Liu Zaifu: Rejecting the vulgar "success science"

Part I

1. There is a class of people in the world, such as Gandhi, such as Nelson Mandela, who has just died, who are tolerant of narrow-mindedness and kindness against violence. I'd like to hear what you have to say about them, especially Nelson Mandela.

A: I think Mandela is a world hero who appeared in the same realm as Gandhi in the 20th century. A few years ago, Time magazine in the United States named the three greatest figures of the 20 th century, namely Albert Einstein, Gandhi, and Roosevelt. In my opinion, two can be added, one is Tolstoy and the other is Mandela. Gandhi, Tolstoy, and Mandela had in common that they opposed the use of violence to counter violence and advocated the peaceful settlement of all disputes by non-violent and peaceful means. Philosophically, they all believe that the means are more important than the ends, and the means are more important than the ends. They do not believe that a noble, light end can be achieved by using brutal, dark means. Although Tolstoy died in 1910, his ideas and literature influenced the entire 20th century. I would also like to add that any great man can act as a "puppet of history" and have a tragedy that is "hyped". Some politicians are putting on a show in the name of Mandela.

Second, some people believe that the 21st century is the century of no more great men, so there will be no more figures like Gandhi and Mandela. Even if such a spiritual force exists, consumerism and materialism will eliminate its sublimeness. You are also critical of materialism, do you think that in the future there will be fewer and fewer such spiritual leaders?

A: It is true that consumerism and materialism cover everything in the current world, but this state does not mean that "great men are no more". In fact, any genius is an individual case, any great man is a huge existence against the tide and the trend, and any strong spiritual person is an outstanding personality who is not servitude, that is, he is a hero who can still "stand high on the top of the mountain and walk deep under the sea" in the deviation of the earth. The world is in the void, and it is also giving birth to great spiritual power. In that sense, I don't think the odds of a great spiritual leader in the future will be any less. But judging from the current situation, there is indeed a lack of big thinkers in the world. Behind the economic crisis, including Europe, is actually a crisis of humanistic thought. As far as my personal feelings are concerned, I also feel that the most terrible thing is that the eyes blinded by material things do not see any spiritual value at all, and the officials and people whose souls are seized by money do not know that there is still a "spiritual mountain" in the world. For example, my friend Gao Xingjian, whose spiritual creation itself is a high spiritual mountain, but our compatriots still dare not face it.

3. The German philosopher Cassirer believed that the characteristic of human beings is their ability to transcend facts and create an "ideal world". What is the value of the existence of an ideal world, even a utopian world, to real life and to the construction of personality? What are the common connotations of the "ideal world" in different eras?

A: So far, I have not seen any "ideal country" in the world, nor do I believe in any "ideal world", let alone a utopian world, but I think people must have "world ideals" and have some vision of the future. Freud divided people into the "id", "ego", and "superego", and this "superego" is the ideal self. Having a "superego" is a complete personality. Therefore, it can be said that ideals are necessary for the construction of a superior personality. Different eras have different world ideals, but world ideals have common connotations that transcend the times. These connotations can be expressed in the language of various disciplines. But it is indisputable that they all dream of "permanent peace" (Kant), that they all dream of the healthy survival and continuation of human beings themselves, and that all words and deeds that are beneficial to the continuation of mankind are regarded as the most fundamental good. It is precisely because human beings in different eras have the ideal realm of pursuing truth, goodness, and beauty that human society has not become the animal kingdom and the animal kingdom.

Fourth, now we often feel that life is trivial, lost, and short-term. Society is fragmented, and individuals become "individuals" only in an isolated sense. Have you gone through such a phase or observed such a state, and what does it say? What are the ideas that underpin the holistic meaning of life?

Answer: To be able to realize that "life is trivial, confused, and too short-term" is to have a mind and a soul. In fact, all kinds of great cultures and religions that can withstand thousands of years of vicissitudes are exploring the overall meaning of life, that is, why do we come to the earth once we come? What should I do when I come? What's the point of coming? I am not baptized, I am not a believer, but I respect religion. Twenty-four years ago, when I was at home, I felt an unbearable weight in my life, because at that time there was only a sense of the state and no sense of the individual; After going abroad, I experienced another unbearable lightness in my life, which was that the individual was left with an isolated individual. At this time, I realized that different cultures have their strengths and weaknesses. The strength of mainstream Chinese culture (Confucianism) is that it can bring a lot of interpersonal warmth, but its disadvantage is the lack of personal space. The American culture, although it gives me a lot of personal space, lacks the warmth of human connection. In the midst of contradictions, I have had hesitations, and I have experienced many pale and confused moments in life, but in the end, I still found the meaning of life in spiritual creation (literary writing). I feel that the meaning of existence can be fully opened up in the authentic characters that I have found. Heidegger says that existence is fully open in the presence of death. I don't think so, I think existence can also be fully open in the career. In my own case, when I was in a secular role, I often felt lost in meaning, but once I entered into writing, that is, into the real role, I was fully free, and I felt that life was very poetic. I now read all kinds of books, I understand all kinds of truths, and I try to absorb all the ideas that are beneficial to the fulfillment of the meaning of life. I use the deep ideas of various cultures to save myself and save myself, and I am not limited to a certain idea. I don't agree with some kind of authoritarian idea.

5. You once used Ji Kang's words "not unusual on the outside, not bad on the inside" to describe a beautiful personality that you admire. In Chinese culture, there are such complementary ends, Confucianism/Taoism, birth/accession, but it is almost difficult to combine into one person, in your opinion, what is the foothold to balance the two?

Answer: "The outside is not vulgar, and the inside is not bad", literally it seems to be different from the inside and outside, in fact, it is precisely about the internal and external indistinguishable, and it is precisely "the great system is not cut" ("Tao Te Ching"). This great system is the heart, or rather, the heart of great compassion. Only this kind of mind will not be self-conceiving, pretentious, and self-proclaimed in the secular society, thinking that it is "superior to others". It is only this kind of mind that can keep the bottom line of conscience, moral principles, and conduct in any environment (especially in the muddy world), and always be in what Buddhism calls "enlightenment."

Part II

6. As shown in "Les Miserables", which was released again this year, there was a long time in human society that poverty was attributed to and equated with laziness and stupidity, while ignoring institutional and social factors. Is this cognitive bias of human beings a major cause of social inequality?

Answer: There are many reasons for human misfortune, such as poverty, among which there are institutional reasons, reasons for the times, and personal reasons. Les Misérables also reveals multiple causes. The sheriff (Ah Wei) stared at Valjean, and this was a human problem, not a system problem. Of course, one of the root causes of human misfortune is the irrationality of the social system. Violent revolutions have always been attempts to change social injustice by changing the social system, so they all carry moral justice. However, the misfortune of human beings and the unfairness of society, in addition to the reasons of the system, there are also cultural reasons, and Lu Xun's greatness is to see that if China's national character (the deep structure of culture, the national presentation of human nature) is not changed, any good system will be deformed and degenerated. For example, according to the provisions of the system, the smoking steel plant should establish a filtration mechanism, but the main body in charge of the factory is "cutting corners", and the system is not strictly implemented, regardless of the life and death of others, so it causes turbidity and environmental pollution, which is a human problem, that is, a cultural problem.

7. Among the equality that the system is committed to, there is equality of starting point, equality of opportunity, and equality of results. Could you please analyze what kind of concept is equality in modern society closer to? What is the modern understanding of such a problem as poverty?

A: I don't believe in equality of results, I just want equal opportunities. It would be nice to have "equal opportunities" in modern society. Before and after the May Fourth New Culture Movement, we accepted the Western idea of "equality," but there were deviations. In fact, economic equality, equality of results, is impossible to achieve. Distribution according to work, distribution according to need, is an eternal utopia. When we talk about equality, we mainly mean equality in personality and in spirit. The core idea of a "modern society" like Hong Kong is freedom, not equality, but "freedom" must also be accompanied by "limitation" and the rule of law. The "free port" is also a port governed by the rule of law. Hong Kong is also facing the problem of social poverty, and the so-called confronting it is not to solve it fundamentally, but only to adjust it, that is, to adjust social inequality to the lowest possible extent. The only "equality" that can be achieved in Hong Kong is "equality of opportunity".

8. Let's talk about equality of personality. Wittgenstein said that his attitude towards a person was an attitude towards a soul. Is the idea of equality based on the same observation or philosophy? Modern society is considered materialistic, "fetishistic", are you pessimistic about the future?

Answer: Wittgenstein said that his attitude towards a person is an attitude towards a soul. It is this philosophy that is at the heart of equality. It is the essence of equality to regard every living individual as a dignified and valuable individual, and as an inviolable unit of the soul. With this idea, democracy has a premise. The current society only values the material and not the soul, and has produced many people who only have the body but no soul, and this kind of person is exactly what the ancient mainland thinker Wenzi called the "flesh man". I criticized "meat people" in "25 Kinds of Humans". The result of money fetishism will lead to the "flesh-humanization" of humanity. It's a very scary prospect.

9. "Snobbery" is a bias based on successology, whether it is economic or rights. Beyond snobbery, does that mean we need to change our understanding of success?

A: What does it mean to be "successful"? How do you define "success"? This in itself is a big problem. I despise the vulgar "success science" that uses the level of power and the amount of wealth as the yardstick. Excuse me, was Zhuangzi a success or a failure? Was Tao Yuanming a success or a failure? Was Cao Xueqin a success or a failure? In my mind, these geniuses, these great wise men are all epoch-making successes, and their lives have been in poverty, or even "broken down". In today's China, it is a huge mistake to bring the laurels of the successful to the powerful and the nouveau riche, and it is also an extremely vulgar value. The real success is the one who has created achievements (including wealth performance and political performance) and used those achievements to change the environment and improve the world of human education. Those who have great wealth and use it for eating, drinking, prostituting and gambling are still losers in life.

10. When searching for spiritual solutions, you place your trust in "childlike innocence" and your simple kindness to the world and others. However, in our pursuit of the system and the reconciliation of the relationship, there are often many considerations for interests, how to balance the two?

A: For the soul, there can only be the expectation of "continuous growth", and there is no "solution". When I talk about childlike innocence, I want to jump out of the net of interest relations, out of the fashionable value framework, and even out of the encirclement of various dogmas and concepts. Childlike innocence and fame and fortune can never be reconciled, and glory and wealth can never be balanced. Childlike innocence is precisely to break the temptation of all interests. When I talk about childlike innocence, it is only for self-help, it has no power to change others and change the world.