Sunday, December 7, 2008

预兆即将成为事实:写在墙壁上的字 The Writing on the Wall

好像越来越多西方人关心亚洲人缺乏创造力。韩纳斯先生就是其中的一个。
韩纳斯会说十二这语言。他说东亚与西方国家比较,在科学与技术重要突破方面是失败的。他归罪于中国、日本、韩国的书写系统。
他写了‘汉字困境’、‘写在墙壁上的字’*之类的书。据一个网站说是‘依据认知科学和语言学识,及作者的东亚语文深刻经验’,‘为环球化中,现代亚洲所面对的一个重要问题,提供一个平衡和深思熟虑的解释。’
在中国书写系统中,每一个字对应一个音符。它是音节系统。
相比之下,西方的字母系统依赖完全抽象的字母,而单一字母并不代表一个音符。
因为东亚书写系统缺少字母的抽象特征,它们限制了科学创新所必具的分析和抽象思维。韩纳斯关注的是,沉浸于字体文化里的孩童会居于劣势,因为这些书写系统没有训练抽象思考能力。
他注意到西方的亚洲移民,在字母系统中工作,吸取和应用西方花费大量资源所创造的科学成果,来进行创意工作和赚取财源。
我们有理由相信他当他坚持他不是在批评亚洲人和说他们缺乏智力。
他本身写在墙壁上的字响亮和明显:东亚应该改用字母系统。
*注:英语The Writing on the Wall 直译是‘写在墙壁上的字’,真正的意思是指很明显的预兆(多指不祥的预兆)即将成为事实。一语双关的意图明显。
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More and more westerners seem to be quite concerned with Asians’ lack of creativity. One of them is Mr William C. Hannas.
Hannas who speaks 12 languages, blames the writing systems of China, Japan and Korea for what he says is the East Asia’s failure to make significant scientific and technological breakthroughs compared to the Western nations.
He has written books, such as ‘Asia’s Orthographic Dilemma’, ‘Writing On The Wall’, which, according to one Internet Website, are ‘based on the scholarship in cognitive science and linguistics, and the author's intimate experience with East Asian languages’, and provide ‘a balanced and thoughtful account of one of the important problems facing modern Asia in the age of globalization.’
In the Chinese writing system, each character corresponds to a syllable of sound. It is a system of ‘syllabaries’.
In comparison, the western alphabetic systems rely on letters that by themselves are pure abstractions since a single letter does not represent a syllable of sound.
Because the Eastern Asian writing systems lack the abstract features of alphabets, they hamper the kind of analytical and abstract thought necessary for scientific creativity. He is also concerned that children who are immersed in a character-based culture are at a huge disadvantage because such writing systems do not cultivate the ability for abstract thought.
He noted that Asian immigrants to the West, who work in an alphabetic system, do innovative work and make money by taking and applying the fruits of science that the West creates at great expenses.
One has good reason to believe him when he insists that he is not criticizing Asians and claiming that they lack intellect.
His own writing on the wall is also loud and clear: East Asians should switch to the alphabetic system.

2 comments:

chrix gan said...

Hi J.T

I am Chris Gan from KL, an in-law of your cousin J.K. I disagree with the finding that Asians fail to make scientific breakthrough because of their non-alphabetic learning. We need to note from history that it was the Chinese who was way advanced than their western counterpart in 1400s and before when they made gunpowder, paper, the hardest metal swordblade, flamethrower, had the largest ships even by today's standards during Zhang He's time, etc. I believe Chinese innovations died after that period not because the Chinese cannot think in abstract (the YiJing and Dao De Jing are very abstract), but I believe more so because of the suppressive regime the people is subject to, and also because the Chinese were constantly living in the warring period - situation which are hardly condusive for scientific breakthrough, and also misguided ideologies such as Communism has stunted intellectual growth. But today, the Japanese who uses characters similiar to Chinese are in the forefront of electronics and car technology - see the Toyota Prius, the Honda Asimo, etc. Western products pale comparitively to the Japanese, isn't that so?

Joon Tai 运开 said...

Well said - I agree with you totally.... I am sure many people including many from the west do not agree with the finding.
While Mr Hannas' motive is clearly written on the wall, but I do not think the Chinese today bother even to look at the wall.