中國人蔵在心底裏的最大羞愧 2: 中國人不探險,怕到了天邊會掉下去。
please also read 中國人蔵在心底裏的最大羞愧 1

大家好, 先請大家看段 history channel 的曆史片: 鄭 和 (http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_47147e9e01000bxo.html)
解說:
公元1406年1月,軍旗獵獵,號角齊鳴,龐大的艦隊滿載著28000名將士及大量金銀、瓷器、鐵器、銅器、布匹、穀物和珍寶,正式起錨,在皇帝的注視下和當地民眾的狂歡中出發,在強大的東北信風的推動下,開始了向東南亞、印度、非洲和中東的遠征。
那時的中國人認為大地是方的,而天空則像一個半球形的蓋子罩住了大地。像所有的中國人一樣,鄭和接受了傳統的“天圓地方”學說。但這個學說並沒有具體描述大地與海洋的起點和終點。在皇帝的支持下,鄭和堅持要走向大地和天空的盡頭。但他並不知道,在波濤洶湧的海平線後麵究竟隱藏著什麽?是黑暗而巨大的深淵,還是一片從天上弧形下垂的硬殼?船員們甚至懷疑走到天邊會不會掉下去?
在 中國人蔵在心底裏的最大羞愧 1 裏, 我們談到希臘人早在公元前幾百年就把地球周長測量計算出來了, 好奇者禁不住會問: 膽大包天,他們就不怕地球底下的人掉下去?
拜讀了Aristotle (384 – 322 BC)的巨著 Physics 後, 我不禁感歎萬千。 可謂天壤之別啊!感歎的不僅是其觀點, (是人都能想像,都有觀點),而是人家的嚴謹的推理,大量的分析和討論,全書10萬來字。拜讀他的 Physics 時,不禁想起 Euclid(300 BC) 的幾何(Elements) 我們至今還在學, 估計將來永遠都要學。
Greek 為啥不怕走到天邊會掉下去呢? Aristotle 認為地球上的一切均由4 種要素(element)組成: 地,水,氣, 火。 並提出了 ‘place’ 這一概念。 每一要素有其 ‘place’。 地的 ‘place’ 最近地球中心,水在地之上,氣在水之上,火在氣之上。 ‘上’ 為離開地心之方向, ‘下’ 為衝地心也。地底下的人是往地心上掉的, 是上來, 非掉 ‘下去’ 也。
Aristotle 的 ‘place’ 概念為後來的 gravity 奠定了基礎。下文是 Aristotle 對 ‘上’ 和 ‘下’ 的理解:
Further, the typical locomotions of the elementary natural bodies-namely, fire, earth, and the like-show not only that place is something, but also that it exerts a certain influence. Each is carried to its own place, if it is not hindered, the one up, the other down. Now these are regions or kinds of place-up and down and the rest of the six directions. Nor do such distinctions (up and down and right and left, &c.) hold only in relation to us. To us they are not always the same but change with the direction in which we are turned: that is why the same thing may be both right and left, up and down, before and behind. But in nature each is distinct, taken apart by itself. It is not every chance direction which is 'up', but where fire and what is light are carried; similarly, too, 'down' is not any chance direction but where what has weight and what is made of earth are carried-the implication being that these places do not differ merely in relative position, but also as possessing distinct potencies.
想拜讀全書者, 請看:http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/physics.4.iv.html
這些 Greek,怎麽不幹正事,真的吃飽飯沒事撐的,花那麽大的精力捉摸這些不著邊際的玩意兒。相比之下,咱老中對世界的理解就好像小孩般的幼稚。好像沒有過什麽探討,隻有對未知的恐懼和冷漠。
咱們和 Greek 這些差別原因在哪裏呢? 能怪誰嗎? 請大家討論。
目的?我想會有助於對咱們這個民族(或人種)看得更清楚些。
===================== 博文發表後加的 ======================
剛出國時中國還很落後,自己也不敢或不願去麵對現實去探討中國人。別人一說中國人這樣那樣,自己馬上變得defensive, 現在國強民富了,自己的閱曆也豐富一些,就變得勇敢點了。
認識一個民族是相當複雜的問題。我選擇從中國人的地球觀入手,目的就是簡化問題,使我能從一個側麵分析中國人或中國文化。
不管怎樣給自已貼標圈,咱們不能抹掉這個現實:咱們對周邊世界(地球)的認識象小孩子一樣:幼稚可笑;對這個世界(地球)的好奇卻象百年老翁:顧不過來。
讓我特別關心的不是地球的方或圓,而是:做為一個文化“博大精深”的民族,咱們對腳下踩著的土地是什麽東西怎麽會如此的冷莫?真的不擔心走到天邊時會掉下去?
怎麽連這點好奇心都沒有?
請大家從這個角度想一想好嗎?謝謝。謝謝。
無知無為是純粹的中國人。
謝謝二位,你們顯然都是各自領域裏的專家。Wish to hear a lot more from you both. "A brief history of time" is indeed very difficult to read and few people will enjoy reading it, but it does make it a bit easier to understand the concepts of space, time, and relativity. But let's not hasten to make a judgement on the book.
我到現在,沒有聽到任何一位在國內的親戚朋友提到這本書。
古代和現在,沒有任何本質區別。do not waste your time anymore.
柏拉圖、歐幾裏得屬於西方哲學的鼻祖,西方哲學主體上就是超自然學(形而上學),其本質就是神學。在人文(不是科學)方麵的應用是很危害的,能看透他本質的隻可能是局外人,你以後也許明白我在說什麽。
就你博文而言,不要混淆了文化和科學。文化隻有不同沒有先進落後之分;科學隻是工具,必須得由價值觀指導,而價值觀則來自一個文化的核心,哲學或宗教。
你是這個文化垃圾站鮮有好學的國人,建議你上thegreatcousres.com買幾門課係統地聽聽?
'無知無為',
I am enormously interested in why the 'TMD' (笑)Greek would be thinking about what the earth was and how the universal worked as a system, and Aristotle even discussed the concept of 'Time'. Space and Time? Come on! It would matter little, or not at all, if the earth was flat or square in those early days. What would cause them even to think about such things? Also the Euclid geometry was so perfect and correct that it still stands true after 2300 years. What caused them to study geometry to such a great depth, which was totally impractical, and absolutely useless, in those days. 能當飯吃啊?
I hope you understand why I am asking such questions, out of shear curiosity. As you said 有點二百五精神. 謝謝。
謝謝你的鼓勵。 我不再為自己是中國人自卑了。 剩下的最大自卑就隻有這個了。I know you are an Greek expert. Please help me in my struggle in seeking an answer to my question. It is really an academic exercise for me, no emotion attached, definitely not a national pride thing for me. Thank you. 謝謝
I am not yet able to comment on your view, which I think is incredibly interesting, and I truly wish you can write more about it. I will be the very first one to read it.
Thank you for sharing.
使用漢字 --〉對發音的簡單處理 --〉 一音多字以及詞組局限在2字 --〉 口頭交流成問題 --〉口頭交流局限於更少量漢字(發音容易被區別出的漢字)--〉思維停留在低級層次 (沒有人與人的會話交流了,如何提高思維?)
謝謝您的評論。
剛出國時中國還很落後,自己也不敢或不願去麵對現實去探討中國人。別人一說中國人這樣那樣,自己馬上變得defensive,
現現國強民富了,自己的閱曆也豐富一些,就變得勇敢了。認識一個民族是相當複雜的問題。我選擇從中國人的地球觀入手,目的就是簡化問題,使我能從一個側麵分析中國人或中國文化。
不管怎樣給自已貼標圈,咱們不能抹掉這個現實:咱們對周邊世界的認識象小孩子一樣:幼稚可笑;對這個世界的好奇卻象百年老翁:顧不過來。
讓我特別關心的不是地球的方或圓,而是:做為一個文化“博大精深”的民族,咱們對腳下踩著的土地是什麽東西怎麽會如此的冷莫?真的不擔心走到天邊時會掉下去?怎麽連這點好奇心都沒有?