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Learning the rules of nature inevitably leads to a belief in nature; learning the rules of society inevitably leads to a belief in society. In a primitive society, social rules are largely influenced by rulers, so many people treat rulers as their masters. However, the study of social rules is the study of society, which includes not only all the dead and present people, but also future generations... - "Mountains Shift, Waters Still"

I believe everyone knows about the Dyson Sphere Program, and I have played it before. In the game, you need to build a complete industrial system to produce a complex substance. Often, there will be situations where there are too many products or insufficient raw materials. A small change can have a big impact, and the entire system may come to a halt. Moreover, synthesizing a high-level product requires various types of raw materials. At this point, we realize that the lack of any one product is a big issue.

Different Situations in Humanities and Sciences#

Uselessness of Humanities#

Currently, I can't say for sure what is lacking, but I can think from the perspective of humanities. There are many people who are supposedly studying human society, giving people a feeling of being useless or completely useless. Therefore, downsizing is a good principle. For example, there are many Marx researchers, but none of them have become a Marx master.

Natural Sciences as Adaptation to Social Division of Labor#

At the beginning of human civilization, there was no distinction between natural sciences and social sciences. This distinction came later. Many natural scientists have discovered many truths that have been confirmed. For example, Einstein's theory of gravitational waves was only proven in this century. They have also invented many things such as electric lights, telephones, cars... These inventors and scientists are mostly individuals or teams, and their achievements are immediately visible. They are the ones who adapt to the social division of labor.

However, there are also those who do not adapt to the social division of labor - the people who study human society. They study language, history, politics, law, religion, and so on.

Characteristics of Humanities#

Subjectivity in Humanities Research: Self-Research#

First of all, they are just members of humanity, and it is difficult to say whether their theories have been proven. Their research object is not nature, but society, which is generally just an object, a human object. When you study it, no one will accuse you of rape, and you don't have to abide by natural ethics. Nature is just there, waiting for you to explore. Whether you can gain something depends on your abilities. But in human society, you are just one of many individuals in society. Not to mention ideology. Studying society is a paradox of raising one's own head. If we follow the rules of natural science, such a researcher might be a god.

Unity of Research Object and Object of Action in Humanities: Self-Action#

Furthermore, in terms of the significance of their impact on society, the achievements of natural sciences are more significant and easier to be valued and accepted because they are just objects, products. Studying nature, whether on a large or small scale, is mostly done by individuals or teams. The only difference is the number of people involved. This conforms to the model of division of labor and can be clearly perceived by society. However, the research object of humanities not only has subjectivity, but also involves large research teams and action teams that encompass the entire group. It does not conform to the modern model of division of labor. Even if there are some specialized researchers, it is only a superficial representation. It's like ancient witch doctors. We think they can communicate with the gods and spirits throughout history, but are they really? Of course, experts are experts, and history experts are also experts, but our unrealistic expectations of them, thinking that this is their job, the division of labor in society, is a mistaken understanding of humanities.

The Special Nature of History#

History is real, unique, and has definite answers. This is the most valuable aspect of history. However, recording history, commenting on history, and summarizing the laws of history may not always follow the rules. Therefore, as long as a sufficient amount of true history can be explored, it is easy to grasp the laws and engage in various speculations.

The same applies to other humanities disciplines, which have objective research objects and evaluations of those objects. However, the research objects of humanities are mainly focused on the present. For example, if you believe in social contract theory, it will greatly promote social change.

These are the two main characteristics of humanities: self-research and self-action.

However, history does not fall under self-research, as it studies past events, which are definite objects. Therefore, studying true history can clearly overcome the inherent limitations of humanities. That's why every discipline has a "XX history."

The Reason Humanities Cannot Be Divided#

Therefore, the current dilemma is not that there are too many humanities disciplines, but rather too few. There are too few people studying the rules of human society, and this kind of research cannot be divided. This kind of impact cannot be valued. Of course, if someone can assign a value, I would be happy, but the characteristic of humanities research - subjectivity - is an insurmountable gap.

Escaping the Tragedy of Humanities#

The Tragedy of Humanities as a Public Good#

Of course, are these things in humanities important? This is like asking yourself if the rules of your own body's functioning are important. Precisely because they are so important, they are not important. The analogy of air is very appropriate for describing humanities. We would die without air, and everyone knows how to breathe, but no one would buy or sell air, except when someone pollutes the air with their fart or when the air has a special fragrance that creates some strange value.

In addition, when Qin destroyed the six states, later generations mourned but did not learn from it; the rise and fall of the world brought suffering to the people; all people are born equal; taking class struggle as the guiding principle... Behind all of these are the countless bones of the dead, but unfortunately, the dead cannot speak.

The Solution#

I have always analyzed problems from an external perspective and grasped humanities from an external perspective. The current situation of humanities is ultimately because it is a public good, an evolving embryo. I thought of the Angels in Evangelion and the so-called Human Complementation Project. Humans have developed collective civilization rather than individual civilization because individuals and collectives can complement each other. However, the downside is that until human society evolves into a higher level of rule of law, public resources like humanities will inevitably be violated. The solution lies not in the collective, but in the individual.

2023-12-30