According to a report by the British Broadcasting Corporation, researchers from Kyoto University conducted a recent memory test involving numbers. In this test, chimpanzees were divided into three groups and competed with university students in memory tasks. The research results showed that the chimpanzees' memories outperformed those of the university students. This study was published in the journal "Current Biology."
This news easily brings to mind the education system in China. Foreign education, especially China's basic education, mainly focuses on testing people's memory abilities. The more one can memorize and recite accurately, the more outstanding they are considered. Within this educational system, students are no longer seen as living individuals but rather as containers for various academic subjects. The larger the capacity, the better the quality, making it easier to succeed in fierce competition.
There is a slogan that says, "Knowledge is power," and its popularity reflects our reverence for knowledge, especially the education system's respect for knowledge. As a correction to the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, the resurgence of knowledge authority is understandable. However, with the arrival of the information age, while knowledge still plays a role in life, its luster has noticeably dimmed. No matter how good a person's memory is or how much they know, they cannot compare to a computer's hard drive or a search engine. Furthermore, recent studies by Japanese scientists have further reduced the importance of memory and knowledge. Human memory not only falls short of machines but also cannot match chimpanzees. Given this, why should we strain ourselves, studying tirelessly just to showcase our excellent memory and vast knowledge? Rejecting the knowledge-centric approach, the Chinese education system, which primarily tests human memory, appears increasingly absurd. It's like having humans race against chimpanzees. Such a race is unnecessary; even if humans win against chimpanzees, what glory does it bring? What practical benefits can it offer?
Knowledge is merely a tool. If dynamic knowledge cannot be combined with static thinking, its value may be negligible. Knowledge alone cannot distinguish humans from machines and chimpanzees; thinking is what humans excel at. Therefore, thinking is the most fundamental characteristic that distinguishes humans from machines and chimpanzees. Knowledge is for use, while thinking is the essence. All knowledge should serve the purpose of thinking. Computers and the internet, though miraculous, cannot think, so they can only serve humanity; otherwise, they are equivalent to trash. Chimpanzees, despite their superior memory, can only be controlled by humans. This principle applies equally to human society. The more freedom of thought a nation allows, the stronger its thinking ability, the more powerful the nation becomes, and the more advantageous its position in complex international competitions. Conversely, nations that do not allow free thought, such as militaristic Japan and fascist Germany, no matter how materially strong, ultimately fade into history.
The mission of education is to make people become fully realized humans. Education should naturally focus on thinking. Teaching, enlightening, and cultivating fundamentally mean teaching people to think, teaching them to see with their own eyes, judge with their own brains, and choose with their own mouths, rather than passively accepting whatever others give them or doing whatever others tell them. Using these standards to evaluate Chinese education, especially China's basic education, one cannot help but feel that it is essentially anti-educational. The seemingly endless heavy schoolbags, the seemingly never-ending long school hours, and the seemingly endlessly complex exams all point to one trend: turning humans into chimpanzees. Since this education revolves around static knowledge, the injection of static knowledge greatly limits children's thinking space, greatly reduces their playtime, and significantly deprives them of freedom and happiness.
Reducing humans to the level of chimpanzees, this sin of Chinese education, especially basic education, is nothing new. It is widely known. Yet, the widespread existence of this acknowledged sin leaves people helpless, which is truly the greatest tragedy of all.