The standard of testing truth by practice is discussed in depth in the works of Marx, Engels and Lenin. They reveal the basic connotation of human practice, discuss the decisive role of practice in understanding truth, and lay the foundation for testing truth thoughts in practice. The idea of testing truth by practice has been fully developed in the process of China's revolution and construction. On the basis of social practice, Chinese producers have comprehensively discussed the source, motivation, purpose and test standard of dialectical materialism, and formed a complete epistemology system based on practice, especially the great discussion about truth twenty years ago, which enriched the idea of testing truth by practice in theory.

First of all, practice has tested the shortcomings of truth method in practical application.

Practice, as a method to test and understand the truth, is a universal method, which not only plays a role in solving major problems at a high level, but also shows itself in concrete practice at different levels. However, there are still some shortcomings in how to fully embody the method of testing truth in practice and how to guide various specific work:

1, ambiguity. In the process of testing truth by practice, we must first make clear what is "practice", what is "knowledge to be tested" and what is the final "correct understanding"; The judgment of "practice" and "truth" should not be arbitrary, let alone those things that come from subjective psychological state, personal likes and dislikes or "left". For example, if the standard of practice is not economic development, but political effect, then we are likely to imprison our thoughts and go back to the old road of the Cultural Revolution.

2. timeliness. Whether the process of correct understanding in practice inspection is timely is a key problem of practice inspection method. In history, we have gone through many detours and paid a lot of price, that is to say, when we correctly realize what it is, we often have paid a huge price. Although it can be recovered and made up, it has caused losses after all. When we tell the truth, we must pass the test of practice, and its practical purpose is to avoid making mistakes as much as possible or make fewer mistakes. So the process of testing truth in practice should be timely.

3. representativeness. It is also an important factor to test whether the scope of truth practice is typical, representative and long-term. The conclusions drawn from one-sided, partial and immediate practice may be wrong for the overall and long-term development. For example, the "joint-stock cooperative system" advocated now has proved effective in some places, but it may not work in some places.

4. Procedural. The process of testing truth in practice should be rigorous, scientific, democratic and gradual. Unreasonable, non-programmed and endless inspection process is not a real inspection process. For example, in the past, carrying out mass movements and artificially carrying out "revolutionary practice" to prove a certain "revolutionary theory" went against the fundamental purpose of testing truth by practice.

Therefore, in view of the above problems, it is necessary to develop and improve the method of testing truth in practice, and the standard of testing truth in practice is of great and far-reaching significance. However, we should not only fully affirm this great significance, but also further improve this method in details to make it more standardized, operable and feasible in social practical application.

Second, the social function of the method of testing truth in practice

Adhering to the method of testing truth by practice, its fundamental purpose is to give full play to the social functions contained in this method, mainly in three aspects:

1, Motivation-The material and spiritual needs of the people are the most fundamental motivation for practice, and we should stick to the method of testing truth, that is, give full play to the practical motivation from the broad masses of the people. It is manifested in two aspects: on the one hand, give full play to the role of the people in the process of practice test; On the other hand, through the process and results of investigation, people's creativity is stimulated and mobilized.

2. Adjustment-The practice process is a conscious activity process of human being as the subject, and the method of testing truth by practice fully embodies human's subjective consciousness and the adjustment process of this consciousness to social behavior. The social adjustment behavior of this subject is constructive and developmental, not destructive and obstructive.

3. Restriction-The method of testing truth in practice also restricts all kinds of subjective and arbitrary behaviors, behaviors that violate objective laws and behaviors of empiricism and dogmatism in society, so that we can conform to objective reality as much as possible in decision-making and guidance, and avoid making mistakes or making fewer mistakes.

Marxist view of practice fundamentally solves the problem of separation and disconnection between human subjectivity and objectivity in social reality, introduces the view of practice into epistemology, overcomes the one-sidedness of traditional epistemology, and points out that the process of human cognition is a dialectical and dynamic reflection process, a process of unity of subjective and objective, and adheres to the standard of testing truth by practice. Its important role is to oppose and overcome subjectivism and empiricism that are divorced from subjective and objective.

From a systematic point of view, the problem of separating subjectivity from objectivity is how to deal with the relationship between "control and information feedback". The so-called subjectivism (exaggerating subjective desire, will and strength) refers to the process that only "the subject creates the control behavior of the environment through thinking, but does not receive the information feedback from the environment"; Empiricism or "mechanical materialism" refers to the process of "passively accepting information from the environment and adapting to the environment without active control behavior in response to the environment".

Analyzing this process from the perspective of social function, the method of practice testing truth is consistent with the method of system theory: the state of unity of subjective and objective in the process of practice testing cognition is how to make this system return to a stable and optimized state through the adjustment and control of the system, especially in the case of deviation and disturbance; The systematic process means that the subject obtains information from the object (actual work) (perceptual knowledge process with perceptual materials as the main body), which is recognized by the subject and combined with the stored information, and becomes a rational decision-making and control signal after processing (rational knowledge process), thus forming the basis for controlling the output behavior. (that is, the process from practice to understanding the first leap)

This systematic process is controlled by the (practical) subject, which acts on the (practical) object and produces certain results, which are fed back to the subject in the form of perceptual knowledge and other information, so that the subject can constantly check whether his behavior has achieved his goal, and if there is any deviation, he can correct it according to the feedback signal. This is a dynamic and systematic process, in which the subject's knowledge is constantly revised and tested. (that is, the second leap of practice testing theory and development theory in the process of cognition)

Third, testing truth by practice is a social systematic process.

As a method, practice testing truth actually exists and operates as a social system, and it also has two main systematic processes: control and feedback:

(1) Control system flow. It is a process of identifying, inputting, processing, screening, making decisions and effectively outputting and running various viewpoints through different methods. The effective control of the whole system lies in that it can directly control the controlled object by sending out mandatory control signals as needed, and at the same time, it can constantly correct the output control signals according to the feedback signals.

1, enter. After different methods of identification, all kinds of information from practice are input: it includes not only the contact state of objective things in the development of sports, but also a lot of perceptual and first-hand information from practice, such as various ideas, concepts and opinions from the people.

2. It is being processed. It is necessary to define what is the real information from "practice" and what is "knowledge to be tested", and what is the relationship between them. It is necessary to use certain models or principles to guide machining, and through the summary of a large number of perceptual experiences, it has risen to various schemes with universal significance and can guide practice.

3. decision-making. Analyze and study the various schemes formed, choose after weighing and comparing, and decide the final scheme.

4. output. The guidance and control information formed after decision-making is output to practice, which embodies the subject's control over the object, that is, the process of people's thoughts, intentions and decision-making returning to practice.

The main body of the control system is the people, especially in the process of testing truth in practice, it is necessary to clarify the main role, status and role of the people in the system and give full play to the people's participation in the control process.

(2) Feedback system process. System process is a dynamic process, in which uncertain factors are often encountered. For the control process, the uncertain factors are mainly considered, not the definite factors. The control system should achieve a certain goal and get feedback information constantly, that is, seek certain factors from the uncertain environment.

1, the feedback process is a continuous process. Specifically, it is the whole process of forming a correct understanding, that is, the process from practice to cognition, from cognition to practice, repeated revision and even the formation of a correct understanding, which embodies the dialectical unity of cognition and practice. Feedback should not be passively accepted, but also includes the initiative and enthusiasm of the subject to obtain true and essential information through investigation and research.

2. The feedback process is consistent with the Party's mass line. The process of feedback system fully embodies the two processes of "from practice to practice" and "from the masses to the masses". Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out in "Several Issues on Leadership Methods": "In all practical work of our Party, all correct leadership must come from and go to the masses. That is, the opinions of the masses (scattered and unsystematic opinions) are centralized (after research, they become centralized and systematic opinions), and then they are publicized and explained among the masses, and become opinions of the masses, so that the masses can persist, see them in action, and test the correctness of these opinions in mass actions. Then gather from the masses and stick to it. This infinite cycle is more correct, more vivid and richer every time. This is the epistemology of Marxism. " (Selected Works of Mao Zedong, 2nd Edition, Volume 3, page 899) If it is proved to be correct by practice, supported by the masses and brings benefits to the masses, it should continue to be adhered to; On the other hand, if it is proved by practice to be incorrect, harmful to the interests of the masses and opposed by the masses, it needs to be revised. "Only the revolutionary practice of millions of people is the yardstick to test the truth." (Selected Works of Mao Zedong, 2nd Edition, Volume 2, page 663) This is actually the process of constantly correcting the target deviation through information feedback under the control of the system.

3. The feedback process is a democratic process. Whether we can consciously test and correct our own understanding according to the results of mass practice is an important symbol of whether the practice system can operate normally. Therefore, if you are unhappy, you will promote democracy, and if you are unhappy, you will emphasize centralization and follow your inclinations, so that the party's view of the masses will become an empty concept; If we adopt "paternalism" and "centralization", then we can't hear the real voice and get the real situation, so we can't get the real feedback information. The needs of the broad masses of the people are not only the fundamental driving force of practice, but also the will of the broad masses of the people, and they are also an important factor in coordinating social development and restricting subjectivism and bureaucracy. Whether we can open up the road, carry forward socialist democracy, form a relaxed political environment of democracy, equality and consultation, and make it "know everything and talk endlessly" is an important guarantee for the system to get real information feedback.

4. The important role of information in the process of feedback system. First of all, in the system, the feedback information must be true. There is a famous saying in cybernetics: "The input is garbage (referring to incomplete and untrue information), and the output is garbage." If the information is inaccurate, the correctness of the final decision cannot be guaranteed. Secondly, the feedback information must be timely. If the information cannot be reflected in the decision-making process of the system in time, then the decision-making is likely to be "wise after the event" and will not play any role. The characteristic of modern society is informatization. Owning information is no longer the monopoly privilege of a few people. The ways, means and channels of information transmission are more and more extensive. The masses have more and more right to know the information related to their own interests, and at the same time have more and more right to speak to express their own information. This is the biggest difference in information expression between modern society and traditional society.

In a word, the process of human cognition is a process from vagueness to clarity and from experience to science, especially in today's highly developed scientific information. Therefore, practice itself, as a method to test the standard of truth, should be continuously developed, deepened and improved. Under the general trend of the development of contemporary science and technology, we should combine the method of testing truth by practice with the method of science and technology to make it an effective operating system, standardize, program and clarify this method, give full play to the role of testing truth by practice more effectively, and avoid ambiguity, uncertainty and subjectivity on this issue. Otherwise, the objectivity of practice testing truth may become subjective, and the method of practice testing may also become empty. Developing and perfecting the method of testing truth in practice is of great significance for strengthening the macro-control ability to solve social contradictions and adhering to socialism and Marxism.