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Humanities and Social Sciences Also Vital in New Economy Era
Humanities and social sciences should be given more attention around the world to push the development of a knowledge economy, said Li Wenhai, president of the People's University of China, at the Presidents of World Prestigious Universities Forum.
Li made these comments Friday at the International High-tech Industries Week in Beijing. He stressed that knowledge economy is composed of technological development and humanities and social sciences.
During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), China excelled in the fields of natural sciences, production technology and economic development. The Industrial Revolution first took place in Europe, not only because of abundant scientists and engineers in that continent but also thanks to the Renaissance and revolutions in social thinking, said Li.
Li Yining, a well-known Chinese economist and also a professor of Beijing University, said that the new economy era asks college students to be creative and express new ideas.
Natural science and technological innovation may either benefit or bring disasters to human beings depending on how people use them. Nuclear power is a good example. It can either destroy a whole country, or it can generate heating power or electricity for the whole world.
Last year, a graduate in Shanghai Fudan University illegally used the password of a company to surf the Internet for over 2,000 hours, bringing it economic losses of 160 million yuan (about 19.2 million U.S. dollars). Eight websites in the US, including Amazon. com, were hit by hackers this February, resulting in economic losses of US$ 1.2 billion.
Experts said a lack of moral education in schools has seen a rapid increase of teenager hackers in recent years. They simply want to show off their computer skills.
"Paying no attention or just looking down upon the importance of humanities and social sciences are quite commonplace in Chinese society, which will affect the sustained development of economy in the long run," said Li Wenhai. According to him, technology, humanities and social sciences development will bring about mutual benefit and push forward social development.
Also, humanities and social sciences development will allow people to know how to tackle unemployment, income gap, and other conflicts during the economic reform calmly and wisely, said Li Wenhai.
College students are the main force for the new economy era. Up to now, there are altogether 226,000 graduates in China, with 48, 000 for doctorate degree.
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