回顾 | “讲好中国故事”

寒假实践系列专访

Analogies are crucial for effective communication, whether telling China's or one's own story. Analogies help the audience digest the information, but we must choose the right ones. To do so, we must first understand the key elements we want to communicate, whether it's history, values, or life in China. Additionally, we must have enough knowledge about the target audience's culture, values, and worldview. With the right analogy, we can have a powerful impact, but finding the right one is challenging. It requires having a large inventory of analogies to draw from instead of just one or two.

As I write my book on China and technology, I came across an interesting point regarding gene editing. Unlike in the West where religion plays a significant role, China lacks a deep-rooted concept of religion, dating back to ancient times and continuing in the post-49 era. This cultural difference is important to consider when explaining the benefits and risks of gene editing to Chinese audiences versus Western audiences. While a rational argument based on concrete benefits and specific risks may suffice in China, in the West, the idea of changing genes to alter human beings can be seem as objectionable, as it conflicts with the idea of God's creation. To effectively communicate China's approach to gene editing, it is crucial to understand the Western audience's religious beliefs and values. Failing to do so may lead to unintended consequences, highlighting the importance of empathy and using appropriate analogies to ensure effective communication.

To effectively understand Chinese decision-making at all levels, we need to comprehend the role of Confucianism in Chinese society. This philosophy plays a significant, albeit, often unconscious role in shaping Chinese beliefs and values, including the core value of benevolence. When contrasting this with American values of individualism and freedom, potential conflicts may arise. To tell China's story effectively, we must first determine precisely what we want to convey, and then use the most effective analogies to communicate to our audience. To achieve this, we need to have a broad and deep understanding of Chinese history, values, and worldview, similar to the classical Western education system's emphasis on reading and studying the great works of literature and art.

The concept of cosmology, which refers to the understanding of how the universe is or came into being, does not get enough attention. In the West, this idea is largely influenced by Greek philosophy and Plato's dualism view of the world. This view posits that our reality is divided into two different and separate parts, with the part we experience in our lives being the shadow reality and not the real reality. Plato's allegory of the cave illustrates this concept, where people see only shadows on the wall and think that this is reality, but the real reality is that which creates those shadows. This dualism view of the world has influenced the Christian worldview, which holds the belief in a heaven that people must work to earn a place in. In contrast, the Chinese worldview generally holds that there is only one world. While some may believe in ancestor worship, ghosts, and other beliefs, they are still living in one world. This worldview leads to a certain pragmatism since there is only one life, and people must do what they can to make this life the best possible. However, this fundamental difference in worldview can lead to misunderstandings and sometimes even hostility between cultures. Historically, some Christian individuals saw some Chinese behaviors as unethical, creating significant gaps in values and beliefs. This highlights the importance of exploring and explaining the value of different worldviews fully. By understanding and appreciating these differences, we can begin to build bridges and find common ground between different cultures.

I guess I would say it depends on the message, the medium, and the audience. You're going to be provocative. You're going to say things that might upset people because that's the nature of the media.  What if you're sitting in a formal meeting at an academic presentation? That's probably the last thing you want to do.  So you have to know the medium and what the messages are and your audience. I would say, again, it really goes back to that. You have to know what you're going to say, how you're going to say it and enough about your audience to be effective. You have to do your research to find out more about your audience.

I would like to say that this is really transnational, that we may not fully appreciate how important this is. But one thing that we are pretty sure is that it is certainly going to have an impact on the way that China interacts with the rest of the world. One of the interesting things I know is that Facebook recently released an AI app called Cicero that can play the game of diplomacy. You pretend to be the foreign minister in that role-playing game. You can negotiate pacts, you can betray people, you make alliances, you break alliances. And Cicero was able to play that and be quite good at it. To be more specific, it was able not only to make the alliances, but also to stab people in the back, to betray them, to do all those things that we normally associate with a certain kind of diplomacy.