Soft science information

At the beginning of 20 10, the State Council issued the Outline of the National Medium-and Long-Term Science and Technology Development Plan (2006-2020), which is a programmatic document with more than 40,000 words, and has made a comprehensive plan and deployment for China's future science and technology development in 15. However, some people may not know that there are more than 2,000 experts from science and technology, economy, management, enterprises and other fields behind this document, which is a hard demonstration of 20 topics for more than a year.

"The strategic study of the national medium-and long-term science and technology development plan is the largest soft science research in China in the new century, and it is also one of the most successful soft science research." Xu Guanhua, Minister of Science and Technology, commented.

The comprehensive evaluation of the Three Gorges Project, the demonstration of the development along the Beijing-Kowloon Railway, the demonstration of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project, and the start of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway ... Soft science research has played a strategic and forward-looking key role in the major decision-making of China's national economic and social development.

From "slapping the head" to scientific argumentation

Decision-making mistakes are the biggest mistakes. The decision we made in the past to "pat our heads" made us pay a huge social price. Wang Yiming, vice president of the Macroeconomic Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission, said, "If we want to demonstrate the technological development in a certain field, we often need to mobilize thousands of experts to provide scientific support for decision-making."

The demonstration of Three Gorges Project can be said to be a classic example of soft science research. "The demonstration process of the decision-making of the Three Gorges Project is a good example of the combination of soft science research and hard technology research, and an example of organizing experts in various fields, multidisciplinary, inter-departmental and inter-disciplinary operations. In the process of this decision, more than 1000 people participated. " The State Council Counselor and former Secretary-General of the Ministry of Science and Technology Shi Dinghuan, who directly participated in the demonstration of the Three Gorges Project, said.

"The Three Gorges Project was considered from the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China and was also affected during the Cultural Revolution. Around 1982, many people proposed to go. " Shi Dinghuan recalled: "At that time, the State Planning Commission held the first meeting of the Three Gorges Project demonstration in Jingfeng Hotel. I remember that a low dam scheme with dam height150m was put forward at that time, which looked similar, but many experts still put forward different opinions and the debate was very fierce. "

"Later, the Three Gorges Project Demonstration Leading Group, jointly composed of the State Science and Technology Commission and the Planning Commission, fully demonstrated the problems faced by the Three Gorges Project and the possible problems in the future. There were two opinions at that time. One view is that the Three Gorges Project is no longer a big problem and should be carried out quickly. Another view is that the Three Gorges Project still faces problems such as sediment, geology, migration, ecology and comprehensive benefit evaluation. In the latter opinion, the debate about whether the immigration problem can be solved, how to solve it, whether the ecological environment problem can be solved, how to solve it, and the protection of cultural relics is also quite fierce. "

"Finally, the demonstration of the Three Gorges Project was handed over to the Ministry of Water Resources for demonstration. Later, it was proved that the preliminary demonstration of the Three Gorges Project was quite sufficient, which laid the foundation for the later engineering design and construction. Of course, in the process of engineering construction, problems will gradually be exposed and need to continue research. " Shi Dinghuan said.

Hard and soft still exist.

The phenomenon of emphasizing "hard" over "soft" still exists in scientific and technological circles. "People often attach importance to hard achievements such as high technology, but they cannot measure the gold content of soft achievements such as' high-tech development strategy'." Some soft science researchers say so.

Although the development of soft science has been paid more and more attention, the investment in soft science research still needs to be strengthened. According to reports, in developed countries, the proportion of investment in soft science usually accounts for 5%- 10% of its R&D expenditure, while that in China is less than 1%. In this regard, Shi Dinghuan suggested that government departments should take various forms to increase investment in soft science research, so that soft science can make decision-making more scientific and democratic, and play a greater role in enhancing the ruling ability.

Soft science research results are hard-won, but it can not be ignored that many soft science research results have been shelved.

Some soft science research likes to take the form, and finally put forward irrelevant suggestions or conclusions. "Shi Dinghuan is not polite, pointing to the shortcomings in current soft science research." Soft science research needs in-depth investigation, discussion and even heated debate. It is necessary to comprehensively improve the efficiency of soft science research, strengthen evaluation, and really let soft science research results play a role in decision-making. "

"It is also important to cultivate a high-level soft science research team." To this, Wang Yiming also agreed. "Soft science research institutes need not only professionals, but also talents with macro and global vision, rich knowledge structure and practical experience. In addition, they must fully understand the national conditions, understand the decision-making process, and have a certain understanding of foreign experience and practices. "