为什么中国长期在科学领域少有重大建树

 为什么中国长期在医学创新领域少有重大建树?第三部分社会心理学与进化心理学视角

香港中文大学 王毅翔 英文版 原文

香港中文大学 王毅翔 西安长安大学 徐志刚 中文版  翻译

 

引言

In our recentsurvey, we documented that China is currently underperforming in medicalinnovation (1-3). From social psychology and evolutionary psychologyperspectives, in this editorial I put forward some plausible reasons topartially explain why current China is disadvantaged in science and technologyinnovation, and also why China produced few polymaths.在我们最近的调查中,我们发现中国在医学创新领域表现不佳。从社会心理学和进化心理学的视角,本社论列出了一些可能的原因,部分解释中国为何在科学与技术创新领域处于落后位置,也解释了中国为何很少产生国际级的大师.

1. Aristotelian principle: the ‘flow’ 1.亚里斯多德原理

Intrinsic motivation is the drive to engage in a task because it isinteresting, enjoyable, or positively challenging. In 1943 psychologist AbrahamMaslow [1908-1970] introduced the concept that lowest level of human needs isprimitive: food, water, shelter, sex (4). Once those needs are satisfied, thehuman try to satisfy a sequence of other inborn needs. The need for longer termsafety follows the need for day-to-day survival, then comes a need for intimacywith other people, then the need for recognition and respect from others, andfinally self-actualization (4). The Aristotelian principle as explained byphilosopher John Rawls [1921-2002] is that other things equal, human beingsenjoy the exercise of their realized capacities (their innate or trainedabilities), and this enjoyment increases the more the capacity is realized, orthe greater its complexity.

page 458].

内在动机是驱使人类从事创新活动的原始动力,因为创新是如此有趣,令人愉悦或者富有挑战性。中国传统文化将衣、食、住、行归结为人的最基本生活需求,而西方心理学家亚伯拉罕·马斯洛[1908-1970]则总结得更直接、更彻底,认为食物、水、避身之所、性生活是人类最低生活需求。一旦这四项需求得到满足后,人类就会追逐其他的与生俱来的更高层次的需求,首先是每天的一日三餐能得到保证,再次能有一份稳定的工作和安全保障,进一步能有自己的社会圈子,都得到满足后,就会追逐一定的社会地位,受到别人的承认和尊重,最后就是完全实现自我价值,甚至悯从心生,达济天下了。哲学家约翰·罗尔斯 [JohnRawls 19212002]对于亚里士多德的原则进行了解释:在相同条件下,人类超级享受其自身能力能够得以实现或者展现(不管这种能是天生的还是经过训练出来的),这种能力如果越复杂,或者越具有挑战性,那么具备这些能力的人的享受程度越高。这就不难解释为何春秋战国时代,各地方士不惜冒着掉脑袋的风险,东奔西走、四处进谏以实现自己的谋略了。

In the early 1970s, psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi studied thenature of enjoyment by interviewing people who spent long hours and intenseeffort on activities that had little monetary reward, rock climbers, chessplayers, amateur modern dancers, and high school basketball players. Why didthey invest so much of themselves in these activities? What did they get out ofthem? Csikszentmihalyi published a series of documents elaborating the data andthe theory that now goes under the label of flow (5-7). Flow ishuman enjoyment in its most meaningful form. Human beings enjoy the exercise oftheir realized capacities. Harry Harlow [1905-1981] also showed that monkeyswould repeatedly solve mechanical puzzles despite the absence of food or otherextrinsic rewards (8). Humans persistently exhibited tendencies to enjoy thestimulation of new things, complexity, surprises, even in the absence of anyperceptible external reinforcement.

在上个世纪70年代初期,心理学家Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi 采访了大量我们认为是苦行僧的人,如:攀岩手、职业棋手、现代舞爱好者、校队篮球运动员等,他们在没有任何金钱奖励的情况下,却投入大量时间和精力在他们喜欢的事情上。他们为何如此痴迷地投入?他们收获了什么?Csikszentmihalyi发表了一系列的文献,详细阐述了他获得的数据和由此推演出的理论,并将该理论称之为 “flow(流)” ( 5-7)flow是人类享受中最有意义的形式。人类极其享受其已有能力的不断训练、提高和实现,这就能解释为什么运动员能近乎狂热地投入到枯燥的训练中去(也能解释为什么我们科学工作者总是愿意在自己擅长的领域来回倒腾文章)。Harry Harlow [1905-1981]的动物实验也表明,猴子在没有食物或其他外在诱惑报酬的条件下,也会三番五次地完成机械拼图 (8).在没有任何可察觉的外部诱惑下,人类也持续地表现出享受发现新事物、了解到事物的复杂性、发现意外惊奇等刺激的倾向。

The pursuit of excellence is as natural as the pursuit of happiness, asMurray noted: ‘The genius…in the way they did their work, they more commonlyresembled a craftsman at his bench, struggling to get it right, agonizing overmistakes, doing it over again, with a vision of perfection insistently pullinghim onward’ [(9),

追逐优秀就像追逐幸福一样自然,Murray 提到,天才从事他们工作的时候,他们更像坐在冷板凳上的匠人,精益求精地对待自己的作品,苦闷地面对各种失败,反复琢磨,止于至善的目标拖拽着他们一点一点儿地接近心中近乎完美的作品

Abraham Flexner, the founding Director of the Institute for AdvancedStudy at Princeton, USA, wrote (10): ‘While practical benefits often resultfrom pure academic research at the most fundamental level, such benefits arenot guaranteed and cannot be predicted; nor need they be seen as the ultimategoal. Ventures into unknown territory inevitably involve an element of risk,and scientists and scholars are rarely motivated by the thought of an endproduct. Rather, they are moved by a creative curiosity that is the hallmark ofacademic inquiry’.

 Abraham Flexner, 普林斯顿高等研究院的创始院长曾经写道,我们生活中享受的各种技术进步和应用经常来自于最原始水平的纯科学研究,但这些收获在进行学术研究时是没有保证要产出的,甚至是不可预测的副产物,当然它们也不应该作为纯科学研究的最终目标。闯入未知领域的探险不可避免地会涉及到风险,纯科学家和学者们很少将发明一种最终产品作为研究动机,他们只会被自己的好奇心去驱动,这才是学术探索的真谛!

Also according to Schoenberg [1874-1951], an Austrian composer andpainter, and the leader of the Second Viennese School (11): ‘Those who composebecause they want to please others, and have audiences in mind, are not realartists. They are not the kind of men who are driven to say something whetheror not there exists one person who likes it, even if they themselves dislikeit. They are more or less skillful entertainers who would renounce composing ifthey did not find listeners’.

另据Schoenberg[1874-1951],奥地利作曲家和画家,第二维也纳学派领袖人物(11)指出:真正的艺术家有内在的驱动,不管有没有人喜欢他们的作品,他们绝不会为赋新词强说愁。而那些为取悦他人而作曲的人,那些头脑中只有观众的人,不是真正的艺术家。他们只是技巧娴熟的娱乐工作者,如果他们没有找到听众,他们可能会放弃创作

Following the economic successes of China of recent decades, there is atendency that her citizens, including the potentially creative minority, arebeing more attracted to materialism, while there is less idealism andromanticism. This does not help China to produce high quality science.

 随着中国近几十年来的经济的飞速发展,其公民,包括具有潜在创造力的少数人,正在被物质主义吸引和侵蚀,而理想主义和浪漫主义者则被视为异类,人群之中他们的声音越来微弱,这极其不利于中国高品质科学的产出。

 

2.Reward and motivation2.奖励与动机

The controversy over rewards has a long intellectual history (12-14).Jean-Jacques Rousseau [1712-1778] argued that if a person gets an externalreward for doing something, like money, after a while this person comes to seethe activity merely as a means to an end, rather than as an opportunity forenjoyment or exploration. Many studies find that those who are rewarded seem towork harder and produce more activity, but the product is of a lower quality,contains more errors and is less creative than the work of comparablenon-rewarded subjects working on the same problem (12,15). To offer a materialreward such as money, or try to link the task with something intrinsically moreinteresting typify the motivational strategies used by administrator, managers,teachers and parents worldwide. But psychological research now showed, if notused properly, these tactics might reduce motivation in the long term (16).

关于奖励,在知识分子界有着长期的争议,卢梭认为一个人如果是为了获得物质奖励而做某事,如:金钱。长此以往,他就会将此事仅仅当作获利的工具,而不是当作享受和探险的机会。很多研究表明,那些为了获得奖励的人似乎会更加努力的工作并且更加多产,但是他们的作品大多滥竽充数,甚至错误百出,针对同一问题,在可比条件下,其作品的创造性往往次于那些并非为奖励所驱动的工作。提供金钱奖励、或者将完成枯燥任务与有趣的事挂钩,是世界上大多数管理者、经理人、教师、家长激励下属的惯用伎俩,也得到普遍承认。但是心理学家认为,这种策略如果使用不当,往往会产生副作用,从长期来看,会降低人们做事情的内在动机。

In the 1970s experiments first appeared in which people were presentedwith an interesting task like playing games, creating art or solving puzzlesfor which they received various rewards, ranging from money, sweets and goldstars to praise. The control group performed the activity without receiving anyreward at all. Both groups were then observed during a non-reward period inwhich they were free to continue performing the task or to engage in somealternative activity. It was repeatedly found that rewarding people stoppedthem continuing to do a task when no reward was available. This experiment hassince been replicated many times, with numerous variations in design and intypes of subjects (17-23). It seemed the external reward changed theirmotivation from doing a task because they enjoyed it to doing it only for thereward. Being offered an extrinsic reward seems to ‘crowd out’ intrinsicmotivations (12). Persons who are paid to solve problems typically chooseeasier ones than those who do not expect any payment (24). Particularlynegative effects are found on high-interest tasks when the rewards aretangible, expected (offered beforehand), and loosely tied to level ofperformance (25). Similarly, Murray augured that rewards may lead to morequantity of the work, but not high quality work, and also monetary award doesnot lead to excellence [(9), page 105].

   上世纪70年代,心理学家做了一组非常有趣的心理学实验。将被测试人员分为AB两组,在第一阶段,AB两组的被测人员同时从事一些有趣的活动(如:如玩游戏、艺术创作、完成拼图等),对于A组的赢者给予各种物质奖励,如金钱、糖果、甚至小星星贴纸等。对于B组则什么奖励都没有。第二阶段,对于AB两组,什么奖励都不给,让他们自由地从事他们自己感兴趣的活动。经过重复试验,心理学家发现了一个有趣的现象,就是在没有奖励时,一旦宣布活动结束时,A组的试验者会立即停止手中的活动,而B组的试验者则有的会因为兴趣而放不下手中的活动。这个实验被重复了很多次,并对实验设计和实验对象进行了调整,但是得到的结论几乎是惊人的一致,即:外部奖励似乎将人们喜欢从事某活动的内在动机转移到了追逐奖励本身,外在动机有时会'排挤'内在动机(12)

    为了报酬而解决问题的人与那些不计回报的人相比,他们往往会挑选容易的题目来做。负面影响特变容易产生于与兴趣高度相关的项目(如:科研、艺术创作等),预期的有形物质奖励或者提前支付的报酬,是与项目完成的质量松散相关的(25).同时,Murray还指出奖励可能会导致工作“量”的增加,但不会导致工作“质”的提高,同时金钱奖励很少能催生出卓越性的工作 [参考文献9,第105页]

The ‘show me the money’ theory is based on the negative view of humancharacter that contends we only do things because of the monetary reward (12).Then inevitably people demand more and more cash, in order to do less and less.The other major problem with this approach is many members naturally becomeresentful of their lack of financial reward compared to those they see unfairlyreaping the benefits of ‘show me the money’ (12).

     'Show me the money(无利不起早)'理论是建立在人的负面性格的基础上,即主张人们做事情只是为了金钱奖励.这样会导致人们追逐利益最大化,即做最少的工作,而获得最大的利益。这种风气一个严重弊端就是:拿正常报酬踏实做事的人会觉得自己非常吃亏,因为基于无利不起早的人收获更多,正常人也会逐渐加入制造垃圾的行列。

Intrinsic motivation is a precious thing to be nurtured and often mightget snuffed out by external rewards (12). The reason why we pursue scientifictruth is out of curiosity, and also sometime to gain respect from those aroundus. The materialism awards and promotions currently abundant in current Chineseacademia, such as the monetary award with linkage to the number of publicationor journal impact factor or other rankings, will likely discourage China toproduce high quality science. The recent Lancet editorial (26) suggested thatcurrent huge investments in biomedical research will not translate into newdiscoveries or more reliable medical evidence without a sea change in China’scurrent research culture.
    
内在动机是一件非常宝贵的东西,它需要长期培育和呵护,但是很容易被外部奖励给掐灭。我们追求科学真理的原始动力往往是处于好奇心,或者得到周围人的尊重。但是当前中国学术界泛滥使用的物质主义奖励(如:根据发表论文数量、影响因子点数或者学术排名)似乎不可能让中国产出高质量的科研成果。最近《柳叶刀》杂志的社论指出中国如果当前的科研文化没有一个彻底的改变,中国当前在生物医学领域的巨大投资似乎不可能催生出新的重大发现。

3.Evolutionary psychology 3.进化心理学视角

Evolutionary psychology showed that many human drives can’t really beunderstood as ways people maximize their well-being in their own lifetimes, butcan only be interpreted as adaptations to survival and reproduction in anancestral environment (27). Natural selection refers to differential survivalor reproduction of one genotype vs. others in a population leading to changesin the gene frequencies of the population. Referred to as the ‘Baldwinevolution’, Baldwin [1861-1934] expressed the idea that, under some conditions,learned behaviors can affect the direction and rate of the evolutionary changeby natural selection (28). If this selection pressure continues in successivegenerations, the originally learned innovation or practice or culture caneventually come under genetic control and thus become a candidate for naturalselection.

进化生物学表明,许多人类的内在驱动不能理解为人类在生命周期内为自己追逐最大限度的幸福 , 而只能解释为人类为了在祖先创造的环境里继续生存和繁殖而做出的适应 (27). 自然选择是指一个群体中某一个基因型与其他基因型发生差异化的生存或繁殖,导致该基因型在群体中的基因频率发生变化。 ' Baldwin进化理论’(由Baldwin  [1861至1934年] 提出)表达了这样的想法,在某些条件下,通过学习而得到行为可以通过自然选择 影响到种群进化的方向和速度  (28)。如果这种自然选择的压力在几代人身上持续保留,那么原来需要通过练习而学会的创新、技能和文化最终由基因控制直接遗传给下一代(这就能解释俗话中“龙生龙,凤生凤,黄鼠狼的儿子会打洞”), 这种改变的基因从而成为自然选择的一个候选因素。

Importantly, Theodosius Dobzhansky [1900-1975] discovered that mutationswhich could be harmless could create variability far greater than anyone hadpreviously imagined. He showed that, due to random mutation, fruit flies of thesame species became quite distinct (29). Dobzhansky’s work was instrumental inspreading the idea that it is through mutations in genes that natural selectiontakes place. In addition, evolutionary biologist Richard Lewontin developed the‘niche construction theory’. It emphasizes an even closer and more imbeddedrelation between the environment and organisms. Lewontin argued that organismsare not passive receivers of environmental influences but are activeconstructers of its environment (30). Richard Dawkins further argue thatculture and technology are simply extended phenotypes (31). Like beavers’ damsor groundhogs’ underground tunnels, the human culture is the result of geneschanging the environments of their hosts, i.e., organisms who are genes’vehicles. Thus, the modified environments such as society, culture, andtechnology are extended phenotypes (31,32).

TheodosiusDobzhansky [1900-1975] 的重要发现是,无害的基因突变可能产生的物种多样性,远远大于以前任何人的想象。他指出,由于随机突变,同种果蝇的可以通过基因突变变成截然不同的种类(29)。Dobzhansky 的工作对于传播“自然选择通过基因突变而发生“的理念发挥了主导作用。此外,进化生物学家Richard Lewontin提出了“niche constructiontheory(小生境构造理论)”。此理论强调环境和生物体之间的更紧密、更有机关联的关系。Lewontin认为生物体不仅是环境影响的被动接受者,同时还是其环境的积极建设者 (30) 

The value of creativity in the arts, sciences, technology, and politicalendeavors is immense. Some researchers argued that creativity constitutehumankind’s ultimate resource (41). Social and technical innovation reliesheavily on creative people (42). While it is largely acknowledged thatintelligence (primarily measured by IQ) and creativity [primarily measureddivergent thinking (DT)] are related, the exact nature of their interplay isstill under debate (41). Psychologist Joy Guilford [1897-1987] found a positivelinear relationship in the lower to average IQ range while there was nocorrelation at above-average levels of intelligence (43). Above-averageintelligence is thought to form a necessary but not a sufficient condition forhigh creativity. More specifically, it is assumed that there exists a thresholdin intelligence which is usually set to an IQ of 120 (44,45).

RichardDawkins 进一步认为,文化和技术只是自然选择的扩展表型(31)。就像不同地方的海狸都会修水坝或土拨鼠都会打地洞一样,这中技巧是生成环境造就的,不一定是从一地传播到另一地的。该理论还认为:人类文化是基因改变其宿主环境的过程,生物体只是基因的载运工具。因此,改变的环境诸如社会、文化和技术都是扩展表型。

One typical case of strong and recent natural selection is the uniquedemography and sociology of Ashkenazi Jews in medieval Europe selected for highintelligence (33). Ashkenazi Jews have the highest average intelligencequotient (IQ) of any ethnic group. They are overrepresented in fields with thehigh cognitive demands. During the 20th century, they made up about 3% of theUS population but won 27% of the US Nobel science prizes and 25% of the ACMTuring awards. They account for more than half of world chess champions (33).Another intriguing aspect is the story in Russia during 1870-1950. Russia droveout a large portion of its Jewish population, and persecuted the ones whoremained. And despite all that, Jews are over-represented among Russian significantfigures in sciences and humanity by a ratio of 4:1 during this period [(9),page 281]. However, in pre- Diaspora times, the Jews did not occupy an unusualecological niche nor did they yet exhibit unusual cognitive traits. Most Jewsthen were then farmers, just as in nearly all settled populations, and theymust have experienced evolutionary pressures similar to those experienced byother peoples of the region. There was also no elevation of intelligenceobserved among Sephardic and Oriental Jews today (34-37). Ashkenazimexperienced unusual selective pressures in medieval Europe that favoredincreased intelligence.

自然选择的一个最近而典型的案例就是欧系犹太人(Ashkenazi Jews)在中世纪的欧洲通过自然选择而进化出的独特人口和社会结构和高智商(33)。Ashkenazi 犹太人 有比任何族群的都高的平均智商。他们在有需要高认知要求的领域内表现非常突出。在20世纪,犹太人只约占美国人口的3%,却夺得了美国获得诺贝尔科学奖的27%和ACM图灵奖的25%。世界一半以上的国际象棋世界冠军(33)都是犹太裔。另一个令人困惑的事实是:在1870-1950期间,俄罗斯驱逐了它犹太人人口中的很大一部分,并继续迫害留在俄罗斯的犹太人。即便这样,这段时间在科学和人文方面的杰出俄罗斯人物中,犹太裔仍然超过平均值的4倍 [(9),第281页]。然而在犹太人遣散居住以前的时代,犹太人并没有不寻常的社会生态,他们也没有表现出不同寻常的认知能力。大多数犹太人当时是农民,与其他定居民族无异。他们一定是遭受了进化压力,类似于相同地区内其他民族遭受的来自于异族的压力。另外,现在居在于中东和北非的犹太人(Sephardic and OrientalJews)并没有发现特别高的认知能力 (34-37). Ashkenazi 犹太人经历了中世纪的欧洲不寻常的选择性生存压力,有助于提高他们的智力。

There was an increase in the frequency of particular genes that elevatedintelligence as a by-product of this selective regime, which in the meantimeled to an increased incidence of hereditary disorders (33). Another trade-offis that Ashkenazim has relatively low spatio-visual ability, and they wouldmost likely suffer competitive disadvantage as hunter-gatherers, for example(33).

经过环境生成压力后,一些特殊基因的出现频率会增加,智力提升是这种自然选择机制的产物。另外一个折衷,欧系犹太人的空间-视觉能力相对较低,在游牧环境可能显示一定是竞争劣势。

A similar phenomenon can be found in India. The Parsi is an endogamousgroup with high levels of economic achievement, a history of long-distancetrading, business and management. They descend from a group of Zoroastriansfrom Great Persia who migrated to India during the 8th or 10th century to avoidpersecution by Muslim invaders. The Parsis have made considerable contributionsto the history and development of India, all the more remarkable consideringtheir small numbers (constituting only 0.006% of the total population ofIndia). India’s ruling Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, which has dominated the CongressParty since independence was created when Feroze Gandhi (a Parsi with ancestralroots in Bharuch) married the then Indira Nehru. Ratan Tata, India’s mostsuccessful industrialist and owner of Jaguar Land Rover and Corus Steel, thelate Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, India’s most celebrated soldier, and theacclaimed novelist Rohinton Mistry are all Parsis (38-40).

同样的案列还在印度被发现,印度帕西族(Parsi ,又称印度拜火教徒)与其他民族相比具有高水平的经济成就,该民族拥有一段长期从事长途贸易,商业和管理的历史。他们是Zoroastrian(琐罗亚斯德教徒)一个分支的后裔,在第8或第10世纪,因受到穆斯林入侵者的迫害,被迫从大波斯帝国迁徙到印度帕西族人对印度的历史和发展做出了巨大的贡献,如果考虑到他们在印度总人口中只占极小的比列(0.006%),他们的卓越简直不可想象。在印度长期执政的尼赫鲁-甘地王朝,自印度独立以来,长期占据国大党重要席位。国大党由费罗兹·甘地(与圣雄甘地无关)创建,他本人就是一位祖先发根于巴鲁奇的帕西族人,后来他娶了当时地位显赫的尼赫鲁家族的英迪拉·尼赫鲁小姐,从此两个家族在印度呼风唤雨将近50年;Ratan Tata(塔塔)是印度最成功的实业家,是捷豹路虎和Corus 康力斯钢铁集团的老板;印度陆军元帅萨姆·马内克肖、印度最有名望的士兵,以及印度著名小说家Rohinton Mistry都是帕西族人(38-40)。

Thevalue of creativity in the arts, sciences, technology, and political endeavorsis immense. Some researchers argued that creativity constitute humankind’sultimate resource (41). Social and technical innovation relies heavily oncreative people (42). While it is largely acknowledged that intelligence(primarily measured by IQ) and creativity [primarily measured divergentthinking (DT)] are related, the exact nature of their interplay is still underdebate (41). Psychologist Joy Guilford [1897-1987] found a positive linearrelationship in the lower to average IQ range while there was no correlation atabove-average levels of intelligence (43). Above-average intelligence isthought to form a necessary but not a sufficient condition for high creativity.More specifically, it is assumed that there exists a threshold in intelligencewhich is usually set to an IQ of 120 (44,45).

创造力 (creativity) 在艺术、科学、技术和政治等方面的价值巨大。一些研究者认为创造力将会是人类的终极资源 (41).  社会和技术创新在很大程度上依赖于有创造力的人(42).虽然很大程度上智商(主要由IQ测量)和创造性 [主要由divergent thinking发散性思维 (DT)测量]相关但它们的确切相互作用仍具有争议(41).  心理学家Joy Guilford [1897-1987]  发现在较低到平均智商范围内智商与创造性成正线性关系,但当智商高于平均水平时,则二者无相关性(43). 高于平均水平的智商被认为是形成高度创造力的一个必要条件,但不是充分条件。更具体地说,通常认为IQ=120 为具有很好创造力的阈值(44,45).

The issue of East Asian ‘creativity problem’ has been highly debated(46-49). Some argue that the ideographic Asian languages curb abstract thinkingand creativity among Asians (48). Others point out that Asian cultures devalueand discourage critical thinking (9). Chang et al. proposed that East-Westcultural differences (e.g., independent vs. interdependent self-construal;autonomy vs. harmony in values; hierarchical vs. egalitarian relationships)could result from social learning and individual learning as primary means toadapt to the local environment (50).

东亚人的创造力问题一直是一个备受争议的议题(46-49)。有人认为表意的亚洲语言遏制了亚洲人(48)的抽象思维和创造力。其他人指出,亚洲文化贬值,阻碍批判性思维(9)。 Chang等人提出了东西方文化的差异(例如,独立vs.相互依赖的自我构念,自治性vs.价值观和谐相处,自由平等vs.等级制度)可能是造成社会(群体)学习个人学习为主要手段,以适应当地的环境(50 )。

When theenvironment is relatively stable either vertically or horizontally, copying ismore effective and efficient than the individual learning of trial and error.If the environment changes rapidly, either vertically, from one generation or cohortto another, or horizontally, due to migration among habitats, copying of anexisting adaptive behavior might not be adaptive to the changing environment.Individual learning is needed to match adaptive behaviors to the changingenvironment. Individual learning is less efficient than social learning, andtrial and error takes up more time, energy, and brain power.

当环境在时间和空间序列中相对稳定的时候,与不断试错的个人学习相比,山寨别人是非常有效并且高效率的。如果环境发生迅速改变,无论是时间上(从一代到下一代),还是空间上的(外族移入),山寨一个现有的行为可能适应不了正在改变的环境。此时需要通过个人学习来针对环境改变匹配自适应行为。个人学习的效率要低于群体学习,因为不断地试错会占用时间、经历和脑力。

Historicaland contemporary evidence showed that indicates smaller extents ofenvironmental variability in China than in Europe, favoring social learning inthe East and individual learning in Europe (50). Corresponding to thesedifferent adaptive strategies, East-West differences stem from learning stylesthat differ between copying and rote memorization, on the one hand, andcritical thinking and innovative problem solving, on the other hand. Easterncultures also encourage conformity and compliance and social hierarchy all ofwhich facilitate social learning and Western cultures encourage independence,self-assertion, and personal pursuit of interest which enable individuallearning or innovation.

历史和当代证据表明:中国历史上的环境突变次数要少于欧洲,导致了东方倾向社会学习,而欧洲倾向个人学习。东西方文化差异导致学习方式产生很大的不同,东方倾向于山寨和死记硬背,西方在倾向于批判思维,创新的解决问题。除此之外,东方文化鼓励一致性、顺从和等级制度将促进群体学习的。而西方文化鼓励独立、自我主张和追逐个人兴趣则有利于个人学习和创新。

Thedifferences between today’s Asians and Westerners can be due to the differentenvironments after humans left Africa. Climatic change in terms ofglacial-interglacial variations, seasonal fluctuations, and changes due tonatural disasters create pressure for phenotypic plasticity of cognitivesystems (51).

今天的亚洲人和西方人之间的差异可能是由于人类离开非洲后不同的环境造成的。在冰期 - 间冰期的气候条件变化变化,季节性波动,以及因自然灾害导致的变化都会造成压力导致人类认知系统(51)的表型可塑性。

Socialdynamics represents a source of environmental variability by generatingunpredictable social situations which would favor the evolution of plasticityof the brain (52). Cooperation, competition, and coalition among humans exertthe strongest pressure on brain development (53,54). Cultural adaptations andthe gene-driven cognitive adaptations act together rather than separately (32).Some authors argue that ‘an individual’s position on this continuum (of socialvs. asocial learning) is a genetically heritable trait’ (55), or that ‘Which(learning) strategy is used is genetically determined for each individual’(56). It is noted that Asian students grown up in the west retain some of thebehavioral traits of the East culture (50). Chinese students grown up in thewest tends to do well in primary and secondary schools which use more sociallearning style, but not necessarily in university which more requiresindividual learning (57,58). Chinese are known to hyper-susceptible to motionsickness (59,60); this could partially reflect our ancestors in China had aless adventurous history.

社会动力学代表了一种环境可变性的源头,因为它经常产生不可预期的社会状态,这将有助于人类大脑可塑性的演化。合作、竞争、人与人之间的联合为人脑发育提供了最强的动力。文化上的适应和基于基因驱动的认知适应往往是一起协同工作的而不是相互独立进行的(32)。一些作者认为某一个体倾向于群体学习或者个人学习的性格特质是可以通过遗传继承的,或者说针对某一个体选择哪一种学习策略是可以由基因决定的。在西方长大的华裔学生往往在中小学阶段学习较好,因为中小学阶段更多使用群体学习的方式。但他们不一定在大学阶段学习好,因为大学阶段更需要个体学习的方式(57,58)。中国人容易晕车(59,60),这可能部分反映了我们中国的古代先人很少有冒险的历史。

Arabic,Chinese, Japanese, and Indian cultures and those of the rest of Asia andelsewhere are familistic, hierarchical, and consensual, this would work againstsustained exploration and innovation [(9), page 401]. The relative lowerachievement of American students in primary and secondary schooling, ascompared to some East Asian students, may reflect more distant forces due tocultural traditions that emphasize individual learning and social learningdifferently. However, Euro-American countries remain the world leader inscientific, technological, and business innovations. The evolutionarypsychology may partially explain why it is difficult for China to producepolymaths such as Mikhail Lomonosov, Leonhard Euler, Henri Poincaré, AndreyKolmogorov, John von Neumann, or Leonid Kantorovich.

     阿拉伯人、华人、日本人、印度人和亚洲其它地区的的文化大都主张家族主义、等级制度和集权主义,这是与可持续的探索和创新相违背的。美国学生在小学和中学阶段学习相对不如东亚学生,可能反映了其远古时代强调’个体学习’ 和’群体学习’ 方式的不同而导致的遗传倾向。然而,欧美国家仍在科技术和商业创新方面领先世界。进化心理学可以部分解释为什么中国很难产生类似罗蒙诺索夫、欧拉、·庞加莱、柯尔莫哥洛夫、冯·诺依曼、康托洛维奇等世界级的大师。

4. Conclusion4.结论

With theunderstanding of these social psychology and evolutionary psychologyperspectives as discussed above, we can see that current China is in some waysdisadvantaged in science and technology innovation. However, the unprecedentedcross-cultural exchange on a global level is likely to result in reducedEast-West differences in evolutionary psychology (61). In the meantime, thecurrent author calls for China to invest more on ‘soft’ sciences such aspsychology, and attract bright students to study social sciences, which willundoubtfully promote China’s capability to do high quality ‘hard’ sciences aswell as technological innovation. In the meantime, the author calls for moreidealism and romanticism.

通过对这些社会心理学的理解和对进化心理学视角的观察,我们可以看见当前的中国在科学与技术创新领域处于不利地位。然而,前所未有的全球性跨文化交流可能会减小东西方基于进化心理学方面的差异。而且作者呼吁中国应该在心理学等方面的软科学上增加更多投资,吸引更多聪明的学生从事社会科学研究,这将无疑会出尽中国进行高质量硬科学研究方面的能力,同样有利于技术创新。而且作者中国出现更多的理想主义者和浪漫主义者。

Explanation note: evolutionary psychology of Homo sapiens leftAfrica

ThePleistocene epoch (about 1.6 million to 10,000 years ago), during which humansevolved, was a period of extraordinary constancy and continuity. The narrowhabitat range of the East African Valley and the long span of time ofPleistocene and earlier led to the evolution of a genetic blueprint, includingthe domain general and domain-specific cognitive architectures, which differacross individuals but not across groups or regions (50,62). In Pleistoceneepoch Africa there were very few evolutionarily novel problems for ourancestors to solve during most of human evolutionary history, generalintelligence was never that important in the ancestral environment. Culturesand cultural differences emerged mainly after but not before humans leftAfrica. Another factor contributing to fast growing cultures and culturaldifferences is human acquisition of language, which also seems to have occurredafter, rather than before, humans left Africa (50).

After left Africa, our ancestors did not haveprepared solutions in the form of evolved psychological mechanisms for novel,non-recurrent problems. Novel, non-recurrent problems require thinking andreasoning in order to solve them. Solutions to novel, non-recurrent problemsrequire improvisational intelligence, the ability to reason deductively orinductively, think abstractly, use analogies, synthesize information, and applyit to new domains. As a result, many of our potential ancestors undoubtedlydied because they could not solve these novel problems. Kanazawa (62) arguesthat general intelligence (g) evolved as a domain-specific adaptationagainst the background of the originally limited sphere of evolutionary noveltyin the ancestral environment in Africa. Intelligent individuals are better ableto solve problems than less intelligent individuals, only if the problems areevolutionarily novel. It has become universally important because we now livein an evolutionarily novel world. If novel, non-recurrent problems happenedfrequently enough in the environment of evolutionary adaptedness, then anygenetic mutation that equips its carrier to think and reason would be selectedfor and could evolve as an adaptation in order to solve novel, non-recurrentproblems.

Some intelligence researchers (63-66) point to theimportance of climate and temperature in the evolution of general intelligence.Life in temperate and cold climate in Asia and Europe is harder to survive thanthat in tropical and subtropical climate in Africa where humans lived most ofevolutionary history. Food is scarcer, and shelter and clothing more difficultto construct properly, in colder than in warmer climate. Cognitive demandsplaced by the need to survive harsh winters in cold climate select for higherintelligence, and thus general intelligence is expected to evolve and becomehigher in colder climates. A climate that is too cold to grow crops for part ofthe year demands foresight and self-control skills, which then serve asresources for other development. When migration to frontiers or rugged lands ofcold winter and sparse population; settlement in the frontier encouragesindependent mentality and individualistic social institutions (66). Templer andArikawa’s analysis showed that (67), across 129 nations, winter temperature isnegatively correlated with average intelligence (r=−0.76, P<0.01,with winter high temperature, and r=−0.66, P<0.01, with winter lowtemperature) (Figure 1). These findings could also be viewed as beingcongruent with the contention that higher intelligence evolves in colderclimates. Pathogen, natural disasters, war, and migration all pose significantchallenges to the maintenance and sustainability of human society. Other aspectsof evolutionary novelty include new species of fauna and flora, geography,topography, and altitude.

Pathogenic diseases impose selection pressures onthe social behavior of host populations. The existence of cross-culturaldifferences in human cognition and behavior is also contingent upon therelative presence of pathogens in the local ecology. It has been showncollectivism (compared with individualism) will more often characterizecultures in regions that have historically had higher prevalence of pathogens(68). Drawing on epidemiological data and the findings of worldwidecross-national surveys of individualism/collectivism, Hofstede showed theregional prevalence of pathogens has a strong positive correlation withcultural indicators of collectivism and a strong negative correlation withindividualism (69) (Figure 2). The correlations remain significant evenwhen controlling for potential confounding variables.

Beloware the accounts of historical and contemporary evidence of environmentalvariability of China and North/Western Europe (50).

在离开非洲后,我们的祖先对于新的、非经常发生的困难还没有进化演变出对付机制。新的、非经常发生的困难需要思维和推理予以解决。解决新的、非经常发生的困难需要随机应变的能力、演绎或归纳推理、抽象思维、类比能力、信息综合,并将其应用到new domains(新领域)。其结果是我的许多潜在祖先无疑是死了因为他们没能解决这些新问题能力。 Kanazawa(62)认为,general intelligence (g) ‘一般智力’ 祖先非洲环境原本有限生物演变新颖性的背景下演变出来的domain-specific adaptation (领域特定的适应).  只有困难在生物演变过程中是新的时候,聪明的个体才比欠聪明的个体有可能克服这些困难。如果新的、非经常发生的困难在生物演变和适应的过程中发生的频率足够高,那么任何有利于思考和推理的基因突变在生物演变中会胜出,以这些解决新的、非经常性的问题。 寒冷气候下严冬的生存提出了较高的认知需求,选择更高的智慧,在寒冷的气候general intelligence(一般智力演变成更高。一年中一段时间太寒冷而不能种植作物的气候需要远见和自我控制能力,而这些能力然后成为其他能力发展的源泉。迁移到边界、寒冷冬季和人口稀少而崎岖的土地时,环境鼓励独立思维与个体人主义的社会结构(66). Templer and Arikawa (67) 分析129个国家的冬季温度和居民平均智力的关系,结果显示呈现显著的负相关(r = -0.76  P < 0.01 ,冬季高温,r = -0.66  P < 0.01 ,冬季低温)。这一结果与在寒冷的气候条件下演化人类较高智力的观点是一直的。病原、自然灾害、战争、移民等都对人类社会稳定性和可持续性构成严重的的挑战.

Latitude and climate

The climate in Europe (36°N to 63°N in latitude) is more variable thanthat in China (18°N to 45°N). Firstly, rainfall and temperature are morevariable over the course of a year and extreme cold is more severe toward thepoles. There were more severe natural disasters in Europe than in China. Forexample, 19 of the worst famines and droughts in recorded history happened inEurope, whereas China has only experienced nine; more ice storms and snowstormsare recorded in Europe than in China; and there have been more earthquakes inEurope than in China (70). Because Earth is tilted at 23°, the duration ofdaylight at higher latitudes is also more variable throughout the year than itis at lower latitudes. The solar radiation energy received on a given surface area,varies throughout the year, and it variations increase with latitude. Thismeans that on a long time scale, China, occupying lower latitudes, has a morestable solar radiation energy level than Europe, located at higher latitudes(71). Finally, because most hominid and human evolution took place in Africaclose to 0° of latitude, high latitude by itself represents environmentalnovelty and variability deviating from the human evolutionary environment.

纬度和气候欧洲的气候比中国变数更多。首先,一年中降雨和温度更加多变,而且极端寒冷是向北极更加严重。历史上欧洲的严重自然灾害比在中国更多。例如历史记录的最严重的饥荒和干旱19个发生在欧洲,而中国只经历了9个;历史上欧洲有更多的的冰冻灾害和雪灾;欧洲比中国有过更多的地震(70).因为地球倾斜23绕太阳转,一年中高纬度地区比低纬度地区日照时间更加多变。一年中太阳辐射给予地球表面的辐射能量的变化幅度随纬度增高而加大增加。这意味着,从长时间看,因为中国占据低纬度地区,比高纬度的欧洲有更稳定的太阳辐射能量(71). 最后,因为最原始人类和人类进化主要发生在纬度为的非洲,高纬度本身代表偏离人类原本进化环境的环境的新颖性和多变性。

Pathogens

China has higher pathogen prevalence than Europe by both historical andcontemporary measures of pathogen prevalence (50). Pathogen itself presents anindependent drive for social learning because the cost of trial and error maybe injury or death. Many studies have found that pathogen prevalence isnegatively correlated with absolute latitude. Specifically, China (18°N to45°N) has been found to have higher pathogen prevalence than Europe (36°N to63°N) by both historical and contemporary measures of pathogen prevalence (71).

病原体在历史上和当代,中国都比欧洲有更高病原流行率(50).  因为尝试出错误 (trial and error的成本很高,会导致生病或死亡,因此病原体流行驱动 ‘群体学习’ 许多研究发现体病原体流行率病原患病率与绝对纬度负相关。具体而言,中国 (1 ° 45°N) 比欧洲(36°N 63°N)  更容易发生病原流行率。 

Warfare

Warfare adds to increased population movement. Environmental change wasrealized through the utilization of new military weapons and technologies anddiffusion of the ideas and cultures of the victorious nations. Throughouthistory, more wars have been fought in Europe than in Asia. From 1816 to 1965,Europe saw 144 interstate and extra-systematic wars whereas 28 of these twotypes of wars have taken place in Asia (excluding the Middle East) (72). Thenumber of war engaging months for this period was 2,514 for Europe and 737 forAsia (72). Another data source shows that, among a total of 177 major militaryconflicts that happened in the world between 1648 and 1989, Europe had 97 warswhereas Asia had only 26, most of which broke out after 1945, and many of whichinvolved Western nations (73). According to Gochman and Maoz (74), as many as261 armed confrontations occurred between 1816 and 1976 in Europe. During thesame period, Asia had140 military disputes, and 99 of them occurred after 1945.According to Neiberg (75), Chinese preferred defense to offense, whereasWestern civilizations advance through exploratory and expansionary means.

战争战争增加了人口流动。通过新的军事武器和技术的利用及战胜国的思想和文化传播实现了环境变化。历史上,欧洲比亚洲有更多的战争。从1816年至1965年,欧洲发生了144次国与国的战争和与其他文化间的战争,而这两类战争的在亚洲发生只发生28次(不包括中东)(72)。这期间欧洲2514个月处于战争状态而亚洲为737个月(72)。另一个数据源显示,发生于1648年至1989年间的全球177大的军事冲突中,欧洲有97战争,而亚洲只有26--且其中亚洲的战争大部分爆发在1945年以后并大多涉及到西方国家(73).GochmanMaoz (74), 1816年至1976  在欧洲发生了多达261武装冲突。在同一时期,亚洲有140军事纠纷,其中发生991945年后。根据Neiberg(75), 中国喜欢防守,而西方文明的推进通过探索和扩张性的手段。

责编:微科普网

分享到:

>相关科普知识