After a pause, he said, "So, for an 'ultimate supervisor' who can supervise everyone else but is difficult to be supervised by others, ensuring that society does not degenerate is the most basic bottom line."
"Furthermore, if an institution can successfully represent the development requirements of advanced productive forces, then it is the natural and inevitable ultimate supervisor, and no one can shake its position."
The wrinkles on his forehead seemed to be thoughtful: "It represents the development requirements of advanced productive forces..."
Ma Shao added: "This is an important idea."
Development is legitimacy.
This sounds more like an engineer's mindset.
But this is how politics should be. In comparison, it is ridiculous to practice politics with the thinking of mathematicians, even mathematicians of the old era.
Ma Shao probably still remembers that the high school mathematics textbook used the Declaration of Independence as an example of axiomatic thinking.
Of course, this is not tested on the exam, so most students don't know it, and most teachers don't know it either.
Ma Shao knew it.
But he didn't agree.
He did not agree with the approach of the Declaration of Independence, or the political philosophy of Europeans and Americans.
This concept, in simple terms, is to use imaginary mathematics as a reference or model for politics, believing that politics can be separated from reality just as mathematics is separated from physical meaning, and that a perfect axiomatic building can be constructed as Kelvin or Hilbert dreamed of.
A specific manifestation of this is the understanding of procedural justice and legitimacy by many European and American elites. They believe that procedural justice takes absolute precedence over factual justice, and that legitimacy and development are remotely related or even irrelevant.
However, the truth is that mathematics is not perfect. It also has flaws, and these flaws are fundamental, originating from human beings themselves and even the universe.
Mathematics can indeed be separated from reality and physics, allowing axioms to extend freely in the world of logic, but politics should not be like this - it should be common sense, but some European and American elites just like to engage in "analytical extension" in the political field and expand the scope of application of some principles.
Therefore, this political idea, which is particularly prevalent among Westerners, is destined to be a delusion and it will inevitably bring disaster.
The sanctimonious political axioms in the Declaration of Independence can only ultimately lead to the prosperity of lawyers and white leftists, but cannot produce any substantive justice.
The discussion between the two seemed a little weird.
The question raised by Forehead Lines sounded like a sharp question from the ruled to the ruler, but in fact neither of them felt nervous.
Because Ma Shao is always a teacher at heart, and an excellent teacher at that, he values the teacher-student relationship more than anything else.
The discussion gradually strayed from the original topic and turned into mathematics.
Forehead wrinkles asked again: "Any axiomatic system has things that cannot be proved... Is this true?"
"Isn't it justice itself?" Ma Shao said casually without further explanation.
To explain this question clearly, a lot of prerequisite knowledge is needed, and much of it is advanced, such as Russell's paradox and Gödel's incompleteness theorem, which are things of the next century.
Not to mention Gödel's incompleteness theorem, Hilbert, who dreamed of building a perfect mathematical edifice, had not even been born at this time.
The famous joke about Kelvin's "Building of Physics" has not yet been created.
In this era, the greatest achievement in exploring the flaws in human rationality may be Kant's antinomy.
Even Kant, perhaps the greatest philosopher of all time, only had a glimpse of the concept and revealed ideas to future generations, but he did not come up with anything conclusive.
Forehead is one of the most talented mathematical people in the tribe, and he is also an excellent student in the math and science training class.
But his actual level is about the same as that of high school students in later generations, and in terms of problem-solving, his vision may not even be as good as that of junior high school students. He is still far from understanding Gödel's theory.
In short... the water is too deep here, and Ma Shao is afraid that he can't control his forehead wrinkles.
"If you are interested, you can first learn more about the various debates about the fifth postulate of Euclidean geometry. There are related stories in the books I brought," said Ma Shao.
"If you're willing to do some problems, you can also try to learn hyperbolic geometry."
In addition to basic living and production supplies, the Apache Westward Expedition also brought some books to California so that the Apaches there could continue their studies.
"Finally, Forehead Wrinkles, after I leave, you will probably be the person with the highest level of math and science in the whole of California. Remember to be a qualified teacher." He reminded again.
Forehead wrinkles replied solemnly: "I understand, teacher."
After talking with Forehead Wrinkles, Ma Shao packed up, rested for a night, and officially set off the next day.
The returning team consisted of only about a hundred people, and only a small half of them were members of the original westward team. Most of them were new members, that is, California Indians who had just joined the Apache, as well as a few white prisoners, including an artilleryman.
The reason for this arrangement is mainly because the number of people in the westward team is too small.
With less than 300 people, it is inevitable that they will be stretched to manage Xiquan Fortress, Donggu City and Donggu Lumberyard and implement the assimilation policy. They certainly cannot bring too many horse whistles.
Not only could he not bring back much, but he would have to send more men to California later.
Most of the members are new, so it is naturally difficult to lead the team.
For example, such an incident happened on the road. Several Indians insisted on going to a legendary holy place 200 kilometers away to worship. In the end, the situation became deadlocked, and Ma Shao had to let them leave the team on their own and ignored them.
He was in a hurry to return this time, so he had no time to care about this.
It was already October when Ma Shao left California. If it was any later, he would have to cross the entire West in winter, which was definitely a bad plan.
At the same time, the Mexican-American War was drawing to a close, and he had to take the next step.
He led his group back to Kansas as quickly as possible.
Apart from the departure of a few people, there were no other setbacks along the way.
For other groups, this is essentially impossible to do.
Because the route Ma Shao took was the one with the mildest natural environment, the natural environment was mild, but the social environment was relatively harsh.
Thanks to the mild natural environment, many Indian clans live along the way, with all kinds of people.
If white people or Indians from other places come here, they will most likely be treated as invaders, and those with fewer people will simply be scalped.
But as the Son of the Sky who is becoming more and more famous in the Indian world, most Indian clans will give him face, at least there will be no problem if he passes by.
So he was able to travel quickly and returned to Sleepy Bear, Kansas in mid-December, earlier than planned.