A Critique of the "My life is finite, but knowledge is infinite" fallacy.
After Huang Yifan, under his new pen name "Qiushui", published an essay in Youth Daily, it stirred up waves of discussion.
Among the voices was the teen author "Maple Leaf".
In his article, Maple Leaf stated that cram-style education was only a partial issue, not representative of the whole of Huaguo's educational system, nor of its true nature. As for the phrase "My life is finite, but knowledge is infinite," he dismissed it as pure nonsense. If everyone thought life was limited, then should we stop reading? Stop learning?
Another teen author named "Falling Flowers in the Rain" responded with the phrase "Learn as long as you live," arguing that precisely because life is precious, we must cherish our time and study diligently. Otherwise, life would pass us by, and we'd end up with nothing.
There was also Youth Daily's popular columnist "Chong Yu", who published a rebuttal in the next issue. He believed that Huaguo's education system, at most, had minor flaws; it certainly wasn't deeply problematic. He also pointed out that school life was the most fulfilling time in one's entire life. His writing was vivid and full of youthful energy.
In total, ten young "genius" writers contributed ten essays to Youth Daily.
As luck would have it, all ten were aimed at refuting Huang Yifan.
"Interesting. Very interesting."
After guiding the new writer, "Jiangshan", Huang Yifan subscribed to Youth Daily.
Of course, he wasn't subscribing for the sake of studying; it was to see what kind of articles the paper was publishing.
After all, now that he was launching a new pen name, how could he hope to gain recognition without understanding the publication?
At first, Huang Yifan had simply been looking up information about Youth Daily online. But it got tedious, so he decided to just subscribe.
He hadn't expected that in his very first issue, he'd see pieces attacking him.
It seemed the saying held, where there are people, there's a "jianghu" (the martial world).
The traditional martial world may no longer exist, but its spirit now lives on in countless other fields and industries.
"Apologies, Mr. Fanchen. Our original intention was just to open up a conversation on cram-style education, to spark a broader discussion on the current education model in our country. We never expected that all the articles would turn out to be attacks on you."
On TT Messenger, Sun Zai'an was nearly in tears.
Things had taken an unexpected turn. He'd thought that the topic of cram-style education would resonate with students. After all, they were the ones who experienced it firsthand. Surely, they'd have grievances about the system. But what he hadn't considered was the problem of literary rivalry. At this point, it was no longer about education; it had become a matter of outshining the author named "Qiushui."
What's more, all ten of these "genius" authors were the beneficiaries of the current education system. In other words, they were the top students produced by it, the winners of life. They were all high achievers. How could they possibly oppose the current model?
It's usually the students with poor grades or weak learning ability who resent the system. Unfortunately, the world isn't always fair; those who struggle academically often lack a voice. Their opinions rarely make it to media platforms.
Still, despite all this, Sun Zai'an had agreed to publish the ten essays. He once again apologized to Huang Yifan, saying, "We in journalism do tend to gravitate toward articles that are topical and provocative."
But Huang Yifan wasn't bothered in the slightest. He didn't think there was anything wrong with being attacked, nor did he believe it would damage his reputation. On the contrary, he actually saw this as a chance to use the controversy to raise the profile of his pen name, "Qiushui."
He nodded in understanding and replied, "No worries, Editor Sun. No need to apologize. I wrote my essay; if people disagree or want to attack it, that's their business. It has nothing to do with Youth Daily. Just keep doing your job. But to be honest, their arguments are pretty weak. I think I'll have to throw some fuel on the fire."
"Fuel on the fire?"
Sun Zai'an's eyes lit up. "Mr. Fanchen, we look forward to that spark."
"Alright. I'll have the piece ready for you in an hour. Get ready for a good show."
"Looking forward to it."
After ending the call, Huang Yifan opened a new document and typed out a title: 'Exam-Oriented Education.'
That's right. "Cram-style education" was just another name for exam-oriented education, though the latter term was a bit more vivid and specific.
Truth be told, Huang Yifan hadn't had any particular thoughts on exam-oriented education at first.
The quote "My life is finite, but knowledge is infinite" was just a casual remark. But once it was out there, it sparked considerable reflection. Especially after the term "cram-style education" started circulating, the debate naturally followed.
With that in mind, Huang Yifan began to write:
[I recently wrote a piece called 'A Classroom Anecdote', just a simple entry in my personal 'Random Thoughts'. I didn't expect anyone of serious academic standing to think much of it. But once it was published, it received quite a bit of attention. Some accused me of being misleading. Others urged me to treasure time and study hard.
Let me clarify. The quote "My life is finite, and knowledge is infinite" wasn't even quoted in full. The full phrase actually ends with: "One who deems himself knowledgeable is perilous indeed."
"One who deems himself knowledgeable is perilous indeed." What does this mean? It tells us that life is limited, and knowledge is infinite. If you assume you know everything, that you've mastered all there is to learn, then you've made a grave mistake.
Take the critics of my article, for example. They believe their views are correct. They think they're smarter than others. But their knowledge is limited, their reasoning flawed, their understanding incomplete. And with that shaky foundation, they arrive at conclusions opposed to mine.
Why not reflect a little? "Among the three people walking, one is my teacher." Is it possible there's something of value in my perspective?]
Huang Yifan had read all ten rebuttals in Youth Daily.
But perhaps due to his more mature mindset, he found them sorely lacking in punch.
So he began his counterattack by citing Zhuangzi's philosophy, 'On the Equality of Things', and with that, dismantled every one of their arguments.
And he wasn't done.
Although he hadn't initially planned to write about cram-style education, now that it had become a hot topic, he figured he might as well dive in.
He continued writing:
[So-called cram-style education is just another name for exam-oriented education. And what's the core of exam-oriented education? Exams. This defines how education in Huaguo works: whatever is tested, teachers will teach. As a result, a person's abilities are judged solely by their test scores. But does scoring high mean you're truly capable? Take a look at the top scorers from Shuimu, Yanda, or other leading schools over the past few decades. What are they doing now? Most of them have become teachers. Education has become a closed loop. These top scorers now teach the next generation how to score high. Isn't that just high scores and low ability?]
As for exam-oriented education, I don't have particularly strong feelings.
I went through it myself in my previous life. While I can't say I approve of a system that teaches only what's on the test, I also haven't seen a better alternative. But right now, I don't care about that. I'm not a teacher, nor am I an education expert. I'm not obligated to propose a better system. All I have to do is criticize.
Just like how my article was criticized, do you think those critics tried to comfort me afterward?
With a flourish, Huang Yifan wrote over a thousand words in his counterattack and sent it to Sun Zai'an.
Sun hadn't left his desk; he'd been sitting in front of his computer, waiting.
He was eager to see just how Huang Yifan would throw fuel on the fire.
Less than an hour later, the piece arrived.
He opened the file, and within minutes, once again, Huang Yifan had completely stunned him.
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