The 2020 Science and Culture Forum Has Been Held Successfully
On November 9, 2020, the Science and Culture Forum organized by the Science and Culture Committee of the Chinese Society for Science and Technology Policy was held in the Health Science Center at Peking University. Cheng Zhou, the dean of the School of Health Humanities and professor from the Department of Philosophy, Peking University, and Researcher Nian Zheng, the director of the Science Information Institute from the China Research Institute for Science Popularization, participated in the forum. In addition, Prof. Yifang Wang, Prof. Cheng Zhen, Prof. Wenpei Tang, Associate Professor Qi Chen, Associate Professor Jingjing Su and young scholars from the School of Health Humanities also attended.
Professor Wang, Professor Zhen, Assistant Professor Yao and Professor Zhou presented in the forum. Professor Zheng, Associate Professor Chen, Associate Professor Su and Professor Tang were the commentators.
Longfei Pan, a lecturer from the School of Health Humanities, Peking University, introduced the participants, and emphasized that the purpose of the 2020 Science and Culture Forum was to strengthen academic exchanges and promote scientific and cultural research in China.
Yifang Wang: The Sociocultural Psychology in the COVID-19 Pandemic
Professor Wang’s talk was "the Sociocultural Psychology in the COVID-19 Pandemic". Prof. Wang analyzed the sociocultural psychology in the Covid-19 pandemic by looking back into the social phenomena in the outbreak and development stage. He pointed out that when facing the COVID-19, the Chinese government, health care workers and all citizens made great contributions. The Chinese government has shown a strong sense of mission and responsibility and fully implemented the principle "lives trumps everything". In the pandemic, the society was in order, and people from all over the country "moved" to Wuhan to rescue lives. Facing the pandemic, the Chinese people have things to rely on. In the COVID-19 outbreak, effective medical responses stimulated the efficient organization and government management system of the society . Through this pandemic, the changes of Sociocultural psychology can be observed. In the future research of science and culture, more attention should be paid to the field of sociocultural psychology.
Researcher Nian Zheng commented on Professor Wang's report. Researcher Zheng thought that Professor Wang studied the sociocultural psychology under the background of the COVID-19 outbreak from multiple dimensions, including national coordination and cooperation, medical rescue treatment, people's psychological cognition and the philosophical analysis and exploration, which set a good example of studying the multi-factors in the science and culture research. In the future scientific and cultural research, it is necessary to take social phenomena and multiple perspectives into consideration.
Cheng Zhen: History and Cognition of Pneumonia
Driven by the COVID-19 epidemic , Professor Cheng Zhen gave a report entitled "History and Cognition of Pneumonia". By reviewing the history of how human understood pneumonia, Professor Zhen summarized the contributions of medical scientists and the important inventions of medical technologies during the process. She suggested the history could provide valuable experience to the current covid-19 pandemic. Since the time of Hippocrates, people have developed a certain understanding of pneumonia. With the development of anatomy, pathology, and imaging technology, people’s understanding on pneumonia became clearer and deeper. In the fight against pneumonia, mankind has accumulated more and more lessons. During the 2003 epidemic of SARS, China was successful. When COVID-19 outbreak in this year, China took prompt measures to prevent and control the disease immediately. Medical researchers rapidly devoted themselves to the specific drugs and vaccines research for COVID-19, and all citizens actively responded to the national call, isolating themselves at home in order to restrict the spread of the disease. Through analyzing the history and the current situation, Professor Zhen believes that the following three points are important in the COVID-19: 1. National coordination: the government should take comprehensive measures to prevent and control the pandemic; 2. Medical assistance: using medical measures to promote the rehabilitation of patients; 3. Individual collaboration: individuals should follow the national measures for pandemic prevention and control.
Associate Professor Qi Chen made comments on Professor Zhen's report. She acknowledged the rich historical materials collected by Professor Zhen. The historical development and evolution of people’s understanding on pneumonia form the current scientific understanding of pneumonia. In the light of the historical cases, we should learn lessons from the history when dealing with the new issues in the COVID-19.
Liang Yao: Medical Technology & Prevention and Control of Diseases – some lessons from the history of fighting against malaria
Driven by the current situation of the pandemic, Assistant Professor Liang Yao made a report entitled "Medical Technology & Prevention and Control of Diseases – some lessons from the history of fighting against malaria". Yao summarized the major achievements in the fight against malaria and analyzed some of the shortcomings. The presentation particularly focused on how chloroquine, an antimalarial drug, played an important role in the process. Yet, it was so widely used as a kind of prophylactic that it unexpectedly accelerated the rise of the drug resistance. In the current pandemic, Yao suggested take a more cautious attitude when dealing with COVID-19.
Associate Professor Jingjing Su made comments on the report. Professor Su believed that chloroquine played an important role in preventing and controlling malaria in the globe. She said that after Yao’s presentation, we have seen more clearly why and how to deal with the pandemic with reasonable attitudes and methods, and to sum up lessons from history is an important purpose of conducting scientific and cultural researches.
Cheng Zhou: Consider the Construction of Science and Culture in the 5G Era from the Discovery of the First Virus
Professor Cheng Zhou gave a report titled "Consider the Construction of Science and Culture in the 5G Era from the Discovery of the First Virus". Professor Zhou traced the history of the discovering of the first virus, tobacco Mosaic virus and showed that young scholars, the development of experimental technology, and the changes of experimental thoughts played important roles in the process. Considering the current cultural background, Professor Zhou pointed out that during scientific research, we should dare to break the authority, establish the idea that everyone is equal in the academic field, and encourage young scholars to innovate. When facing new scientific problems, we should have a sense of innovation and a spirit of hard struggle. In the current 5G era, such innovative spirit and atmosphere as well as better academic equality are crucial in fulfilling the mission of the times.
Professor Wenpei Tang commented on Professor Zhou's report and pointed out that Professor Zhou’s analysis on the historical process of discovering the first virus shed some light on the current issues in the 5G era. The talk emphasized the importance of technological reforms as well as academic equality in scientific research. The purpose of the study of science and culture is not only to write narratives, but also draw lessons from history, so that it could provide useful ideas in the face of current challenges and opportunities.
In the forum, participants hoped to have more thorough discussions on many issues of science and culture. They also hoped to continue to strengthen scientific and cultural research, and encourage young scholars to make innovations to promote the in-depth development of science and culture in China.
