Joseph Needham’s big question is why China was surpassed by the West in science and technology. Needham believed that Confucianism and Taoism promoted a way of life incompatible with scientific advances, and that Chinese culture was not interested in the Age of Discovery. The emphasis on community thinking and respect for elders meant that questioning teachers was frowned upon, making it difficult to teach critical thinking to Chinese university students. The birth of selfhood during the European Renaissance allowed for individual scientific advancements, while China prioritized the community over the individual. Alternative theories include the idea that learning an alphabet can promote orderly thinking. A comprehensive analysis of the history of both the West and China, including religion, culture, and geography, is necessary to answer Needham’s big question.
If you look at China’s history, especially the pre-Renaissance one, you see an incredible amount of scientific and technological developments that far outstripped similar developments in Western Europe. During the Renaissance and into modern times, the opposite occurred, with Europe, and then America, taking the lead in scientific discovery and invention, while China stagnated. There have been a number of scholars attempting to answer why this has occurred and how Europe has gone from being small in terms of scientific progress to finally leading responsibility for scientific development. No one is better known for asking why this happened than Joseph Needham, who evolved what is now known as Needham’s big question.
Needham’s big question is: Why has China been surpassed by the West in science and technology? Needham’s big question breeds other questions, such as: What happened in China’s history that made the development of science and technology less important? What happened in Europe that made the development of science and technology more important? What are the cultural, religious, economic, political and historical factors that caused China to overtake?
There are numerous attempts to answer Needham’s big question. For Joseph Needham, who devoted half his life to trying to answer this question and understand the history of Chinese science, the answer had mostly to do with how Confucianism and Taoism promoted a way of life incompatible with enormous scientific advances. The emphasis on integrity in community thinking and respect for elders meant that children and even college students could not question teachers. The desire to maintain a strong cultural identity has discouraged new developments in favor of maintaining a traditional way of doing things. For Needham, Chinese culture, its philosophy and religion simply weren’t interested in the dramatic and fast-paced Age of Discovery in the West.
Needham’s theory is still noticed by Western people teaching in China. One of the difficulties noted is the challenge of teaching critical thinking to Chinese university students. While these students are as gifted, brilliant, and fully capable of intelligence as their Western counterparts, questioning a teacher is still frowned upon. Arguing with a teacher is a sign of disrespect.
Also, Needham’s big question is often mentioned when people discuss the birth of selfhood and the self that occurred during the European Renaissance. Few scientific developments are the result of a collective mindset, but instead are advances that were anti-status quo. The early scientific thinking of Renaissance thinkers often railed against the establishment, resulting in punishments from authorities (particularly church authorities) who wanted to make sure that only church teaching was acceptable. Had the church succeeded in stifling these individuals completely, we might have remained in a collective mindset, but gradually the church lost the power to do so, especially as thinking about the individual and the importance of the individual became more important.
China has been far more effective at maintaining a society that has preferred the community over the individual, while making it far less possible for individuals to achieve and establish new scientific discoveries and technologies. Although China has achieved largely due to the communist desire to compete with the Western world, there are still pockets of China especially in rural areas where the old ways prevail. A simple example today is the way modern medicine is practiced in China. It is considered extremely disrespectful to offer a second opinion that differs from the primary care physician in charge of a case. So while new solutions might be found, they might not be offered, and those living in rural China are unlikely to question a medical expert’s opinion.
There are alternative theories to answer Needham’s big question. An interesting one is the idea of how learning an alphabet, called alphabet theory, can promote more orderly thinking in young children. Others say it is impossible to answer Needham’s big question without a comprehensive analysis of the history of both the West and China, including consideration of religion, culture and geography. Needham’s great demand certainly prompted Needham to try to produce this kind of historical background, and he has published numerous works on the history of science in China, as well as working collaboratively with Chinese scientists to understand how and why the boom in science and technology of the modern era belonged to the West.
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