【國外編輯部專欄】中國人對創造力的濫用

 

作者/Yong Zhao

編譯/黃于馨

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 中國人對創造力的濫用

 

當今,中國發明已經成為全球熱門的話題。中國人以發明來跳脫『中等收入陷阱』是無庸置疑的,但是,能否成功創新仍舊是個問題。

創意是人的天性,假設創造力可以被平均分配,中國應該要俱有與人口等量的創意基因。因為中國的人口遠遠超過美國人口的三倍,應該也要有三倍像是史蒂夫·賈伯斯這樣的創意人才。但是,中國近代的科技貢獻卻不多,儘管中國的專利申請和科學期刊正以驚人數量成長,卻無法得到其他國家對他們在創新發明能力上的信服。

很顯然,中國在將創意潛能轉型為重要創新發明上失敗了。中國究竟怎麼了?創造力怎麼會在中國迷航呢?主要因素在於中國的獨裁主義精神,以完全服從獎勵和懲戒政策為旨。

很多人都認為服從會減少創造力,但,事實上服從卻能激起人民的創意。只是這樣的創造力並不俱有成效,反倒造成種種騙局,因為人民並非實際服從,而是僅止於形式上的順從。

舉例而言,中央政府反貪污政策中明訂政府官員不能喝昂貴的酒或在高級餐廳用餐,於是中國政府官員為了遵守政策,發揮創意,將昂貴的酒倒入一般飲料罐裡、把高級宴會地點移至農場舉辦、並讓五星級飯店主廚進駐地方烹煮工作餐;而當中央政府訂立耕地環境保護規則時,地方政府官員再度發揮創意,訂製綠色山水畫、以土壤鋪路種植蔬菜和大豆來展現他們對中央政府規範的服從。

『上有政策,下有對策』已經成為用來描述這種『欺君罔上』現象的普及名詞。中國地方當局表面上能如願完成中央政府的要求,獲得人民肯定,私底下卻浪費了大量資源及創造力。

而中國中央政府近期為了提倡創新,威逼利誘,只是中國人民卻又再一次以「創意」來達成政府的期望。

上個月,數名中國境內囚犯以自身專利發明獲得減刑。前任重慶市公安局長王立軍因為濫用職權被判監禁15年,他共取得254件專利,其中211件在一年內提出申請;另一位天津市公安局的吳長順則有35件專利被承認。以上大部分的專利都是攸關警察設備和配件。雖然這是一種營利手段,但是大部分專利都是用來添購公安局設備,因此兩人都得到特權和聲譽。

約十年前,陳進宣稱自己發明國際先進的電腦晶片漢芯一號(也稱作中國芯片一號),得到中國政府賜予地大量金錢和榮耀,然而,事實上陳進卻是運用「創意」,從摩托羅拉公司引進貨物,再僱用外籍員工來移除產品上的摩托羅拉標誌,並設法通過中國官員和專家的檢驗;而中國井岡山大學的一位教授也很有「創意」,在國際期刊發表超過40份的論文,一舉賺進數十萬人民幣,但是,這些論文後來卻被撤回,因為約有30份的作品是來自同一所學校的偽造論文。

中國人與生俱來的創意並不比別人少,也不是因為他們不願冒險或是有意詐欺,而是獨裁主義的完全服從精神左右人民的創造力。換言之,因為不能反抗國君,人民就會利用很有「創意」的方法來欺君。

中國的未來必須仰賴他們如何將創意成功翻轉為有建設性的創新能力。而最關鍵的,是中國當局能用多快的速度來改變獨裁體制政策。

 

【作者介紹:Yong Zhao】

Yong Zhao關注世界各地的教育問題,特別是在有關全球化和教育,創造力,全球競爭力,教育改革和教育技術的問題

 

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Fooling the emperor: How is creativity misapplied in China?

 

China’s capacity for innovation has become a hot topic for China, the U.S., and the rest of the world today. There is no question that China must innovate its way out of the “middle income trap.” But whether the country – which over the last thirty years has proven to be able to make everything – can create anything new remains questionable.

The question is not about whether the Chinese people are creative. Creativity is human nature. Genetically speaking, creativity should not have any ethnic bias or favor any one nation. If creativity is evenly distributed, China should have its equal share of the same genetic stock of creativity as any other nation. Given that its population size is more than three times of that in the United States, China should possess three times the number of great creative geniuses such as Steve Jobs. It also claims to be the only ancient civilization that has a non-stop history of over five thousand years and the most powerful empire in the world, which should have given it more time to accumulate creativity and innovation.

But China has produced very few inventions in science and technology that matter much in the modern world, at least not enough protect the nation from Western aggressions backed by scientific and technological innovations. Even today, despite its stunning growth in patent applications and scientific publications, the country has yet convinced many of its ability to innovate and invent.

China apparently has failed to turn its creative potential into significant innovations and inventions. What happened to all the creativity China had? How does creativity get lost in China?

Speculations abound. No single reason can be used to answer such complex questions. But a major culprit is the authoritarian spirit that advocates complete obedience to authority and results in policies that rewards compliance and punishes defiance. While many people believe obedience results in less creativity, it actually can boost creativity, making people more creative. But the creativity is not productive, in fact counterproductive because it is applied to simply demonstrate obedience, without actual compliance, resulting in token compliance – a form of cheating.

For example, to show compliance to the government’s anti-corruption wishes, which include measures such as prohibiting government officials to enjoy expensive alcohol and elaborate banquets in luxurious restaurants, Chinese government officials have been found to be extremely creative: they put ultra-expensive alcohol such as Moutai in Coke bottles or ordinary drinking bottles; they move elaborate banquets to farm houses; they bring chefs from five-star hotels to cook their “working meals” in their local cafeterias. To comply with environmental regulations, local officials in more than one place creatively ordered mountainsides painted in green. In more than one provinces, local officials rushed to cover paved roads with soil and plant vegetables and soybeans to show the inspectors their compliance with government regulations about conserving farmland.

Shangyou Zhengce, Xiaoyou Duice, literally “the higher authorities have policies, the lower have countermeasures,” has become a common phrase to describe the phenomenon of “emperor-fooling.” This is why in China, the authority seems to always have their demands met and wishes granted by its people, albeit at great cost with wasted resources and creativity.

China’s recent campaign for innovation has met the same fate. To stimulate innovation, the government has employed all sorts of carrots and sticks. The Chinese people have again applied their creativity to realize the government’s wish.

Last month, a number of convicts received a reduction of prison term as a reward for their patented inventions. Former police chief of Chongqing Wang Lijun, now serving a prison term of 15 years for abuse of power was granted 254 patents, 211 of which were filed in one year. His counterpart Wu Changshun in Tianjin has 35 patents granted. Most of their patents were related to police equipment and accessories. They were commercialized but mostly purchased by their own departments, and earned them both royalties and fame.

About 10 years ago, Chinese governments showered money and glory upon Chen Jin, who claimed to have invented a sophisticated computer chip Hanxin #1 (or China Heart/Chip #1), which turned out to be a chip he bought from Motorola. However, he creatively hired some migrant workers to remove the Motorola label and managed to pass the inspection of Chinese officials and experts. A professor at Jinggangshan University found a creative way to have over 40 papers published in international journals, which earned him hundreds of thousands of RMB. But these papers were later retracted, together with about 30 from the same university, for fabricated and falsified data.

There are many more forms of creative and entrepreneurial token compliance. Fabricating research papers and faking journal publications for sale have become a multimillion-dollar enterprise in China, so has the creation and sailing of junk patents. Less courageous professors, medical doctors, nurses, engineers, and professional researchers resort to other forms of creative compliance: publishing the same paper in multiple places, splitting a paper into multiple publications, creatively modifying existing publications, or plagiarizing. As a result, China now receives more patent applications than the U.S. and publishes millions of scientific papers. But the majority of them are of low quality.

By nature, Chinese are no less creative than other people; nor are they less inclined to take risks, or more predisposed to cheating. The authoritarian spirit of absolute obedience to authority seems to direct creativity to risky cheating in order to realize the wishes of the high authority, which may or may not be shared by the people. In other words, while the emperor’s wishes cannot be denied, but people can creatively fool him.

China’s future rests on its ability to turn creativity into constructive innovations and inventions. But whether it can do so depends on how quickly it can change the authoritarian mindset.

 

【Author:Yong Zhao】

Yong Zhao speaks around the world on educational issues, particularly on issues related to globalization and education, creativity, global competitiveness, educational reforms, and educational technology.

 

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圖片來源:melenama@flickr

原文刊登於《zhaolearning.com》,經作者Yong Zhao授權編譯,未經許可不得轉載

 

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