个体与群体:人类社会的认知与互动模式

Individual and Group: Cognitive and Interaction Patterns in Human Society

人们认识世界及处理人际关系的认知视角以及相应思维方式可分为两大类:个体视角和群体视角。前者把所有人视为具有特性的个体,后者把所有人归类为分享某些共性的不同群体。这两种视角和这两类信息都是重要的知识来源,在生活实践中缺一不可。在群体交往中,由于不同群体间在语言、宗教信仰、文化习俗等方面存在差异,导致将对方视为他者甚至“异类”而出现防范排斥心理。在社会革命中,对抗双方形成位于矛盾两极的两大政治集团,把对方视为“敌人”。这种强调“群体共性”、忽视“个体特性”的思维定式与一神教文化传统有关:把世上众生分为本教信徒和异教徒两个群体,排斥异教徒。中华文化传统没有这种二分法,主张“有教无类”“和而不同”。在19世纪欧洲社会矛盾激化的历史时期,马克思主义创始人分析研究了当时的主要社会矛盾即“阶级斗争”。相关理论和群体观在20世纪初被中国革命者所接受,在中国社会形成“革命者”与“反革命”两大阵营。改革开放以来,坚持解放思想、实事求是,根据社会实践和发展规律,开展真理标准的大讨论,及时放弃“以阶级斗争为纲”,成为推行改革开放的突破口。当今,中国共产党以人民为中心,在中国社会赢得崇高威望,成为带领全国人民努力实现民族复兴“中国梦”的中坚领导力量。在当今中国社会,尊重公民基本权利、以法治为规范的个体视角,应当成为占主导地位的认知与互动模式。

The cognitive perspectives and corresponding thinking patterns through which individuals perceive the world and navigate interpersonal relationships can be divided into two categories:individual perspective and group perspective.The former views all individuals as unique entities with specific characteristics,while the latter categorizes individuals into different groups based on shared characteristics.Both perspectives and types of information are important sources of knowledge that are indispensable in practical life.In group interactions,differences in language,religious beliefs,cultural customs,and other aspects between different groups can lead to a defensive and exclusionary mentality towards others perceived as“different”.During social revolutions,two major groups opposing each other would develop into two political groups at the extremes of the contradiction,considering the other side as“enemies”.This kind of thinking pattern that emphasizes“commonality of the group”while neglecting“individual characteristics”is related to the monotheistic cultural tradition,which divides all beings into believers and non-believers,excluding the latter.In Chinese cultural tradition there is no such binary division while it advocates for“teaching without discrimination”and“harmony in diversity”.During the intensified social contradictions in 19 th-century Europe,the founders of Marxism analyzed the primary social contradiction at that time,namely“struggles between classes”.The related theories and group perspectives were later embraced by Chinese revolutionaries in the early 20th century,leading to the formation of two major camps in Chinese society:“revolutionaries”and“counter-revolutionaries”.After the end of the Cultural Revolution,adhering to the principles of emancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts and questioning the prioritization of“struggles between classes”,became the breakthrough for promoting the policy of reform and opening up.In contemporary Chinese society,the Communist Party of China places the people at the center of all its work,earning high prestige and becoming the leading force in guiding the Chinese people’s efforts to achieve the“Chinese Dream”of national rejuvenation.In today’s China,a dominant cognitive and interaction pattern should be adopted based on respecting citizens’basic rights,upholding the rule of law,and adopting an individual perspective.