The Need and Feasibility of the UN to Lead the Human Community in Creating a Digital Planet(021)
— An Open Letter to UN Secretary-General Guterres and Global Sages
5.3 The Truth of Cognition
Isn’t cognition just cognition? What truth is there to it? This question is actually more complex and difficult to understand than the frameworks and core concepts discussed above. Because the truth at this level of cognition cannot be understood through objective facts or even objective trends, it can only be grasped through metaphysical intuition or insight.
Wikipedia believes: “Cognition refers to the ‘mental actions or processes of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses.’ It covers all aspects of intellectual functions and processes, such as: perception, attention, thinking, intelligence, knowledge, memory and working memory, judgment and evaluation, reasoning and computation, problem-solving and decision-making, understanding and production of language. Imagination is also a cognitive process because it involves thinking about possibilities.” This explanation of cognition is quite clear. Isn’t this the truth of cognition?
Not really. This is only the manifestation and functional pattern of cognition, and does not involve the truth of cognition. So, we’ve talked so much about the framework of cognition and the core of cognition before, isn’t that discussing the truth of cognition? Not really either, as that’s just my cognition, not your cognition, and certainly not the truth of cognition.
The truth mentioned here can also be understood as “truly cognizing true knowledge.” Not only is it truly cognized, but it is also cognizing “true knowledge” (or “knowledge of truth”). In some cases, even though you have cognized something, and your cognition is very clear and distinct, it may still be wrong, false, or erroneous. This is not true knowledge. The so-called “true knowledge” is what Wang Yangming called “innate knowledge.” It is knowledge that conforms to the objective laws of things and is concerned with the truth. Only when everyone has such cognition can a broader consensus be built.
Lev Tolstoy once said, “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” This saying conveys the same idea. Happy families all have cognition that conforms to objective laws, so they are fundamentally the same. Unhappy families, on the other hand, have deviations in their cognition. These deviations are myriad and unique, making each family unhappy in its own way. To use an inappropriate analogy, happy families all recognize that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. This is the truth that conforms to objective laws. Therefore, their houses are built facing south, providing warmth in winter and coolness in summer, achieving comfort and harmony. Unhappy families, however, have different beliefs; some think the sun rises in the west, some in the south, and some in the northeast. Obviously, their cognition is not the truth. As a result, their houses are built facing different directions, leading to varying levels of discomfort and disharmony.
Since the testimony of happy families is successful, people believe in them and it is easy to unify consensus. In contrast, unsuccessful testimonies of unhappy families are not believed, making it difficult to form a consensus. Therefore, in order to maximize the consensus among people, it is essential to let more people understand and grasp the truth of cognition, that is, to enable more people to “truly cognize true knowledge.”
In today’s era, to save the United Nations and humanity, all necessary conditions, resources, and tools are in place. The only thing missing is consensus. Consensus is determined by cognition, and without cognition, there is no consensus. However, everyone’s cognition is different, and no individual or organization can unify the cognition of billions of people. This seems to be an unsolvable problem. In fact, this era has created a treasure and shortcut for us to crack this problem, which is to let everyone grasp the “truth of cognition” and enable everyone to “truly cognize true knowledge.” This is the purpose of this section and the greatest value and significance of the entire “Cognition” chapter. Once each of us understands and grasps the truth of cognition, we can maximize the cohesion of human consensus and form the social force to change the world and the fate of humanity.
5.3.1 The Truth of Cognition Lies in “Belief”
Previously, we mentioned Yuval Noah Harari and his book “Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow.” His famous work, published earlier, is “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind.”
In this book, Harari presents an important view. “The secret of human beings becoming the masters of the Earth lies in the ability of a large number of individuals who do not know each other to cooperate on a large scale. The basis of such cooperation is ‘fictional stories.’ Then, by spreading these stories, as long as everyone believes in this ‘fictional story,’ everyone will cooperate according to the same rules, the same order, and the same social norms.”
This viewpoint is generally correct, but the problem lies in how to make every person believe in this fictional story. Moreover, the story must be novel, large enough, and related to everyone’s interests in order to have the power to change the world. If it is just a “fictional story” about “building fish ponds in the Sahara Desert,” although it is novel, the interest of a fish pond can only involve a few dozen people at most. Even if they all believe it, it can only form a consensus among a few dozen people, and the power of consensus is not strong enough. However, a “fictional story” about “creating a nation” can gather much more human consensus. The key lies in the word “belief” mentioned earlier. It is not difficult to tell a “fictional story,” and it is also easy to tell a novel and large “fictional story.” However, it is extremely difficult to make every person believe in this “fictional story.” The truth of cognition is how to make every person, or as many people as possible, believe in this “fictional story.” If every person, or as many people as possible, can believe in a “fictional story,” then the maximum value and significance of cognition can be demonstrated.
“United Nations reform” is also a “fictional story.” However, being old-fashioned and petty, people outside the United Nations officials and internal staff would not care about it. “United Nations self-rescue” is a slightly more novel “fictional story,” but still, few people pay attention to it. On the other hand, a “fictional story” like “the United Nations entering the metaverse to create a digital Earth, reconstructing a new human civilization, allowing everyone to achieve financial freedom while also providing the United Nations with abundant funds to complete its self-rescue” is not only about the United Nations saving itself, but also about saving human civilization and Mother Earth. It is novel enough and large enough, and it is related to everyone’s interests, with the potential to gather the consensus of every person around the globe. The biggest problem to solve now is how to make as many people as possible around the world believe in this “fictional story.”
And this is also the core of whether our cognitive transformation can truly be completed and whether the United Nations self-rescue and human self-rescue can ultimately succeed.
(to be continued)
The English translation is mainly done by AI and is inevitably not accurate enough. Please refer to the original Chinese text below for a more accurate understanding.
联合国引领人类社会打造数字地球的必要性和可行性（021）
— — 致联合国秘书长古特雷斯及全球贤达的公开信
5.3 认知的真相
认知不就是认知吗，还有什么真相？这个问题，其实比上面阐述的框架和内核更复杂、更难理解。因为，这个真相层面的认知，无法借助一些客观事实、甚至客观趋势来理解，只能靠自己形而上的去感悟，或者领悟。
维基百科认为：“认知是指‘通过思想、经验和感官获得知识和理解的心理行为或过程’。它涵盖了智力功能和过程的所有方面，例如：感知、注意力、思维、智力、知识、记忆和工作记忆、判断和评价、推理和计算、问题解决和决策、理解和生产的语言。想象也是一个认知过程，之所以这样认为是因为它涉及对可能性的思考。”这里对认知解释得很清楚了，难道这不是认知的真相。
还真不是，这只是认知的表现形态和作用模式，并没有涉及到认知的真相。那前面我们讲了那么多，又是认知的框架，又是认知的内核，不就是在讲认知的真相吗？也不是，那只是我的认知，并非你的认知。更非认知的真相。
这里说的真相，也可以理解为“真正认知到真知”。不仅是真正认知到了，而且，认知的是“真正的知识”（或者说“真相的知识”）。有些情况下，你虽然认知到了，虽然认知得很明白、很清晰。但这个认知也可能是错误的、或有虚假、有谬误。这就不是真正的知识。所谓“真正的知识”，也就是王阳明说的“良知”。是符合事物发展客观规律的知识，是关乎真相的知识。只有大家都有这样的认知，才能构建起更大范围内的共识。
列夫·托尔斯泰有句名言：“幸福的家庭都一样，不幸的家庭各有各的不幸.”。说的就是这个道理。幸福的家庭都有符合客观规律的认知，当然基本一样。不幸的家庭，认知出了偏差。而这种偏差千差万别，各不相同。所以，各有各的不幸。打个不恰当的比方。幸福的家庭都认识到：太阳东边出来，从西边落下。这是符合客观规律的真相。所以，房子朝向都建得坐南朝北，冬暖夏凉，舒适协调。不幸的家庭呢，有的认为太阳从西边出来，有的认为从南边，有的认为从东北方，这显然认知的不是真相。所以，他们房子朝向也就建得各不相同。遭遇的不协调、不舒适也各不相同。
由于幸福的家庭的见证是成功的。所以，大家都相信，共识就很好统一。而不幸的家庭见证不成功，大家都不信，共识也就无法形成了。所以，为了最大化凝聚人们的共识。必须让更多的人了解和把握认知的真相，也就是只有让更多的人“真正认知到真知”才行。
今天这个时代，联合国自救、人类自救。要实现它，所有必要条件、必要资源、必要工具，都已具备。唯一缺的就是共识。而共识由认知决定，没有认知就没有共识。可每个人的认知都是不同的，没有任何人、任何机构能统一几十亿人的认知。这似乎是一个无解难题。其实不然，这个时代已经为我们创造了破解这个难题的法宝和捷径。那就是让每个人都掌握“认知的真相”，让每个人都能去“真正认知到真知”。这就是本节的目的，也是整个“认知篇”的最大价值和意义。一旦我们每个人了解和把握了认知的真相，就可以最大限度凝聚人类共识，形成改变世界、改变人类命运的社会力量。
5.3.1 认知的真相在于“信”
前面，我们谈到了尤瓦尔▪赫拉利，以及他的《未来简史》。而他的成名作，是之前出版的《人类简史》。
赫拉利在这本书中阐述了一个重要观点。“人类之所以能成为地球的主宰，秘诀在于大量的、互不相识的个体能大规模进行合作。这种合作的基础是“虚构故事”。然后传播这些故事，只要每一个人都相信这个“虚构故事”，那么每个人就会遵照同样的规则、同样的秩序、同样的社会规范进行合作。”
这个观点总体上没错，问题在于如何才能让每一个人都相信这个虚构故事。不仅如此，这个故事还一定要足够新、足够大，并且与每个人的利益相关，才具有改变世界的力量。如果这只是一个“撒哈拉沙漠中建造鱼塘”的“虚构故事”，尽管它有新意，可是，一个鱼塘的利益最多只能涉及到几十个人。就算他们都相信，也只能凝聚几十人的共识。共识的力量不够大。而讲一个“创建国家”的“虚构故事”，能凝聚的人类共识就大多了。而更关键之处还在于前面所说的“相信”二字。讲一个“虚构故事”不难，讲一个足够新、足够大的“虚构故事”也容易做到。可是，如何让每一个人都相信这个“虚构故事”，那就千难万难了。而认知的真相，就是如何让每一个人，或者说尽可能多的人，相信这个“虚构故事”。如果能让每一个人、或者说尽可能多的人，相信一个“虚构故事”，那么，认知的最大价值和意义就体现出来了。
“联合国改革”，这也是一个“虚构故事”。可是，暨陈旧又小气，除了联合国官员和内部人员，其他人不会关心。“联合国自救”，这个“虚构故事”多了点新意，但依然鲜少有人关注。而“联合国进入元宇宙打造一个数字地球，重构人类社会新文明，在让人人实现财富自由的同时，也让联合国获得充沛资金完成自救。”这样一个“虚构故事”，讲的其实已经不仅仅是联合国自救，而是人类文明自救、地球母亲自救了。足够新，也足够大，而且与每个人的利益相关，具有凝聚全球每一个人共识的可能性。现在要解决的最大难题只有一个，就是如何让全世界尽可能多的人相信这个“虚构故事”。
而这也是我们的认知转变能否真正完成，联合国自救、人类自救能否最终成功的核心所在。
（未完待续）
