A Man of Science and Engineering in Troubled Times Wandering in the Late Qing Dynasty

Cartel said that the psychology lecturer he was looking for was Thorndike, a former student of his.

Columbia University was also regarded as a university that was friendly to Chinese students in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China.

Thorndike was still very young, only 30 years old. When he saw Carter and Li Yu coming, he immediately invited them to his office.

Thorndike's office is relatively small, about the size of a dormitory.If it's a professor, the office might be the size of a classroom.After all, professors are scarce in this era, and there are not many in a university.

After listening to the thoughts of the two men, Thorndike thought: "Intelligence testing is indeed a matter closely related to education, but all theories involving the human brain are the most elusive."

"That's why I want to work with you on this, brainstorming, and the more good psychologists and educators involved, the better," Cattell said.

Thorndike said: "In that case, sir, it is a coincidence that an excellent psychologist and educator has just come to Columbia University as an adjunct professor. I think he is much higher than me."

"Which one?" asked Cartel.

Thorndike said, "John Dewey."

Li Yu's eyes lit up when he heard the name, he was really a very good candidate.

John Dewey is not only well-known in the United States, but also the "spiritual mentor" of the education circle in China during the Republic of China. Many educators came from his school, or benefited a lot from him, such as Hu Shi, Feng Youlan, Tao Xingzhi, Zhang Boling, Jiang Menglin, etc.

Throughout the period of the Republic of China, these domestic educators highly respected Dewey.

Dewey stayed in China for several years. After witnessing the "May [-]th Movement", his attitude towards China changed greatly, which was also the reason why he stayed in China for many years.

Dewey is a member of the American Psychological Association and has served as the president for many years. Cartel naturally knows Dewey's ability: "If I didn't come here in person, I didn't even know that Mr. Dewey had left Chicago for New York."

Dewey was previously the head of the Department of Philosophy, Psychology, and Education at the University of Chicago, and he was the dean of the School of Education at the University of Chicago. In short, he has become famous.

However, he and the president of the University of Chicago disagreed on some issues, so he came to Columbia University as an adjunct professor.

However, he is a part-time professor in name, but Columbia University attaches great importance to it, and he has since started the longest tenure in his life.

Soon, Li Yu met this pragmatist philosopher in a larger office.

"Hello, Mr. Dewey." Li Yu shook hands with him.

Dewey said: "Academician Li Yu is as young as the rumors say. I have always been very curious about you, and I really want to know what is different about your brain, so that you can make so many world-renowned achievements."

Li Yu smiled and said, "You don't know how to study anatomy, do you? Want to dissect my skull?"

Dewey also laughed and said, "Psychologists don't understand medicine. I haven't even used injection needles a few times."

Li Yu and the others then talked to Dewey about the intelligence test, and Dewey said: "I have learned about this aspect, and I have the impression that France launched an intelligence test many years ago. Entrusted by the French Ministry of Public Education, a person named Binet There was early work by a French psychologist, but his main task was to screen children who were mentally handicapped and needed special education."

Therefore, in fact, the intelligence test was originally used to screen out problem children, and it was not used to show off "smartness" at all.

"And what we want to do is test the intelligence of normal people," Cattell said.

Li Yu added: "Strictly speaking, intelligence tests need to be aimed at different age groups. For example, the quotient obtained by dividing the mental age by the actual age can be called IQ, which is more applicable to different age groups."

Dewey said: "Your ideas are more perfect and appropriate. But now there are some bad voices in the cultural circles. I think Academician Li Yu understands it very well, because I have read your articles."

Li Yu said, "Sir, are you referring to pseudoscience and social Darwinism?"

Dewey sighed: "Yes. I am very concerned that intelligence tests will be used by a small number of people to promote absurd 'eugenics'."

Dewey's worries were not unreasonable. Prior to this, some social Darwinists had advocated the sterilization of "inferior people" in order to achieve the so-called "evolution" of society.

People with a little bit of sense in this kind of words can hear the question: what is the standard of superiority and inferiority?And who has the right to divide this standard?

The current situation in Europe is that populism is beginning to rise. At that time, it will not only be as simple as sterilizing a small number of people, but will directly engage in genocide.

As a time traveler, Li Yu must understand this kind of thing.

He also sincerely admired Dewey's intuition, and sure enough, psychologists can't take it lightly.

I remember that Leonard's mother in "The Big Bang Theory" was a psychologist. She was one of the very few people who the genius protagonist Sheldon dared not underestimate.

Thorndike said: "I think we can understand this problem from another angle, because according to my years of observation and research, morality is more likely to be affected by the environment than intelligence. I am not denying the influence of acquired learning on intelligence, but morality itself is more likely to be affected by the environment. It is easy to be swayed by social links. Therefore, education should play a greater role in imparting moral knowledge and cultivating moral habits, so there is no need to worry too much about intellectual issues.”

Li Yu said: "Yes! But the situation in different regions is very different. The situation in China now is that it is urgent to build up national self-confidence and fundamentally deny the theory of racial differences. Moreover, Chinese traditional culture, especially Confucianism, has always had extremely high moral requirements. , there is no need to worry too much about Chinese people with ulterior motives using IQ tests to make a fuss.”

Historically, Germany and the United States are the most serious countries that practice "low IQ" sterilization.

In the United States, 12 states legislate to implement sterilization operations for mentally handicapped people, and 27 states have implemented mandatory sterilization programs.

Germany is even more ruthless... They even perform euthanasia directly on the mentally handicapped, and they pull whole trucks to carry out the execution.

Dewey nodded: "Education naturally has to serve the society. The situation in your country is different from that in Europe and the United States. I even had a pessimistic mentality earlier, but seeing your deeds in the news in the past two years has really boosted my confidence. , at least it shows that the theory of race has no foothold."

Li Yu said: "The development of the world is a very complicated situation. There is an old saying in China, 30 years in Hedong and 30 years in Hexi, one goes up and down, and the other goes up. Don't think that if you are weak, you will always be weak."

Dewey said: "I have been thinking about this for a long time. Historically, Chinese culture has been ahead of the world for thousands of years, but it has fallen behind in the past 200 years, but many Europeans and Americans have begun to be arrogant. Although in sociology It is understandable from a perspective, but from the perspective of long-term historical development, it is very naive."

Li Yu was even more surprised. He had a wisdom that was more than a hundred years beyond the current people, but in fact, many talents in this period had actually begun to peep into some future secrets through thinking and analysis.

Unfortunately, they are not mainstream and cannot change the status quo.In other words, if you are too advanced, you will be rejected by the current society.

Li Yu said: "Intelligence is the most significant difference between humans and animals. If it is used, the harm will definitely be the greatest."

"What you say strikes me," Dewey said. "I have always worried that the future control of human intelligence will make people less human."

Then there's the field of philosophy.

In addition to being an educator, Dewey is also a master of the American national philosophy - pragmatism philosophy.

In fact, in the final analysis, in the logic of the Chinese, pragmatism is the foundation of the foundation, because China does not have a wide range of religious beliefs at all, and it is more "pragmatic" than Yankees.

It's just too deep-rooted, and the Chinese don't take it seriously.

Li Yudao: "In fact, there has been a phenomenon of controlling intelligence throughout the ages. There is a word called 'brainwashing', which sums it up very vividly."

John Dewey said in surprise: "Brainwashing? This is a very profound new word!"

Dewey thought about it for a while, and then his thoughts flooded in: "Mr. Academician has an extraordinary conversation. A single word is enough for me to write several papers for in-depth discussion."

Li Yu said with a smile: "This is a later story. Sir, don't forget to conduct research on IQ tests first."

Dewey promised: "Since it is the request of an academician, I will naturally not refuse. I will carry out a fair intelligence test with all members of the Psychological Society."

Li Yu thought about it and said, "By the way, if you have time, sir, you can also visit China."

Dewey said: "I have always been very interested in the mysterious East, and I will take it as one of my plans."

After all, education is a relatively complicated thing. Knowing how to teach and being able to teach are completely different things.

Zhang Boling and Yan Fansun are naturally pioneers in education, but at present, after all, new learning has just been developed in China, and there are many benefits to have the guidance of professionals like Dewey.