Extreme Anxiety

More and more intellectuals are experiencing insomnia, for they feel indescribably anxious of the cruel competition, the changeable environment, the rapid developing science and technology, and the increasing knowledge and information. They doubt whether they still have “knowledge” when the next morning they get up.

Because of the extreme anxiety, people who are not willing to be ordinary begin to seek knowledge: the fiery enlistment in the class for the entrance examination of postgraduate, the overwhelming crowds competed to go abroad, and all kinds of training programs etc. Study is neither limited in schools, nor is it limited to young people. We sigh with great astonishment at the crowds of people who have the thirst to study, at the same time we are also attacked by deeper anxiety. After all, as far as knowledge is concerned, a person couldn’t know anything before he dies. On the contrary, although he takes efforts to learn all through his life, he still seems to be “ignorant”, even worse than the time he is just born. It is a decade of explosive information. In the transient years of life, the general amount of knowledge in the world has already multiplied. If one learns in still a simple and passive way, perhaps the more people have learned, the more “ignorant” they will become. The awkward result may be that they keep looking at the infinite operation instructions and learning models without destination. Probably it is the cause for extreme anxiety.

The traditional Chinese thinker Zhuang Zi said: “Our life has a limit but knowledge has none. If we devote our life into the pursuance of knowledge, we achieve little at last.” Actually, his thoughts provide us the way to solve the problem. Study can be divided in two types: one is to learn “Shu”, that is knowledge and operation methods; the other is to learn “Dao”, that is principles and wisdom. For example, in our study, what have been written on the book is called Shu while how to put what we have learned into practice is concerned about Dao.

Why cannot the study of Shu decrease problems and eliminate the anxiety of people?

First, what we face with are some contradictions. For example, the business war is caused by the contradiction between demand and supply. The resources are limited, but the demands are infinite. Shu is the inner part of the contradiction, which could be solved through the analysis of the contradiction. However, the problem couldn’t be solved under the same system. For example, a strong man cannot lift himself up by grasping his belt. It is also true of Shu. Therefore, to learn Shu and use it would only cause the problems rise one after another. On the other hand, to perceive Dao is to put contradictions to a wider background so as to master the basic rule. The problem will be solved radically, not superficially, with wisdom, or it will move in a dynamic balance.

Second, it will not satisfy the cognitive demand of people only by mastering some of the knowledge. One reason for that are the limitations of the individuals, and the other is the explosive knowledge. Wisdom, however, is full of vitality. If it is said that knowledge is a logic system on the basis of presuppositions, wisdom offers ways to explore the suppositions. I think the value of humans, perhaps, should be achieved by continuously exploring the source of knowledge, creating knowledge as well as ingeniously applying knowledge. Thus, we should learn Shu, but we shouldn’t be strict with Shu, or even lose directions in Shu. Only when we try to perceive Dao from Shu, we will finally apply the basic rules skillfully.

I have heard an investigation among some Chinese and foreign enterprise managers. One of the questions was “What do you read in your spare time?” the answers of Chinese were almost the books about enterprise management, especially written by foreigners. But the foreigners answered differently. They often read literature, philosophy, history, arts or psychology etc. it is obvious that Chinese are eager to learn Shu from the foreigners while the foreigners try to perceive Dao from wider range.

What has caused extreme anxiety? Maybe people are struggling with being reduced to the slave of knowledge. It is worth exploring forever how to become the master of knowledge.

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