A Discussion on the Humanistic Orientation and Mission of Science and Technology

: Science and technology are the key driving forces for promoting productivity progress. The original intention and fundamental goal of the emergence and development of science and technology is to continuously improve and optimize the environment for the production, life, and development of the public, providing a material and spiritual foundation for human society to move towards a higher form of civilized society. The development of science and technology is closely linked to the enhancement of social public interests. If we overly focus on the economic efficiency of science and technology and neglect its social efficiency, science and technology will inevitably deviate from its original intention of emergence and development, and become a tool for capital to pursue efficiency. Dealing with the efficiency relationship between science and technology at the micro and macro levels, grasping the rhythm of scientific and technological innovation and progress, is conducive to helping us walk out of the Western style scientific and technological innovation and development path of "capital replacing labor", and returning scientific and technological innovation and development to the original path of "people-oriented". Only when scientific and technological innovation and progress are highly consistent with the public interest can science and technology reflect its due social value, avoiding it ultimately becoming a value tool for private capital to pursue profits.


Introduction
Science and technology are the key driving forces for promoting productivity progress. Since modern times, human scientific and technological undertakings have made rapid progress, and science and technology have shown a trend of rapid development in various industries, and are increasingly profoundly influencing and changing the way humans produce and live in many aspects. The innovation and application of science and technology aim to enable humans to work and enjoy a higher quality of life in a safer, healthier, and more comfortable environment. However, driven by the modern industrial revolution, technology has increasingly become a tool for production organizers to improve labor efficiency, reduce production costs, and pursue market profits, gradually deviating from its original "people-oriented" root orientation.
According to a news release on the official account of Reference News, a research report by Goldman Sachs Group shows that more than 300 million full-time jobs in the global labor market will face the threat of automation due to the impact of artificial intelligence technology, while over 63% of employed employees in the United States will face the risk of being replaced. Meanwhile, a 765402889@qq.com, b 422013460@qq.com many scholars' relevant studies have further confirmed this conclusion. Cheng Hong, Chen Wenjin, et al. (2018) found that the substitution effect of industrial robots on labor in the industrial field is exceptionally significant, and predicted that the substitution effect of industrial robots on labor will reach around 4.7% by 2025. [1] Daron Acemoglu & Pascual Restrepo (2020) found that between 1990 and 2017, for every additional robot in the US manufacturing industry, 3.3 worker positions were replaced. [2] The research by Wang Yongqin and Dong Wen (2020) further indicates that an increase of 1% in the penetration of industrial robots will lead to a decrease of 0.055% in the demand for labor with a bachelor's degree, a decrease of 0.081% in the demand for labor with a college degree, and an increase of 0.203% in the demand for labor with a high school degree or below. [3] According to a survey conducted by Wang Jun, Zhan Yunqiu, et al. (2021), nearly 30% of workers surveyed believe that their work will be replaced by artificial intelligence technology . [4] Ge Peng and Zhao Zhong (2023) used the labor market in China from 2009 to 2017 as an example to study and found that robots showed a net substitution effect on labor force after 2013, and showed an increasingly strengthened phenomenon. During the period from 2013 to 2017, for every one robot added to the workforce, the proportion of employed population decreased by 0.67 percentage points. [5] In recent years, the impact of scientific and technological progress on labor employment has attracted high attention from many managers and scholars, both in terms of production practice and academic theoretical research. The controversy and discussion about the progress and application of artificial intelligence technology and its impact on labor and employment are gradually becoming white-hot. Based on various debates, the focus mainly focuses on three aspects: firstly, whether the contradiction between technological innovation and progress and social employment objectively exists; Secondly, what is the fundamental reason for this contradiction; Thirdly, can this contradiction be effectively resolved. In view of this, this article will analyze the above three issues in sequence, including: (1) the original intention of scientific and technological innovation and progress; (2) Reinterpreting and defining the concept of efficiency; (3) The historical mission and responsibility of technological innovation and progress.

The original intention of the emergence and development of science
Science is the crystallization of wisdom and knowledge formed in the process of human exploration of the unknown world, and it is the correct reflection and experience accumulation of human beings towards the laws of nature, society, and other objects. In ancient times, humans had an extreme lack of correct understanding of the objective world. The curiosity of humans towards various phenomena in the objective world drives them to continuously explore and study the truth and principles behind various phenomena. Due to the lack of cognition, superstition and ignorance, various religious theories have prevailed and become the ideological shackles for rulers to control, exploit and oppress working people. In this regard, the East and West have similar development experiences. In order to liberate the working people from their thoughts, some sages and wise scholars began to question religious theology, refute and deny its views with scientific explanations, and strive to free the working people from the constraints of spiritual shackles. From Copernicus' "On the Movement of Celestial Bodies" to Andreas Vesalius's "Human Structure", and then to Johannes Kepler's "Three Laws", they all oppose and deny the religious theory of "God created the century". Therefore, the original intention of the emergence and development of science is to negate religious theology, help people get rid of superstition and ignorance, and enable people to have a correct understanding of nature and themselves. Of course, religious theology was originally aimed at explaining the origins of humans and nature, and later used by the ruling class to consolidate and strengthen its dominance. So, from the perspective of their origins, the original intention of the emergence and development of religious theology and science is to explain nature and the self. The difference between the two lies in that religious theory explains the origin and development of nature and human beings from the perspective of idealism, while science explains them based on objective facts.
In summary, science and civilization go hand in hand, forming a clear opposition to ignorance and superstition. People use science to understand and explain nature and themselves, and use science as a tool to continuously transform the environment to make it more suitable for human production and life. They also use science to provide more abundant and high-quality products for humanity, providing strong productivity and knowledge support for humanity to move towards a higher civilization in the future.

Science and Efficiency
Science is a powerful tool for humans to correctly understand nature and themselves. With the power of science, people can engage in production labor more efficiently and accurately, constantly innovating products and services to meet people's various material and spiritual needs. However, science itself does not emphasize efficiency, it only emphasizes rationality, objectivity, and accuracy, helping people correctly face and handle the relationships between humans and nature, as well as between humans. The reason why science and efficiency are closely linked today is mainly attributed to the drive of capital profit. The rise and development of the modern Western industrial revolution have made efficiency the fundamental issue that capitalists are most concerned about when engaging in production and operation. In the western society dominated by capitalist relations of production, science has gradually developed into the core tool used by capitalists to improve production and operation and enhance production efficiency. Under the capitalist relations of production, capitalists have mastered the vast majority of the means of production of society, and have fundamentally mastered the absolute dominant power over the distribution of social wealth. The capital led social relations of production advocates and encourages science to serve the interests of capital, and rejects and denies rational, objective and independent research unrelated to market profits. This has led to a gradual shift in the value orientation of Western scientific research since modern times. Scientific research has gradually deviated from its original intention, becoming closer to the market and more inclined towards the need for capital to pursue economic benefits. In Western countries, due to insufficient labor supply, labor prices are relatively expensive, wealth accumulation is abundant, and capital is relatively cheap. In order to reduce production costs and achieve the goal of maximizing profits and benefits, capitalists constantly pursue the substitution of capital for labor. Driven by such motivations, a series of new technologies such as informatization, automation, and artificial intelligence have been continuously introduced to help capitalists replace labor with capital. So, since the modern industrial revolution, the scientific and technological progress shown by the entire Western countries has mainly focused on technological progress that can bring more profits to capital and achieve higher production efficiency. The overall route of technological progress shows the tendency of capital to replace labor. So far, this trend has not eased somewhat, but instead shows a trend of accelerating development. We need to be cautious and reflect on this development path of technological progress, which is an inevitable choice determined by the objective national conditions of China, which is still a large labor force country. At present and in the future, China should focus on achieving new forms of technological innovation and progress in the substitution of labor for capital at a higher level, in order to gradually alleviate and eliminate the employment pressure faced by the public.
In economics and related discipline theory, the term efficiency is widely used to describe the proportional relationship between output and input. From this, we can roughly understand the basic meaning of the term 'efficiency'. However, regarding the definition of input and output, we need to distinguish based on the specific situation of the object. Otherwise, we may also fall into the trap of profit seeking development and fall into the same situation of capital seeking profit. If viewed from the perspective of micro entities in a market economy environment, efficiency is reflected as "obtaining the maximum economic benefits with the minimum cost"; If viewed from a public perspective or at the national level, efficiency should be reflected as "achieving the maximum public interest with the minimum cost". At this point, the meaning and scope of input and output also vary with the meaning of efficiency. At the micro entity level, input and output represent various cost expenditures and market economic benefits, respectively; At the macro level, input and output are correspondingly reflected in the country's software and hardware construction investment and corresponding social public interests. If the purpose of promoting scientific development by humans is to promote efficiency improvement, it should refer to promoting both meanings of efficiency improvement at the above two levels, rather than simply referring to the improvement of individual efficiency at the micro level. If we only focus on improving efficiency based on material inputs and corresponding economic returns, science will become a tool for capital pursuit, deviating from the original intention and ultimate goal of its emergence and development.
Throughout the history of labor migration in human society, during the rise of the Industrial Revolution, a large number of laborers were forced to leave the land and move from rural areas to towns and urban factories. In the era of automation and informatization, more and more labor force is leaving the industrial sector and moving towards the service industry. In the coming era of artificial intelligence, where will workers go? If we continue to follow the historical path of "capital replacing labor" in Western technological innovation and development, based on the objective facts of a large labor country, our social employment pressure will become increasingly severe, and social contradictions will continue to intensify. Where will the social value of our technological innovation and progress be reflected?
In summary, science and efficiency are not contradictory. The development of science is bound to bring about an improvement in production efficiency. However, we should have a comprehensive understanding of the meaning of efficiency at both levels and promote the synchronous improvement of scientific efficiency at both levels, rather than just emphasizing private efficiency at the micro individual level.

The Historical Mission and Responsibility of Scientific Development
As mentioned earlier, science is humanity's correct understanding of nature and self. The purpose of developing science is to correctly grasp and reasonably utilize scientific achievements to create a better development environment and growth conditions for human production and life. If scientific development and progress require sacrificing more and more public employment opportunities, we need to re-examine the value of the existence and development of this science, as well as whether the timing for its application is appropriate. Many scholars believe that by developing education and improving the education level of workers, the impact of technological progress on the employment of the general public can be addressed, which is too one-sided or radical.
Firstly, after a long period of development and accumulation, today's scientific knowledge is comprehensive and rich in content. Even in a specific professional field, the knowledge content it contains is extremely broad and complex. We must acknowledge that the discoverers and proponents of cutting-edge scientific knowledge have superior learning abilities and more solid professional accumulation than ordinary people. It is usually unrealistic or difficult for most ordinary workers to expect them to master relevant professional knowledge, adapt to and be competent in new technology positions through education and training in the short term.
Secondly, scientific innovation and development is a process with certain randomness and contingency, while education is a process of stylization, systematization and institutionalization. If we expect to respond efficiently to the changing demands of new technology on the labor quality of the public through institutionalized and programmed education, it is also an unrealistic expectation. The allocation of teaching staff, the construction and improvement of teaching materials, the matching of relevant educational and experimental equipment, the reform of new majors and teaching systems, and the formulation of talent cultivation plans are all necessary elements of a series of educational requirements. This process requires a considerable amount of time and manpower and material investment. These preparations often require a relatively long cycle to be completed.
Furthermore, compared to the public sector, scientific and technological innovation and progress in the private sector place greater emphasis on the protection of intellectual property and trade secrets. Due to the existence of this protection mechanism, a considerable portion of technological innovation content only circulates within a very small social organization. Even within the framework of integrated industry, university, and research institutions, it is difficult to effectively ensure that the latest technologies can be accessed by more workers through the industry, university, and research mechanism, let alone have the opportunity to deeply learn and master them.
In summary, completing workers' learning and mastery of new technological knowledge through education is not a short-term task, but requires a process of preparation, construction, implementation, and improvement. However, technological innovation and progress have significant randomness and contingency, making it difficult to achieve comprehensive preparation in advance. So, we should maintain a certain level of rationality when dealing with technological innovation and progress. On the one hand, we firmly support the development of scientific undertakings and encourage all sectors of society to participate in technological innovation and development; On the other hand, the application and promotion of the latest technological achievements should be carried out at appropriate times and gradually promoted in the industry. It is necessary to provide workers with a more comprehensive cycle of learning and mastering new technologies, and try to avoid the rapid and large-scale application of technology from causing significant employment impacts on the public, fundamentally eliminating the phenomenon of "science and technology repels people".

Conclusion
From the analysis of the original intention of the emergence and development of science, the social value of scientific innovation and progress lies in enabling the public to have a more scientific understanding of nature and oneself, and to engage in social labor and enjoy life in a better environment. Even in the present and future, the mission and responsibility of science should remain consistent, and we cannot sacrifice opportunities for public survival and development in exchange for technological innovation and progress without boundaries. At the same time as inventing fishing nets, it is necessary to give workers who use fishing nets as labor tools sufficient time to learn and master the methods of using fishing nets. At the same time as inventing computers, it is also necessary to give workers who use computers as labor tools relatively sufficient time to master the methods of using computers. Faced with the emergence of a new technology, we need to carefully understand its potential employment impact on the workforce and ensure that workers can proficiently master and meet the skills requirements of the new jobs created by the new technology. Technological innovation and progress ultimately aim to serve the public, and their value is also reflected in promoting greater enhancement and improvement of the public's interests. From this, it can be seen that the historical mission of technological development lies in continuously improving the interests of the public, continuously improving and optimizing the environment and space for its survival and development. At the same time, the historical responsibility of technological development is to continuously promote the improvement of efficiency at both levels while first meeting and improving the environment for human survival and development.

Author
Liu Hui, male, from Sixian County, Anhui Province, born on June 17, 1979, Doctor of Economics, lecturer, with research interests including western economics, regional economics and labor economics. Work unit: School of Finance and Taxation