The third point that Yuri makes is that the ancient Greeks focused on finding the reasons behind natural phenomena, which kept the source of scientific innovation inexhaustible.

The essence of Western science, Yuri said, is that it is a speculation or revelation of the reasons behind natural phenomena, which is a distinctive feature of the ancient Greek intellect and has been passed down as a major tradition of Western culture to this day.

For this reason, Yuri said, for example, from the thoughts of ancient Greek natural philosophers, we can deeply appreciate the connotation of this cultural factor. Heraclitus, for example, argues that "nature likes to hide." Leukibor [1] first proposed that "nothing happens for no reason, and everything happens for a reason and necessity". Democritus would rather find a causal account than obtain a Persian throne. Aristotle regarded understanding the causes behind natural phenomena as the basic task of philosophical inquiry.

Aristotle even made it clear that "knowledge is the goal of our research, and people do not think they know something until they have mastered it." "Wisdom is the knowledge of certain principles and causes." Therefore, "we must seek knowledge of causes, for we can only say that we have known a thing after we have recognized its basic cause."

Hongyi is also deeply concerned about this. Because the ancient Greeks' tradition of focusing on exploring the causes behind natural phenomena in order to explain certain types of phenomena in a unified way was further carried forward after the Renaissance, and continued to promote the continuous progress of modern science.

Although Yuri did not talk about China this time, it shows that he does not have a deep understanding of China at this point. But Hongyi knows a little more than he does-

Because China does not have this kind of "see-out" cultural heritage, traditional Chinese science does not have the essence to explore the reasons behind natural phenomena. Traditional Chinese science actually focuses on the faithful description of natural phenomena and a so-called "experience summary". Throughout the history of Chinese science, it is not difficult for us to find that the classic works of traditional Chinese science, such as "The Book of Ink", "Xu Xiake's Travels", "Qi Min's Techniques", "The Complete Book of Agricultural Administration", "Treatise on Typhoid Fever and Miscellaneous Diseases", "Mengxi Writings", etc., are almost all descriptions of natural phenomena or summaries of experience, but they are never discussed in depth about what these natural phenomena are generated, how these experiences are obtained, and what are the principles behind them.

Because everyone was not entangled, Yuri smoothly elaborated his fourth sub-thesis -

The ancient Greeks possessed a strong spirit of skepticism and criticism. Make scientific innovation never-ending.

Yuri thinks. The development of science requires innovation, and innovation requires skepticism and criticism. Without skepticism and criticism, it means the end of a scientific life. The reason why Western science has been able to continue to move forward is that old theories have been eliminated and new theories have been born. One fundamental reason is that there is a strong spirit of skepticism and criticism permeated Western culture.

This spirit of skepticism and criticism originated in the "skepticism" of Pilang[2] in the 3rd century BC. Skepticism as a philosophical school lasted for more than 500 years during the Greco-Roman period. It had a non-negligible influence on the minds of people in ancient Greece and Rome. Pi Lang believes that "nothing can be fixed as a lesson. Therefore, we can say the opposite proposition to any proposition. Pi Lang and his subsequent skepticism not only represent a philosophical trend in the Greco-Roman period, but also reflect the reality of the academic world during this period.

It was true that there was almost no authority in academia at that time, and every philosopher believed in it except himself. Don't trust anyone else, including your own teachers. Aristotle's famous quote "I love my teacher, and I love the truth even more" is not only a good reason for him to leave his teacher and become independent, but also a reason for all students to part ways with their teachers academically.

This time, Yuri wisely said that this kind of skepticism and critical spirit in Western culture is very lacking in traditional Chinese culture. Chinese traditional culture is Confucian culture, advocating the golden mean, and fighting against unconventionality. Sayings such as "people are afraid of being famous, pigs are afraid of being strong", and "guns shoot birds in the head" are well known. This is in stark contrast to the skeptical and critical spirit of Western culture. Westerners believe that science is "fallible", while China considers truth sacrosanct; Westerners respect their teachers, but the argument "I love my teacher, I love the truth more" absolutely does not dare to appear in the words of the Chinese - the Chinese are all trying their best to defend their teachers' doctrines, and can only inherit and carry them forward, and never dare to "abandon them" one step beyond the thunder pool!

Through Yuri's statement, Du Duhu and Zhu Changzuo, two people who are like "master and apprentice", both chose to keep their mouths shut. Yes, the so-called "apostasy" is a great sin! Westerners seem to be all "white-eyed wolves" who "deceive teachers and destroy ancestors"! Such arguments are not worth refuting!

After Yuri finished explaining his opinion, he cautiously stepped aside, waiting for the comments of the superiors. But the reality is that no one speaks, everyone waits in silence......

Hongyi is not a science student, so although he is interested in the comparative study of Chinese and Western sciences, he always feels that he is not entered. Today, when I heard the comments of a not-so-pure Westerner in the seventeenth century, I was delighted and fell into deep thought—after all, Yuri's understanding is still very reasonable, at least not "assumed", but justified.

On the other hand, Yuri, who has not been in China for a long time, can make the above explanation of Chinese civilization, at least it shows that this person did not eat and drink during this time, but must have consulted many people for advice and listened to the analysis of many people, so that he could make a preliminary judgment based on his own understanding.

The most commendable thing is that Yuri didn't really understand China, so he dared to say these words, otherwise, he could only make the second John Tang know it, but he could only say it insincerely!

Although Du Duhu and Zhu Changzuo are intellectually unwilling to admit that what Yuri said is very correct, they are unable to refute it, because every time he mentions China, he describes it from an objective point of view, and what he says is right, and he does not favor one over the other. In this way, the similarities and differences between China and the West are clear at a glance.

Although China is all good. But the Westerners don't seem to be what they originally thought, except for looking at the stars and the moon, everything else is useless. At least, their knowledge is also self-contained, not to mention whether they can stand or not.

As for the fact that Bekotov and others want to make a scholarly evaluation of Yuri's tirade, it is really difficult for them explorers and prisoners of war. The reason why they remained silent was a wise choice, because they didn't know what kind of feedback would be brought by this long set of words about their uninformed companion.

Hongyi gradually came out of his thoughts. I was very pleased to find that the two main listeners, Du Duhu and Zhu Changzuo, were silent in thought. This at least shows that Yuri's understanding is not nonsense, but there is some truth. That's good, and there's no need to dig into the reason, it's unrealistic to convince the two of them now.

"Lord Du. Brother Yunmen. Yuri is nothing more than a coated minion of mine. I was also too arrogant, so that he was so arrogant in front of the two of you, and said so many inconsequential things. See smiled. Hongyi said modestly.

"Where's your name? What you are talking about is indeed unheard of. Confucius has a cloud: knowing is knowing. I don't know it, I don't know. Xia Guan really knows very little about the knowledge of the Naxi people, and when he heard about it today, it was also an eye-opener! Du Duhu hurriedly comforted little Belle Ye.

"Lord Youzongzheng, what Yuri said today, Xiaguan is the same as Lord Du, and he is also inspired. In the future, if you don't know something, you still need to teach a thing or two to the You Riding School. Zhu Changzuo has long lost his initial disdain for those who can justify himself, but has some admiration in it.

"Ha Luha, it's easy to say. Didn't I want Yuri to take up a teaching position at the Firearms Research Institute? Let him go and tell the children of the flag people about these things, so as to broaden the horizons of the schoolchildren. The fashion needs a lot of guidance from two people! "Hongyi This is not hypocrisy, the enrollment work of the graduate school has been launched, and when the school starts, a few more talented assistants, whether Chinese or Western, are in demand.

After another small talk, Du Duhu and Zhu Changzuo saw that the little guy still had the intention of explaining other things to his Rakshasa descendant, so it was inconvenient to stay for a long time, and they gave a high-sounding reason, so they retired first.

In the rest of the time, Hongyi still has a lot of things to explain to "Captain Buick" and others!

(Chapter to be continued)

"A limerick poem. Hidden Head

Reading literature and reading history is only a long breath

I was saying that there was an opportunity back then

The layout is a long-cherished wish

It's hard to come and go

Get up and spend a hundred years

Point out the suffering and diseases of the world

The edge of the town was razed to the sea

Wen'an Wuding tears of joy -

[1] Leuciper was an ancient Greek philosopher of the 5th century BC, the first philosopher to propose the atomic theory (from which all things are made of atoms), and a teacher of Democritus. One says he was born in Miletus, and the other says Abdera. His doctrine was influenced by three philosophers – Zeno, Empedocles, and Anaxagoras. Around 440-430 B.C., he founded a school in Abdela where Democritus studied.

[2] Pilang (365 or 360 BC – 275 or 270 BC), also translated as Billow or Piro, is known as "Pilang of Eris". Ancient Greek skeptical philosopher, founder of skepticism, representative of early skepticism. Piro's slogan is: "Make no decisions, leave judgment on hold." "Epoche" means to suspension, which is neither definite nor negative. He advocated suspending judgments on things because of the uncertainty of things themselves. Piro claims that everything is equally undifferentiated, unpredictable, and unjudgeable. For this reason, neither our feelings nor our opinions tell us truth or error, therefore, we cannot trust them at all, but should have no opinion, no involvement, no wavering, and say to anything that it is neither nor wrong, both right and wrong, and different from right and wrong. The result of really adopting this attitude is first silence and then the absence of any annoyance. The theoretical significance of "suspending judgment" is to avoid the paradox of doubt. (To be continued......)