Sun: In the era of "speed reading", do people still pay attention to "theory"

The rapid development of the Internet has not only provided great convenience, but also greatly changed people's reading habits. One of its manifestations is that "quick browsing" and "selective reading" have replaced "deep reading". Statistics show that there are more than 500 million netizens in China, and it is certain that most of them are "fast readers" on the Internet. Here, the author is concerned about how many people "really care" about the theory besides information, service and interaction in this fast-browsing Internet era.

(A set of seemingly contradictory case studies)

"Do you pay attention to' theory' when surfing the Internet?" -In view of this problem, the author consciously interviewed many representatives of classes, sectors and ages, and the results of the investigation seem to be contradictory.

"Don't talk to me about' theory', I'm tired of listening to this word! Ding Junhui, who plays billiards, does not understand geometric theory and still becomes the' world's first gun'; Wu Renbao in Huaxi Village doesn't understand economic theory, but he still built the "first village in the world"-a grassroots cadre admitted that he was not interested in theory at all: "Being practical is the most important thing for those who do grassroots work. Don't tell me what the theory says, just tell me how to do it! Some people put it more bluntly: "I have worked for many years, and my experience is as great as my study." I don't want to read theory, and there is no need to teach me in the name of theoretical guidance. " In their view, the so-called theory is the ideological theory of great men and famous artists, the rhetoric of scholars, the boring and obscure rational argument and the empty preaching.

"I know the value of theory and the significance of research, but I never read theory online"-some college students, young teachers, state-owned enterprise executives and foreign white-collar workers said. A considerable number of them agree with the value of theory and theoretical research, but they also say that they seldom read "theory" when surfing the Internet. In their view, theory is established by elites, and theoretical research is the business of experts and scholars, not their own business. In their view, "theory" means "books+documents+speeches", "data+formulas+models" and "problem raising+cause analysis+countermeasures and suggestions".

But interestingly, it is these people who "only read online information and are not interested in theory" and complain that online information has become a mountain of garbage. They are not satisfied with seeing the "latest fact report" at the first time, but also want to know the facts behind the news and the mechanism of these new facts, phenomena and problems. They are not satisfied with understanding social phenomena and social events that happen by chance, but also want to know the logical connection behind many real events. They are not satisfied with the current development of something, such as capital market, financial crisis, urban housing prices, etc., but also want to know more about its next development and how they will affect their work, life and development.

In the case study, on the one hand, the interviewees don't want to talk about "mysterious theories", but they are very concerned that some things in daily life can be explained more clearly, and some "new things" that are undoubtedly social development can be explained more comprehensively and convincingly. For example, it is said that "there will be no pies in the world", but now Beijingers take the subway in the morning and often find people distributing "letters" free of charge at the station entrance every day; It is said that "there will be no free lunch in the world", but the 360 antivirus software with constantly updated technology claims to be free forever; It is said that the more exquisite books are more expensive, and the pricing of women's books on some newsstands is obviously far below the cost price; Wait a minute. For similar new things and phenomena, they are eager for a popular explanation.

In the practice of economic and social development, some social actions that have already been put into practice have also made some respondents "very confused". For example, why should people in the east support the central and western regions by paying unpaid labor through financial transfer? However, the learning conditions of children in many poor areas need to be improved urgently, but the state has to spend a lot of money to protect giant pandas; Why can a singer earn 100,000, 200,000 or even more by singing a song, while many socially disadvantaged groups work hard for less than 10,000 a year? For these new phenomena and problems, many people want to know why, why, what will happen if not, and what will happen in the future. Even people with professional knowledge background want someone to explain a lot of social facts beyond their knowledge.

In fact, these are "facts" that common sense cannot simply answer or accurately describe. People only know that "facts" are not enough to quench their thirst, and they urgently need someone to give more convincing and easy-to-understand answers to quench their thirst. And these are actually the space for the "theory" to exert its strength. In other words, people who browse the times also have different degrees of theoretical thirst.

(2) Theory can answer the fact that common sense is difficult to explain and predict the future.

"Theory" is not an out-of-touch monster. On the contrary, it is the product of economic and social development and the need to deepen people's life and work. In fact, theory has many basic functions, such as explaining the world, guiding actions, enhancing knowledge and predicting trends. However, it is obviously the most basic function of theory to explain complex world images that common sense is difficult to explain.

Knowing the world is our human nature, and better understanding of the world we live in, including the natural world, social world and humanistic world thinking, is the psychological demand of each of us, whether it is light or dark, weak or strong. Like clothing, food, shelter, transportation and use, it is a growing and deepening basic demand. Aristotle, the master of ancient Greek thought, clearly pointed out at the beginning of his masterpiece Metaphysics: "Man was born to understand". In fact, from the day of birth, human beings are creatures seeking understanding. "Even if I am wrong, I will understand. Even a superficial, wrong and superstitious thing is better than not understanding "-China scholar Chen Jiaying used a classic example when talking about" understanding even if this understanding is worthless ":At the end of a suspense film, dying people often ask what happened. In fact, it is useless for him to know, but he still wants to know, or he will die unsatisfied.

It is not easy to explain and understand the world. In order to explain the world, under the pressure of nature, every nation in the early days will see a myth system, which provides a story from the origin of the world, the origin of mankind, and the origin of the nation to the present, forming a typical grand narrative. As the researchers said, the myth began to explain the world in a unified way, which can be seen as a prelude to explaining the history of belief and the whole theory, but it is only a insufficient part, and the myth always takes similarity as a supplement. But in the era of science, it is unconvincing to make up for it by imagination, and people demand a more reasonable explanation.

Many ancient civilizations, including ancient Greece, believed that people lived in the center of the universe and stood still, while other celestial bodies, such as the sun and Jupiter, were regarded as one or some big celestial spheres. When Copernicus put forward Heliocentrism, he didn't dare to publish it in time. Apart from religious reasons, the more important reason is that its "Heliocentrism" does not match people's feelings. When Heliocentrism was introduced to China, some people in China, including those great scholars with great ideas and achievements, denounced it as "learning from classics, not training". But now that we have accepted Heliocentrism, no one says that Heliocentrism's theory is nonsense, but admits that Copernicus is a genius and a great scientist. The most fundamental reason is that the geocentric system can't explain the strange trajectories of some celestial bodies, and Heliocentrism can better explain all this. It is generally accepted that a theory is accepted if it can explain related phenomena in a wide range, especially strange phenomena that other theories (theories) can't explain. Not only that, because Copernicus' genius discovery influenced a large number of scientists, including Galileo and Newton, they further studied and put forward new theories, which led to a series of scientific and technological innovation theories and achievements in non-astronomical fields. All these have had a profound impact on our life and thoughts today, but many of them have become accustomed to it, and we don't admit that it is the result or function of theory.

Einstein's theory of relativity is the same, and few people in the world can really understand it so far. For example, his theory points out that time will slow down in high-speed moving objects, rulers will shorten in high-speed moving objects, and light will bend when passing through super-large objects. His theory even clearly infers that the relative velocity of two high-speed objects is not the sum of the two velocities, but a very complicated formula. This is really puzzling, a fact that ordinary people like me can't understand and accept. But now people all admit that Einstein is a genius and a great scientist. One of the reasons is that his theoretical inference has been constantly verified in the scientific practice of later generations, and he has a good prediction of future facts.

Theory is to explain complex phenomena, find the logical connection behind facts, and sublimate and improve on the basis of summing up practice. In this sense, any solid theoretical research is worthy of recognition. Although these theoretical summaries may not be completely in line with practice, they may also be denied or surpassed by later researchers, but this is the value of theoretical research itself.

With the development of the times, "theories" are vast, colorful and endless, including natural science theory, humanities and social science theory, "big theory" about political, economic and social development, and "micro theory" about people's daily life. There are both specialized theories that people in the professional field can understand and popular theories that ordinary people can generally understand.

Scientific theory can better explain the logical connection behind relevant facts, and can better observe the occurrence trend of events and possible future facts. The "scientific theory" here includes not only the "hard science theory" that can be proved or falsified in the laboratory in natural science, but also the "soft science theory" that is difficult to be verified by experiments in humanities and social sciences.

Whether a theoretical summary, a theoretical generalization or a theoretical work is "scientific" can be judged by many standards or "falsification" standards. Different disciplines have different understandings of whether it is "scientific", but in general, there are two recognized standards, that is, scientific theories should meet two requirements: first, whether more known facts can be explained by the most basic principles, and second, whether future events or development trends can be better predicted by corresponding theories. Those who meet these two points will be accepted and recognized by people, and will be transformed into textbook knowledge and people's common sense of life. Those who do not meet these two points will be replaced by innovative theories and then forgotten by future generations.

Scientific theory is a summary of practical experience, which can prove that the same facts will "reappear" under the same conditions or the same environmental conditions. This is also the important value of scientific theory. For example, scientific theoretical achievements in natural science can predict the arrival of comets, explore the ancient world where fossils are buried, and practice under the guidance of theory can produce "incredible" productivity. For example, using the "siphon theory", the water of the Yellow River can be led from the air to the outside of the levee. One of the functions of theory itself is that we can realize what we can't learn directly through analogy or reasoning, and at the same time, theory can also predict what can't be proved by experience alone. This is the charm of theory. Science not only provides a systematic and reasonable explanation to the world, but also proves its authenticity through the prediction of events and technical production.

(C) scientific theory helps to draw a guiding "action map."

In life, we all have this experience. Whenever we go to a city that we have never been to, or a city that has changed a lot for many years, we always try to get a map of this city. Even before we leave, we must find a wider map to determine how we can get to that city faster or cheaper. This needs a map. The map doesn't tell us how to actually go, but it provides us with many choices. For example, from Shanghai to Nanjing, after a systematic study, I tell you that there are several possible routes, such as taking the high-speed train, taking the ordinary train, taking the Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway, going upstream along the river, and even rowing slowly and leisurely from the canal in the south of the Yangtze River. The "theoretical map" can tell you what the differences are in time cost, expense cost and psychological cost, why there are such differences, and where the opportunity cost of each choice is. As for which road you finally chose for your own consideration in practice, the map itself does not limit you. Without these maps, you can also reach Nanjing from Shanghai, but you may take a detour and deviate from your goal. With this map, you can decide whether to take the high-speed train (saving time), drive a private car (free time) or take a long-distance bus (saving money) relatively easily according to your own constraints. In short, it provides an alternative road map for your actions.

If you enlarge the cognition of "map" further, you will find that every theory and its application may provide an "action map" for people's life, scientific research and work, whether it is bright or dark, big or small, now or in the future. Theoretical research can provide an "action formula" for your related actions. Just like the traffic map from Shanghai to Nanjing, perhaps, the "theoretical map" itself does not tell you how to go, but it will enlighten you on several possible paths, and will also enlighten you on why to take the most time-saving and economical road, and what risks you may encounter if you do not follow the route guided by theory. Of course, further theoretical research will also tell you how to control risks and how to return to the right direction as soon as possible.

The reason why scientific theory can provide a reference map for people's actions lies in that scientific theory can "watch" the development trend of things and guide people to take fewer detours in practice. A man of practice is like sailing in the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River. As long as you row hard, you will reach your destination. However, without theoretical guidance, you may not be able to determine the correct direction. For example, you will go into the flood discharge area by mistake, for example, you will hit the rocks, for example, you will find a shorter route around a big bend. Without the guidance of "theoretical map", it is impossible to find the shoals and eddies that actually exist ahead and may exist in the future in advance, and the ship may capsize. With theoretical guidance, we can make corresponding preparations in advance and effectively avoid possible misunderstandings. With this early warning, you can bypass possible traps in your actions and walk better.

Scientific theory has the function of "lighthouse". Just like you live in Xizhimen in the northern section of Beijing's West Second Ring Road, the results of theoretical research will clearly tell you that you should go to Xizhimen from the nearest entrance, then walk along the North Second Ring Road to the northeast corner of the Second Ring Road and go straight to the airport. This is the shortest distance and the smoothest route. The theory will fully demonstrate that this is the most convenient way from the perspectives of data, experience, norms and argumentation. But in practice, maybe because of traffic jams or other reasons, you actually choose to take other routes, such as going around the Third Ring Road, or taking the North Fifth Ring Road around other expressways to the airport. Then, you will say, what's the use of this theoretical research? No, the significance of theoretical research is still there, because it is proved by theory that this is the most convenient way, so we should try our best to smooth out the rush hour congestion, minimize the road control time before and after the trip of the state guest team, and minimize the traffic accidents on the ring road and expressway, which provides a working direction for related work, not anything else.

Innovative theoretical guidance may help you get out of prejudice and cognitive misunderstanding, and you can work more creatively, at least not be marginalized by people in the workplace. Use an example to illustrate that two people went to a tropical island to inspect the "shoe market". Faced with the fact that "people on the island are used to barefoot", the two came to different conclusions. A says dysprosium has no market here, because people don't wear dysprosium at all, so where is the market? And B said there is a big market here, because wearing shoes is the inevitable progress of human civilization. As long as people's consumption demand can be effectively guided, there will be an innovative market. Obviously, the latter is guided by innovation theory, and practice has proved that its judgment is very forward-looking. This also explains from another angle why the theory should be constantly innovated, and why we should constantly learn some new theories that keep pace with the times.

Of course, theory is not only a summary and refinement of life cases, but also a summary and refinement of social facts, life facts and even facts under experimental conditions. Some are macro, some are meso, some are micro, and the levels are different. As for how to classify the theory, how to construct it, how to apply it to different practices, and why to keep pace with the times and innovate constantly, that is another topic.

Returning to this topic, based on our previous cognition, we have reason to believe that the value of theoretical construction and theoretical research will never be weakened by the "speed reading" of the Internet. On the contrary, with the continuous development of economy and society, a large number of new things, new phenomena and new problems are constantly emerging, and people hope to give relevant explanations in time, that is to say, people's demand for theory will be further enhanced. On the other hand, the unprecedented innovation practice of reform and opening up also needs the guidance of innovation theory that keeps pace with the times. With the improvement of national cultural quality, netizens' recognition of this theory will be further improved. In other words, in the era of "speed reading", the demand for "theory" is still growing. Therefore, theoretical workers, editors of theoretical journals and practitioners of Internet websites are also expected to make better use of various theoretical achievements to comment on various news facts and explain the logical connection behind various social phenomena according to the practice of Internet development and the changes of people's reading preferences, such as using current affairs comments, world observation, contention of views, thematic dialogues, face-to-face hot spots and other forms that netizens like to present, so as to better meet the growing theory of netizens.