Recently, marine geologist and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Wang Pinxian, approaching the age of 88, decided to bid farewell to Bilibili (Bilibili), "there's no banquet that never ends. I cherish the friendship with hundreds of thousands of young people, and I won't forget the enthusiasm of everyone."
Over 1.7 million fans, with views often reaching hundreds of thousands to millions, and the barrage filled with applause and praise... Wang Pinxian just dropped it.
"I hope to stop while it’s at its peak. This is my philosophy," said Wang Pinxian.
Previously, at the age of 82, Wang Pinxian took the "Deep Sea Warrior" to dive three times in the South China Sea. Speaking about this to the China Science Journal, he said, "I would like to criticize those scientists who do not go to the front line." "It's a very bad habit to be a researcher without going to the front line."
Pinxian Wang
Q: What are your plans now as you are leaving Bilibili?
A: I have more important things to do. For decades, I have been working on deep-sea science, but I came to the realization that if I do not combine it with the whole earth science, it will be a self-indulgent interest. With the development of modern science, disciplines are increasingly finely categorized, so we actually need to combine them. Deep sea and land form a whole. The earth is one entity, where change in one part affects all other parts. When we add deep sea research into the picture, we will need to revisit the whole earth science.
Over the next two years, I want to promote the integration of deep sea research with the whole earth science research.
Q: A few years ago, you mentioned that you would draw the brake on science after turning 85, but you do not seem to have done so.
A: A few years ago, my focus was science and culture. In 2021, I taught an elective course titled "Science and Culture" to students at Tongji University. Later, the publishing house compiled and published the course recordings.
The reason I started teaching the course was that, after so many years, I came to realize that the root cause of the lack of scientific innovation lies in culture. There are parts in our traditional culture that are unfavorable to scientific innovation.
So, I wanted to write two books, one on science from a cultural perspective, and one on culture from a scientific perspective. In 2022, I published Scientific Jokes, which is about the first topic and is relatively easy to write. The other book is about culture from a scientific perspective, which is hard to write. That is because my cultural accomplishment, including my attainment in classical Chinese literature, is not good enough, and I do not know much about western culture. Thus, it will be difficult for me to write about it. If I live long enough, I would like to work on it again. Another reason is that there are too many red lines.
Therefore, I made a new plan. If I live to 90, what should I do in the remaining five years? The first two years are already over, focusing on science and culture and scientific outreach. In the coming two years, I will return to science.
I left one year as a buffer. I do not dare to say much about it. I will play it by ear and decide what to do in that year. I am not going to talk about what's beyond that.
Q: Why do you still work so hard at your age?
A: Resources are abundant now, and everyone treats me very well. Why not do something more? Only now do I realize that many things I did when I was young were wrong. Only when I grew old did I understand what is right.
Q: You do not seem to mind your age. No wonder people call you "an elderly child". You dove three times in the South Sea on board the "Deep Sea Warrior" when you were 82. That was astonishing. Why did you insist on diving at the time?
A: That is very simple. I was studying the deep sea but had never seen it myself. How uncomfortable it was. When "Jiaolong" was diving, I wanted very much to go, but I did not make it. When it came to "Deep Sea Warrior", I got the chance. It was great.
There was another reason. I wanted to criticize those scientists who do not go to the front lines. When I was leading the "South Sea Deep Project", some people received funding of several million or even tens of million, so I asked them, "Why don't you go out to sea?"
They said, "If I go, I will take away research opportunities from my students."
I said, "Is that something a human being should say?" In their 40s or 50s, they become professors and stop going out to sea.
Hu Shi once criticized us as, "Chinese scholars all wear loose-fitting gowns and do not do any hands-on work." It is a very bad habit to do science without going to the front lines.
I understand that criticizing someone a hundred times is not as good as personally doing it once. When others say "I am not feeling well", I say, "Do as you wish."
So, I also felt motivated. After I actually dove, it was a breeze.
Later, the captain told me, "Next time, when we go to the Mariana Trench, come again!"
Wang Pinxian Submerges in the South China Sea with "Deep Sea Warrior"
"Someone with One Foot Out the Door is Not a True Hero"
"China Science Daily": You've said that most of your "weighty" work was done after you were selected as an academician, after the age of 60. You've even joked that you were an "academician after 60". But 60 is the typical retirement age.
Wang Pinxian:
I have a problem with the current retirement age. It's fine for people who do manual labor to retire at 60, but for intellectuals, and especially for many scientists, they are just beginning to understand how to do science at 60. But then they are asked to go home.
I know a professor who still had a lot of research ideas after he retired. But all he could do was tell his students his ideas, and have the students apply for grants to do them, and then he would "work for" his students.
So when I was a deputy to the NPC and CPPCC, I suggested to the National Science and Technology Fund that they create a "Sunset Fund". Retired scientists could apply for small grants to continue their unfinished work. Unfortunately, that suggestion was never implemented.
"China Science Daily": We emphasize "giving the young opportunities". If people over 60 continue to work, doesn't that take up resources and opportunities that could go to younger people?
Wang Pinxian:
I think we need to separate two issues: taking up resources, or taking up leadership positions, from doing scientific research.
I stopped taking on new students 20 years ago because I realized that if I did, my students and my students' students would have problems. When a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are pregnant at the same time, that inevitably causes problems. You can't do that. So that's why I've been doing my own research.
Zheng Banqiao said, "It's hard to play dumb." Now that other people are in charge, we shouldn't criticize or take up their positions and resources.
But that doesn't mean we can't do our own research. We should let retired professors finish those research projects and programs that they were not able to complete, and as much as possible provide them with an office or desk space.
"China Science Daily": What advice do you have for young scholars?
Wang Pinxian:
We shouldn't be content with just publishing one article in a foreign journal. If you don't have any new ideas, then you're just an "outsourcer". A foreigner gives you a problem to solve. You buy foreign equipment, do the work, and then publish your results in a foreign journal.
Someone with one foot out the door is not a true hero.
We need to do our own research, groundbreaking research. That's not easy. Like me now, I can only pose problems, and hope that someone in the future will solve them.
