As with other modern sciences, in the study of history, there are various scientific theories, but they are generally the same--the productive forces determine the relations of production!

There are many such examples in the course of history. For example, the emergence of capitalism, followed by the outbreak of the bourgeois revolution, and so on.

Interestingly, however, when the social system undergoes drastic changes, science and technology often blow out. Another example: after entering the capitalist society, there will be a leap in science and technology and national strength.

Occasional flash of inspiration is not discussed here. Just like the Four Great Inventions, "Nine Chapters of Arithmetic" or "Geometric Originals", they did not allow Chinese or ancient Greek civilizations to enter modern society by leaps and bounds.

It's an all-round blowout!

There are many, many such examples. Just like the Western powers of the past, the kind of generational crushing of the colonial countries.

But there is a very important issue here: we should all know that science is the primary productive force. But judging from the above order, how does it become that the relations of production determine the productive forces?

All right! You could say this - the establishment of relations of production, in turn, promotes the development of the productive forces.

I won't argue here. If the idle egg hurts, you can study it as a fun direction.

Of course, Li Yuan will not study it when he is full. Even he is not a historian, he is nothing more than a copyist.

But don't forget, this talk show is the promotion of "The Rise of a Great Power", and what is needed most is a topic that can be hyped!

Since it's hype, of course it's not amazing!

It doesn't matter what kind of crooked way he is, he is blind with his eyes closed!

Create a very alternative view of the history of science and technology, won't the topic come?

Li Yuan said with a smile: "When I was researching history, I found that the emergence of modern civilization and modern technology is inseparable from one thing! Or rather, an invention that plays a decisive role!"

"Oh? What's that?" The host Phil and the audience looked at Li Yuan curiously.

"Glass!"

"Glass? Glass ???" Everyone was taken aback. Phil's eyes widened in disbelief.

How can it be glass? Just this kind of stuff that can be seen everywhere? Moreover, in the introduction of any history of scientific development, it seems that the invention of glass is not mentioned, and it seems that it is not important at all.

Except for those who know something about the Western Middle Ages, they should have heard that the Venetian merchants made a fortune through the glass trade or something.

Oh! There is also crossing, relying on inventions such as gunpowder, soap, and glass to achieve financial freedom. But to be honest, even if they cross the hanging in the text, they basically rank the glass last, and the degree of attention is the lowest?

How could it be glass?

Li Yuan continued to explain with a smile, "Without the appearance of glass, it would be difficult to discover the principles of optics, and telescopes and microscopes would not have been invented. Without telescopes to observe the movement of celestial bodies, there would be no initial development of physics and mathematics. Without microscopes to observe microorganisms, modern medicine and biology would not have been possible. In addition, there are beakers, graduated cylinders, and other experimental glassware. If not, it would be impossible to observe experimental reactions, and it would be impossible to produce disciplines such as chemistry."

"Huh. It seems to make some sense." Phil laughed, "But I always feel ...... It's a bit far-fetched, right? In the history of mankind, there have been many important inventions, and if we all work backwards like this, we should be able to cite many examples, right?"

"This is a phenomenon that I occasionally discovered when I wrote this book "The Rise of Great Powers"."

"Hmm. We're curious about your opinions, too." (The audience laughs)

"When I was researching the history of the rise of various countries, I suddenly discovered a very interesting phenomenon - why did modern culture, modern technology, modern institutions, and almost everything in modern times originate from Western civilization? At that time, there were three major civilizations in the world: the Western civilization, the Arab civilization, and the Eastern civilization with China as the core. So why does Western civilization come to the fore?"

"There should be a lot of literature on this research, right? But it's basically all kinds of superiority. The theory of superiority of civilization, the superiority of culture, the superiority of institutions, the superiority of geographical conditions, and the superiority of human race, etc., some of them involve the issue of discrimination, and it is not easy to say. But this theory should exist objectively."

"Uh-huh."

"But here, there's a situation that's just as interesting. In fact, in the early days of the rise of Western civilization, there was also a scientific and technological blowout, that is, in the period of Newton, a large number of famous scientists appeared, and most of the categories of modern science were established. It can even be said that the Royal Academy of Sciences at that time, with its luxurious lineup, was simply a dream team!"

"Why is this happening?" Phil said in a timely manner.

Li Yuan smiled and nodded: "I have summarized Newton and these scientists, and they basically have two common characteristics - one is that they are rich. At least a squire family. It's easy to understand. If the family has no money, they simply cannot afford higher education. The other is the boredom of idleness."

"Huh? Idle and bored?" (The audience chuckles)

"I found out that it was the time of the Black Death. Many people have returned to the countryside to escape the spread of the disease. Obviously, they will all be bored. And some people who like scientific research have started research. For example, Newton, because of the dismissal of students from Cambridge University, studied a series of achievements such as the three theorems of mechanics and the theorem of universal gravitation on a country farm."

"Haha, there does make some sense." Phil smiled and nodded.

Li Yuan continued, "In ancient China, there was a school of Confucian philosophy, and the founder was Confucius. The status should be similar to that of Aristotle in ancient Greece."

"Hehe, I know. Confucius!"

"Confucian scholars can become officials by examination. Later, Britain borrowed from this system and created the earliest civil service examination system. These scholars mainly studied philosophy and literature. Of course, there are also arts such as calligraphy and painting, music, and drama. It's like you Western aristocrats."

"Hmm."

"Going back to the topic just now, we in China also have a topic that is often debated - why did we not take the lead in entering the industrial revolution? Some say that capitalism is in its infancy. In the West, there were commercial city-states such as Venice, Rotterdam, and the Hanseatic League. But at that time, large industrial and commercial cities also appeared in the southern part of China. For example, Songjiang cloth is the emergence of a textile industry in Songjiang, and the cotton cloth produced monopolized the national market. To clarify: there were no accurate statistics on China's population at that time, but it was generally believed to be between 50 million and 100 million."

There was a commotion in the audience. Phil was also curious, "Is that true?"

"Of course it's true. It should be known that the industrial revolution in any country generally began with the textile industry. So there is a saying that at that time we also had the germ of capitalism. There is also an argument that Confucian scholars are conservative and backward and dislike any natural science. There are indeed reasons for this. Because if you want to become an official, you need to pass an exam, so you give up studying in other fields. But in fact, the mainstream society of the time did not encourage much, but it also did not oppose it much. Because of the six arts of Confucianism, that is, the six courses that need to be learned, including mathematics, engineering, physics, and the like. If you're interested in research, at most it's a hobby, similar to a hobby of painting and music."

"So do they have the money? Of course, those who are officials are very rich. Moreover, Confucianism pays attention to cultivating and reading heirlooms, and most of them are large landowners. So are they idle and bored? Let me introduce to you, there is a system in ancient China - filial piety! After the death of a parent, it is necessary to commemorate the event at home for three whole years. If you are an official, you also need to resign and go home, and then go back to become an official after three years. And it's forbidden to drink, it's forbidden to entertain, it's forbidden to socialize, and so on. Just ask you, a scholar with a high level of literacy, and a lot of money, staying at home alone for three years, will definitely study his own interests. Although most people study literature, calligraphy and painting, there are always people who explore science, and even natural science, right?"

"Also. It's just that no one is enlightened. Actually, ancient China

Yes, there is. For example, the four major inventions. Many writings have also been handed down. And then there's the chance discovery. Western chemistry, generally speculated to come from alchemy or sorcerer's apothecary? And in ancient China, there were also people with similar occupations, that is, alchemy, and so on. I heard that the invention of gunpowder came from ancient alchemy. There are also the destructive elements of war, conservative thinking, and so on. In this respect, however, medieval wars were certainly more frequent in Europe than in China. And they are more conservative and ignorant. There are shrine maidens hanged, burned at the stake, and so on. In ancient China, if you study this, at least there is no danger to your life."

Phil finally asked, "So you think there's a glass missing?"

"Yes, yes! From any point of view, ancient China actually met the technical conditions for the invention of glass. Able to create a sufficiently high temperature environment. It should be known that Chinese porcelain is very famous. And it's almost close to the finished glass. At that time, it was already possible to produce a commodity called Ruri. That is, the glass has not been purified before its form. However, in ancient China, glaze was an ornament. The biggest demand is color, so I suspect that the craftsmen are deliberately misdirectional. In other words—the wrong tech tree!"

"Wrong Tech Tree?"

"Yes!"

The audience applauded continuously. Although most of the audience was unconscious, they still admired Li Yuan's knowledge. To put it simply, Li Yuan used his Internet trivia to pretend to be forced again.

This is also very much in line with the image of a historian, and it is also very much in line with the theme of this talk show.

But to be honest, it seems to be lacking in some entertainment, right?

Phil smiled and asked, "Yuanger, what are the consequences of clicking on the wrong tech tree?"

"It's just that it's hard to carry out modern scientific research. It can be said that because there was no invention of glass, even if the Eastern civilization worked hard for a thousand or ten thousand years, there would still be no industrial revolution! And the industrial revolution spearheaded by Western civilization is inevitable."

"Huh? So are you sure?"

"I think that's it! Did you find that such a humble invention as glass could explore modern science and gradually create and improve the modern scientific system. As for the emergence of the industrial revolution, the establishment of a modern social system, etc., it is either this country or that country. There is indeed an accident in this, but from the perspective of the historical process, it is inevitable. Let me extend here that if the history of mankind had not pointed out the technological tree of glass, perhaps in another million years, we would still be living in the dark age of ignorance and conservatism."

"Huh? Sorry to interrupt, are you so sure?"

The audience burst into laughter.

Li Yuan nodded affirmatively: "Without telescopes, microscopes, and transparent glassware, we can't observe at all, right?"

The laughter was louder.

"Alright then! Trust your point of view for now. Is there any basis for your claim?"

"Of course there is, it's the big sieve theory. The Great Sieve Theory is derived from the Fermi paradox – why haven't we found aliens yet? It is believed that in the universe, the emergence of intelligent beings will have a process of great screening. Perhaps the human beings on our earth have already broken through this great sifting and will conquer the whole universe sooner or later in the future; Maybe we haven't encountered this great sieve before, then we will never be able to get out of the solar system! Let's make an assumption: a planet in the universe also gave birth to intelligent beings, that is, aliens. If they hadn't opened the glass tree, they would never have been able to enter the Industrial Revolution and would have been trapped on that planet."

"I see, poor aliens, their maidens don't have mirror makeup?" (The audience laughs)

"It should be a good sci-fi theme." (The audience burst into laughter)

"Yuanger, there's a question I'm curious about, do you think you're an alien?"

Li Yuan's firm ...... Shaking his head, "I don't think so!"

"Huh?"

It should be said that with the popularity of science fiction and science fiction movies, most people around the world believe that there are aliens. People like Li Yuan who don't believe in it are definitely an anomaly, right?

Li Yuan laughed: "Let's make an assumption, there are aliens like us humans in the universe. Generally, it can be divided into two types:

One is benign and the other is malicious, but either way, they will definitely explore or reconnoitre. With the technology we have, theoretically, we can build a flying machine that can reach one-tenth of the speed of light."

"There is no discussion here about cost and return on investment. I don't think about manned spacecraft or anything. It's an unmanned, self-replicating robot. After reaching the next planet, they will use the materials on the planet, make a few copies of themselves, and then fly to the next planet. Of course, this is a theoretical calculation, and if you want to complete such an unmanned reconnaissance replication robot aircraft, you still need to click on a lot of technology trees. But as long as you do whatever it takes, in a few hundred years, you should be able to come up with a very mature product."

"Then it's hundreds of years from now. If there were such a spacecraft at a tenth of the speed of light, it would only take a million years to be able to travel to every planet in the galaxy."

"Then here's the problem. Perhaps we think that 1 million years is quite a long time. But on a cosmic scale, 1 million years is less than 1 second. If so, how many alien civilizations are there in the galaxy? Our planet should be surrounded by such flying machines. Alien civilizations may have more advanced or weirder technology, but there must be similar technology to ours. But where are they? This is the Fermi paradox!"

To be honest, it's none of my business if there are aliens or not! The key is to create a buzz! Make it hot!

Sure enough, the whole scene suddenly boiled. Phil smiled, "Yuanger, your point of view is amazing! But...... I do want to believe you." (The audience laughs)

Li Yuan shrugged: "I haven't figured it out, how can I talk about aliens from recommending a history book?" (Hilarious)

"Alright! So what's your point of view?"

"Technology drives history. As I just introduced, the advent of glass drove the Industrial Revolution. And then the nations moved on to modern history. And the emergence of the first industrial revolution gave rise to an empire on which the sun never sets, such as Britain; In the second revolution, great powers such as the United States and Germany appeared. It's the third industrial revolution, so there's a chance for any country!"

「……」