphysical problems; Value rationality solves the problem of purpose and meaning, that is, metaphysical problems. Among them, value rationality is more important, it is an organic part of scientific and technological rationality, it is related to the future and destiny of scientific and technological development, and it is the soul and commander of scientific and technological development. If we don’t solve the value rationality of science and technology, that is, the direction of scientific and technological innovation, the development of science and technology will lose its direction, lose itself and go astray, which will eventually affect its development. It can be seen that the development of science and technology is inseparable from the rational navigation of value. The "four orientations" put forward by the Chairman of the Supreme Leader, that is, persisting in facing the world’s scientific and technological frontier, facing the main battlefield of the economy, facing the country’s major needs, and facing people’s lives and health, are the value rationality that guides the development of science and technology, that is, the value navigation that promotes science and technology to benefit mankind, and lights up the way forward for the development of science and technology.
The cause of science and technology is not an isolated system, but a subsystem of the social system, which is restricted and influenced by many factors such as politics, economy, morality, law and culture. Therefore, in the complex environment of social differentiation, cultural diversity, different interests and diverse values, we must start from four aspects: system, policy, ethics and cultural environment to protect the initial intention of science and technology, care for the cause of science and technology and guide the development of science and technology from goodness to beauty. From the institutional level, we should integrate the scientific spirit of seeking truth, being pragmatic, rigorous and rational, and the scientific and technological values of caring for human destiny and benefiting mankind into the design of the scientific and technological system, constantly optimize the scientific and technological system, form a compulsory scientific and technological management system and social laws and regulations, restrain, guide and integrate scientific and technological behavior with institutional norms, guide scientific and technological workers to consciously practice their initial intentions in scientific and technological work, and guide scientific and technological behavior into the correct development track. From the policy level, it is necessary to establish a complete set of scientific and technological policy system that embodies the spirit and belief of science and technology, and form an effective operating mechanism to encourage scientific and technological workers to adhere to the belief of exploring truth and being brave in innovation, and to uphold the initial intention and perseverance of benefiting mankind through science and technology. Punish violations of scientific and technological norms, increase the social cost of violators, form a clear policy orientation of punishing evil and promoting good, make scientific and technological innovation follow strict norms, effectively correct scientific and technological misconduct, and ensure its orderly development and full of vitality.
Protecting the cause of science and technology depends on both heteronomy and self-discipline. Einstein said that science without conscience is the destruction of the soul, and scientists without social responsibility are moral decay and human sorrow. To this end, it is necessary to strengthen the construction of scientific and technological ethics. Establish and improve the governance system of scientific and technological ethics, improve the academic research mechanism of scientific and technological ethics governance, improve the supervision system of scientific and technological ethics, establish the self-discipline mechanism of scientific and technological personnel, form a scientific, standardized, effective and scientific and technological ethics system, strengthen the moral obligation and social responsibility of scientific and technological workers, and urge them to stress morality, style, ethics and self-cultivation, build a strong spiritual defense line of scientific and technological moral conscience, enhance self-discipline awareness and stick to the moral bottom line.
Protecting the development of science and technology cannot be separated from the nourishment of profound culture. Scientific culture is a deep soil that nourishes and irrigates the desire for exploration, curiosity, creativity, imagination and sense of responsibility. Vigorously develop science and culture, use science and culture to cultivate the initial heart and sharpen the mission, so that it is engraved in the souls of scientific and technological workers, melted into the blood, internalized in the heart and externalized in the line, so that science and technology can return to the duty of seeking truth and being pragmatic, pursuing goodness and beauty, creating a clean and upright scientific and technological environment, dispelling spiritual smog, resisting all kinds of temptations, stabilizing the rudder of scientific and technological behavior, and bringing more gospel to people.
The road to simplicity, people-oriented science and technology, guarding the initial intention of scientific and technological work, caring for the development of scientific and technological undertakings, carrying out international scientific research and cooperation, and making scientific and technological innovation better benefit mankind are the right path for the development of scientific and technological undertakings.
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