Hello everyone, I am Anthony. Welcome to my channel. In this video, let's continue to talk about "General Studies".

In yesterday's video, we said, with the economic recession in China in recent years, more and more people feeling powerless and anxious about reality.

Since general studies emphasize people should accept their own ordinariness and mediocrity, therefore, it is also recognized and sought after by more young people.

However, General studies only emphasize how to Recover Inner Peace by Accepting Mediocrity, but the common sense of the criteria for judging excellence and mediocrity, it is completely consistent with the mainstream evaluation system.

That is to say, it is still the default the legitimacy of the secular evaluation system is premised on.

Thus, this peace of mind is also fragile and false.

Once the pressure of social environment increases, the psychological comfort brought by ordinary learning can be easily defeated, the individual will again fall into anxiety.

Even if individuals feel I have accepted my ordinariness. However, when friends, family, and colleagues around, etc. When we still use secular standards to judge him, he still needs to spend more energy fight this evaluation on a psychological level.

So we say, true spiritual liberation, it is by no means untouched by the secular evaluation system, just seek peace and reconciliation within yourself.

On the contrary, spiritual liberation means that the spirit must take the initiative to criticize and deconstruct those false excellences, finally, a truly universal value system will be established.

Then this video, let’s explore this in depth.

Let me say one more thing before we start, if you are interested in today's video, or do you have any topic you want to discuss with me? You can contact my email to make an appointment.

Let's get back to our topic today.

We say that in Chinese society, one should try to reflect and deconstruct mainstream evaluation system, first of all, you will be questioned.

For example, people around you would say, the reason why you reflect and deconstruct, in the final analysis, or is it because you are not successful enough in this system?

If you can't eat grapes, you say they are sour.

For example, you didn't get into a good university, criticizing the education system. You criticize privilege because you don't have privilege.

Or, you are qualified to criticize only when you stand at the top of the pyramid.

These words all imply the following meaning: your criticism lacks true universality, it's just an emotional cynicism.

This question seems convincing, because Chinese culture tend to associate language with identity, tends to undermine the universal validity of language.

That is to say, the effect of language depends on who is speaking it, instead of focusing on whether the other person's words make sense first.

But this is actually ridiculous, because this implies the assumption that I want to criticize an object, first you need to become that object.

If you say so, I want to criticize a bad thing, I have to do the bad thing myself first, to be qualified to criticize.

I want to criticize the dictator, I have experienced the feeling of dictatorship myself.

This is ridiculous, of course.

Moreover, many people are indeed under this system, being treated unfairly, this creates a drive for criticism and deconstruction. This is normal.

But that doesn't mean what he said doesn't make sense.

Of course, to establish a convincing value system, indeed, we cannot remain in a simple cynicism, instead, we should pursue true depth and universality.

This means we should strive to find the underlying logic, deconstructing those false symbol systems, thereby, recover and restore the hidden intrinsic value of individuals.

Speaking of this, we have to mention Bourdieu's sociology of culture.

Bourdieu, he is arguably the French thinker I admire most.

Although Bourdieu mainly analyzed French society, the resulting theory, but his analysis does reveal general patterns, that is, how to see through the appearance of the symbol system, see clearly how the individual spirit is oppressed.

Bourdieu believes, modern society has differentiated into countless fields, every field, each has its own value system and symbol system.

These value systems and symbol systems, if you want to run, certain things must, it is said to represent the general interest, public interest, this will gain the spontaneous recognition of all members, and voluntary advocacy, this reproduces the unequal social structure.

But how can we get everyone to support it voluntarily? This requires the use of symbol systems, misleading individuals, that is, misrecognize.

Thus, for some special capital, gives witchcraft charm, creating a universal illusion in the field, adding a layer of legality to naked rule, natural, friendly outerwear.

This means the aura of these things, it is largely constructed.

For example in China, people want wealth, it's not that money is naturally attractive.

But because it is in the ideology after the reform and opening up, added a special charm.

It means that people do not worship money, it is the inherent nature of money given by the symbol system, that is, the symbolic capital behind economic capital.

For example, the reason why a person's external wealth is enviable is, because he is considered, must be more psychologically secure than yourself, more freedom, more confidence, more likely to be praised by people around you, or in other words, a broader vision and better taste.

Symbology, money and confidence, freedom, taste and other inner qualities are bound, individuals believe, those who are wealthier, must have a better inner self than oneself, and these advantages are universal.

But this concept is not immutable in China, naturally, it is largely, it was constructed after the reform and opening up.

If economic capital cannot be linked to symbolic capital, people will not envy the simple rich.

A typical example is that in many rural areas of China, villagers often envy those with power the most, rather than the powerless but wealthy.

The income of a grassroots cadre, probably only one-tenth of the township entrepreneurs, but they are often better than township entrepreneurs, it will arouse the envy of the villagers.

Actually, the villagers envy the sense of superiority behind power.

Because they will think of, some cadres usually act arrogantly, or think of when you ask someone to do something for you, a humble feeling, or heard that a boss worth hundreds of millions, in front of a petty official who can control himself, also have to smile, etc.

In short, the lifestyle, speech and behavior of those in power, will be symbolized, become a symbol of excellence.

In this field, power is more closely tied to symbolic capital than money, therefore, simply having money is not as attractive as having power.

Another typical example is, Maoist ideology, under the symbolic system of revolution, dress well, pursue a refined lifestyle and a rich life, not only is it not an object of envy, instead, it will be seen as unearned gain, bourgeois style.

A person who speaks in an overly flowery manner, using elaborate words, may be accused of being a feudal remnant out of touch with the masses.

Elegant and gentle attitude, considered a lack of revolutionary passion.

As the famous saying goes: “Revolution is not a dinner party. Not painting or embroidery. Not that elegant. So gentle, kind, respectful, frugal and modest. Revolution is a class, the violent act of overthrowing a class.”

In this symbol system, "Educated" and "revolutionary" are contrasted.

Language, behavior, even education level, they may become the object of criticism.

And more in line with "revolutionary" behavior, it is a straightforward, rough and combative expression.

A person needs to be thoroughly cleansed, the bourgeois habits in oneself, you need to go through a set of rituals to transform yourself, that is to endure hardship and fight.

In our August 4th issue, in the video about suffering worship, there is a story quoted like this: April 1949, officials who took over Nanjing's cultural system, in conversation with Nanjing intellectuals, deliberately pretending to be uncivilized... Scratching his dirty bare feet.

But he was a college student and an intellectual.

In 1949, many progressive intellectuals were like him, as if I were an old revolutionary.

Under the revolutionary ideology, civilized is actually uncivilized, the uncivilized is the real civilization.

A more typical example is, educated youth were sent from cities to rural areas, completely abandon your original lifestyle, wearing simple clothes to do farm work.

Suffering means the baptism of the soul, marks, the individual is infused with a certain magic and sacredness, and became able to create history, a member of the working people.

We can see, the same phenomenon is expressed in different symbol systems, can be given completely opposite connotations.

This attribution itself is arbitrary. There is no such thing as a natural order, the irreversible basis.

Bourdieu calls this collective misrecognition, misrecognize it as symbolic power.

A more common type of symbolic power is gender.

Bourdieu examined the customs of the Kabyle people of Africa.

He found that in the dwellings of the Kabyle natives, women's activities are mainly in the damp, dark side, the men stay on the sunny and dry side.

Women were not allowed to participate in public affairs, asked to stay at home, the housework they do, seen as trivial and lowly.

The spatial division between men and women, seen as some kind of mysterious sacred ritual, and has political and ethical implications.

In this ideology, men are masculine and powerful, women are petty and weak.

This gender concept, it is a product of indigenous society and history.

However, the indigenous peoples regard this inequality in social structure as, it comes down to the innate physiological differences between men and women, or trace it back to some more abstract concept, for example, yin and yang, sun and moon, etc.

This is the embodiment of symbolic power.

Symbolic power rationalizes the division of real systems, trying to understand the biological, in nature or philosophy, looking for some innate basis, thus giving a noble meaning to gender inequality.

But when we pull away, to examine and reflect on the connotations of these symbols, you will find that it is actually similar to magic and witchcraft.

The operation of symbolic capital, like a wizard, claiming to have some supernatural power, can turn decay into magic, putting actors in inequality without realizing it, even fully accepted the symbol system, self-evaluation and judgment.

Bourdieu calls this symbolic violence.

Symbolic violence, this is a form of soft violence, but it is better than hard violence, it can beautify and conceal the dominant relationship.

School education is a more typical example.

As Max Weber pointed out, in Western Europe, feudal society, if the emerging class wants to legalize its wealth, must obtain, Church support, canonization, so that their rule, linked to universal divine power.

In modern society, schools, to a large extent, replaced, this important function of the medieval Christian church.

The word "credentials" comes from "credentialis", to give sanctity, give authority.

The school is like a wizard casting a spell, it is ranked through a series of exams, to the students' minds, make seemingly objective and fair scoring and screening.

In our May 26 issue, video about higher education in China, also mentioned, as cultural capital is increasingly viewed as, important legal resources, therefore, since the late 1990s, the educational level of Chinese officials has begun to improve rapidly, almost all of them have a master's or doctoral degree.

Many universities, a large number of doctoral quotas are reserved for officials. Many officials have become part-time professors, doctoral supervisor, etc.

This also shows, in modern society, schools are generally regarded as, it has the inner power to judge people.

Specifically, the school will use external classification standards, embedded in the minds of students, thus, the intrinsic nature of students, ranking and sorting.

Classification criteria are something external, for example, whether they can abide by school rules, can you understand the syllabus, knowledge points arranged, can you integrate into the school environment, can you write neatly?

However, the educational system has a negative impact on the results of this classification, an internalized interpretation, and rate the individual's mental state.

For example, being able to adapt to the school environment, linked to universal adaptability.

For example, the teacher said, if you can't even stand the hardship of school, how can we adapt to society in the future? How to deal with greater setbacks?

This obviously puts whether one can adapt to school, such a special event, it has become a criterion for judging a person's comprehensive ability, and they don't even mention whether there is a problem with the school environment.

For example, the school teaches students to write neatly, it is regarded as a reflection of a positive attitude and serious work. The latter is obviously a transferable, more universal capabilities.

The writing is not neat, it is seen as impetuous and impatient.

However, this kind of school based on handwriting level, to judge students' abilities, educational ideas, in today's world where the Internet and artificial intelligence are increasingly emphasized, the Era, it seems very outdated and outdated.

A person's handwriting is not good, but he may be very good at using the Internet, to retrieve information.

Good or bad handwriting doesn't really matter. In this era, calligraphy can only be a personal hobby, it does not have universal significance.

For example, the school's definition of learning ability, all are built on, in a rather narrow and specific framework.

For example, within the two-hour test time limit, how many points can you get?

Those who get high scores are considered smart and talented. Otherwise it is stupid and lazy.

Smart and stupid, apparently a universal classification standard, it seems to be based on some objective, neutral and fair assessment system.

For example, all the exams are limited to two hours, faced with the same test questions.

However, the injustice of this assessment method lies in, he tends to filter out, a student with quick response.

But does fast reaction speed mean strong learning ability? This is obviously problematic.

In this video on November 30th, we talked about, the human brain has two learning modes.

One is the sprint mode under pressure, the other, in a stress-free, free mode in loose state.

Actually, sprint mode is easy to produce, instant, visual results, however, complex integration, connection and innovation, this is exactly what Free Mode is good at.

Apparently, strengthening of school system, it is the ability to react quickly in sprint mode.

This ability, in response to those with clear goals and clear framework, when time-sensitive tasks, indeed, better at.

However, after leaving school, most of the time, I make my own arrangements and decisions, there is no external pressure pushing you.

Many important decisions in life, for example, career planning, interpersonal relationship management, cultivation of personal interests, even cope with emergencies in life, you can't just sprint to deal with it.

The free mode, empowering people to integrate experience, the ability to discover potential and open up new paths.

However, under the discipline of the education system, students also learn to use these symbols, to know the world, and to separate others.

For example, seeing someone successful, it must be attributed to his high education, or he received a good professional education.

I didn't expect that this might be due to his personal factors.

Seeing someone fail to get into college due to some accident, subconsciously sympathize with the other person, and feel sorry for the other party.

It seems that the other party suddenly has some kind of eternal, lifelong defects.

However, the effectiveness of this classification, it's very suspicious.

The book "The State Nobility" says, Sartre received elite education in France since childhood, when he was young, he was admitted to the École Normale Supérieure in Paris.

Later he reflected that when he was 20 years old, the school's education made him feel, I understand everything, in fact, I haven't thought about anything carefully, I don't understand anything.

For example, I met some people who did not take the Chinese college entrance examination, netizens who studied undergraduate courses in Europe and the United States.

They will feel that their university is not bad, but I always feel a little guilty, feel, comparing myself with those top students who took the college entrance examination in China, my learning ability seems to be untested.

It seems that I have escaped some collective ritual.

That's it. We can summarize, the problem with general studies is that, directly accept the symbol system, judgment of the inner mind of an individual.

So his inner peace, it can only be purely subjective and temporary.

He is powerless to resist the invasion of symbolic violence.

To restore the true value of individuals, first, we need to start with the details, realize that symbol systems are created through people's misrecognition, thus, between individual minds and social structures, establishing contact.

Distinguishing this is the beginning of spiritual liberation.

So about this topic, there's still a lot to talk about.

That's all for today's show.

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Thank you for watching, goodbye!