The development of the times is inseparable from traditional culture.

Thousands of years ago, most of our ancestors rushed for food rations, wives and children; Thousands of years have passed, and most of us don't lack a bite to eat, and rise and fall in the world for a higher level of "pursuit". Modern science and technology have improved our production tools, greatly increased our productivity and brought earth-shaking changes to our lives.

Here, many friends separate traditional culture from modern technology, thinking that modern technology is good for us, and traditional culture is "dispensable" or even "redundant". Yan Xiaoer is absolutely opposed to this statement. If he has this idea, Yan Xiaoer said it more seriously. People who have this idea are not as good as the ancients thousands of years ago, because there is only "desire" in their lives, and they have never surpassed "desire" for romance or higher-level pursuit.

From the day our Chinese civilization was born, no matter how scarce the material is, our ancestors have long noticed that the reason why people are human lies in their "spiritual pursuit" to some extent. Here, "culture" is actually a "fertile soil" to cultivate our spiritual world to some extent.

If we only rise and fall in material desires and don't know that we still need to maintain a healthy spiritual world, then we are not much different from the beasts driven by desire in the hunting ground. What is the significance of modern science and technology in "beast"?

In short, in Yan Xiaoer's mind, with the development of science and technology, we not only need traditional culture, but also cherish it. One of the reasons is that culture has always come down in one continuous line, which distinguishes people from wild animals. At the same time, the main function of traditional culture is to make us break through the utilitarian realm, overcome the "machine heart", and then move towards the perfection of "heaven and earth realm"

1, culture distinguishes people from "animals". In the Art of Secular Wisdom, there is such a passage:

Man is born an animal, and only culture makes him superior to animals.

In a simple sentence, it points out the significance of "culture" to human beings. As an important part of "culture", traditional culture has also played a role in liberating people from barbarism and moving towards civilization and order.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Xunzi, a great thinker in China, sharply put forward the theory of evil nature. He pointed out that human nature tends to be "evil". If we don't accept the acquired "enlightenment", use rites and music to regulate our words and deeds and cultivate our virtue, then our selfish nature will easily expand, and people will easily become slaves to desires and animals. Xunzi's "Rites and Music" was definitely not the unique "contemporary advanced technology" of their time, but the crystallization of knowledge, folklore, culture and so on, which came down in one continuous line and gathered the wisdom of several generations.

By extension, as far as we are concerned, we are not divorced from the natural nature of "self-interest", and we are born with the tendency of "evil". We also need to receive education in the long history and learn knowledge full of wisdom and humanistic details, so as to cultivate our virtue and optimize our words and deeds. From this perspective, culture, especially traditional culture, does play a role in distinguishing us from "wild animals".

As far as modern civilization is concerned, traditional culture makes us converge. Yan Xiaoer, like many post-90s generation, was lucky enough to catch the express train of modern technology and come to a modern society with advanced technology. However, compared with the hard work of seeking a bite of rations, the inner gasps sometimes make me dizzy.

Yes, I have graduated from school, stepped into the society and become an ordinary office worker. I have also been troubled by some "machine thinking" in my work and life many times, and I have fallen into "involution". I often switch back and forth with dogs involuntarily. Five days later, I was exhausted.

As far as the needs of modern people are concerned, Yan Xiaoer feels the same: he lacks a peaceful heart. In traditional culture, there are too many humanistic philosophies that make us converge to the "machine heart" and make our hearts peaceful. These are all good medicines to cure modern people's inner anguish.

The book "Zhuangzi" recorded such a sentence:

If there is a machine, there must be organic matter, and if there is organic matter, there must be an organic mind. If the machine is in the chest, it is pure white; Pure white is not prepared, then god is uncertain; God is uncertain, and Tao does not contain it. I don't know, but I'm ashamed not to do so.

This sentence means that if you use more mechanical things and are inspired by this "smart transformation", there will be smart things, and smart things will definitely stimulate people's minds, such as machine changes. This kind of mind has been in my heart for a long time. An empty and bright heart that has not been polluted by the secular world will definitely no longer be complete, and an empty and bright heart will not be the same as before. Here, people's spirit will not be stable, and people will be farther and farther away from the Tao.

In the Taoist view, the greatest happiness of human beings is to keep company with "Tao" and run counter to "Tao", which will only make people tired and get nothing.

Therefore, it is the lifelong task of contemporary people to limit and bind their "machine mind" and keep their inner peace, and the breakthrough to win this task lies in the "inheritance" and "development" of traditional culture.

3. Finally, write something from Yan Xiaoer's heart. I grew up from an ignorant and utilitarian little girl to a steady girl. During this period, he experienced the hypocrisy of subverting the three views, the indifferent spectators, and the slander of reversing black and white. I also fought, but more often ended in failure. In those days, I was restless and uneasy.

However, since I got to know China's traditional culture deeply during my graduate studies, I gradually began to understand others' egoism, indifference and selfishness, and also began to reflect on my own vanity, narrowness and even naivety. When I see and understand others' selfish motives, when I find that the pursuit of life lies not in others' words and deeds, but in my own inner pleasure, others' selfishness is no longer disgusting, and my mind is more open-minded

Here, what I want to tell you is that traditional culture can tell us that life is not only the immediate utility and hardship. There is a more desirable "sinkhole" in this world. The pain of most of us is not that others can't get along with us, but that we don't let ourselves go.

Note: This article is the original and exclusive release of Yan Xiaoer's philosophical works. If there is any infringement such as handling or plagiarism, the responsibility will be investigated once found. The pictures in this paper come from the Internet, and some materials come from the Internet. They were hacked and deleted (within two weeks). Please enjoy the collection ~