2024 International Chinese Language Day Special Event

IICS Public Lecture Series / 55th Confucius PhD Forum (in Chinese / 中文讲座）

A NEW ANSWER TO THE NEEDHAM QUESTION: LANGUAGE, MATHEMATICAL THINKING AND BRAIN FUNCTION

Speaker: Professor Liming Wang, Director of Irish Institute for Chinese Studies and UCD Confucius Institute for Ireland

Language: Chinese

Time: 6-7pm, Tuesday 30 April 2024

           7.30pm, Complimentary Chinese Dinner

Venue: 004 Theatre, UCD Confucius Institute for Ireland

            Please register (opens in a new window)here if attending in person
            Hybrid Event, click here for zoom (opens in a new window)link  

As a special event of the International Chinese Language Day celebration, we are fortunate to invite Professor Liming Wang, Director of the Irish Institute for Chinese Studies, and the Confucius Institute at University College Dublin, to present a public lecture titled "A New Answer to the Needham Question: Language, Mathematical Thinking and Brain Function."

Professor Wang will share and explore the differences in language, the various modes of mathematical thinking, and the complex relationship with brain function. This aims to reveal how differences in human language affect our cognitive thinking and the correlation with the development of science. We look forward to an evening filled with challenges to wisdom, insights into culture, and reflections on science.

Please join us for the lecture on Tuesday, April 30th, from 6:00 to 7:00 PM. Free Chinese dinner will be provided after the lecture. Don't miss this opportunity to engage in dialogue and exchange ideas with leading figures and intellectuals in academia.

Whether you are a language enthusiast, someone curious about the scientific realm, or interested in cognitive science, this lecture promises to offer a fresh perspective on the power of language in shaping our understanding of humanity and the world.

Professor Liming Wang currently serves as the Director of the Irish Institute for Chinese Studies at University College Dublin (UCD) and the UCD Confucius Institute. Outside of UCD, Prof. Wang is the President of the Academic Committee of the Global Lecture Series on the Chinese Economy, the Secretary-General of the Chinese Economic Association in Europe, and a Haiju Chair Professor at the School of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Technology. In April 2012, he was named one of "The 60 Most Powerful People in Ireland" by the Sunday Independent. He served as a Non executive Board Director of Mainstream Renewable Power Ltd (2011-2014), a Co-Editor (2014-2021) for the Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies and has been a Topical Advisory Panel Member for Energies (since 2021). His primary research interests are in the Chinese economy, development economics, energy economics, financial contagion, agricultural and food economics. He has published ten books and journal special issues, as well as over sixty journal articles.

British scholar Joseph Needham, in the process of compiling his massive "Science and Civilisation in China," proposed the famous "Needham Question": Despite significant contributions to human technological progress in ancient China, why did modern science not arise in China? This question has garnered hot debates and numerous answers since it was first raised in 1964. This study attempts to address the "Needham Question" from a fresh perspective, exploring the inherent correlation between language, mathematical thinking, and brain function. Based on the differences in the impact of Chinese (tonal and pictographic script) and Western languages (alphabetic writing) on brain language function characteristics, the study investigates the influence of different languages on mathematical thinking patterns, as well as brain neural mechanisms and structure, aiming to reveal the relationship between human language, cognitive thinking, and scientific development.

2024年国际中文日之特别活动
爱尔兰中国研究院公共讲座系列/ 第55届孔子博士论坛

李约瑟之谜新解：语言、数学思维与脑功能的关系

作为国际中文日庆典的特别活动，我们有幸邀请到了都柏林大学爱尔兰中国研究院及孔子学院院长王黎明教授为大家献上一场公共讲座，题目为“李约瑟之谜新解：语言、数学思维与脑功能的关系”。

王教授将分享并探讨语言的差异、数学思维模式的不同，以及与大脑功能之间复杂的关系，揭示人类语言的多样性如何影响我们的认知思维和科学发展之间的关联。我们期待着一个充满智慧挑战、文化洞察和科学思考的夜晚。

请于4月30日星期二晚6点至7点加入我们的讲座，讲座结束后将提供免费的中式晚餐。请不要错过与学界领袖、思想家交流并对话的机会。

无论您是语言爱好者、对科学好奇的人，还是对认知科学感兴趣的学者，这场讲座将为您呈现全新的视角，让您重新审视语言对我们人类对世界理解的塑造力量。

王黎明教授，现任都柏林大学爱尔兰中国研究院及孔子学院院长。全球中国经济大讲堂学术委员会主任，欧洲中国经济学会秘书长，北京工业大学经济管理学院特聘海聚教授。2012年4月，被爱尔兰主流媒体《爱尔兰独立报》评为“爱尔兰最具影响力的六十人之一”。曾任美思能再生能源公司的独立董事(2011-2014) ，国际期刊《Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies》的编辑（2014-2021），现任国际期刊《Energies》的专题顾问（2021至今）。主要研究领域为中国经济、发展经济学、金融传染、能源经济及农业与食品经济。现已出版十部专著及国际期刊专刊，六十余篇学术论文。

英国学者李约瑟在其编纂《中国科学技术史》这一鸿篇巨作的过程中提出了著名的“李约瑟之谜”：尽管古代中国曾对人类技术进步做出了重要贡献，但为何现代科学未在中国发生？该问题自1964年一经提出便引发了学界的广泛关注和热议，各种解读和推论莫衷一是。本研究尝试从全新的视觉，即语言、数学思维与脑功能之间内在联系，对“李约瑟之谜”进行诠择。本研究基于中文（声调语言和象形文字）与西文（拼音文字）对脑语言功能特征的影响差异，探讨了不同语言对数学思维模式以及大脑神经机制和结构的影响，旨在揭示人类语言、思维认知与科学发展之间的关联。