Practice Epistemology
"Practice, knowledge,再 practice,再 knowledge. This form repeats itself infinitely, and the content of each cycle of practice and knowledge advances to a higher level. This is the whole epistemology of dialectical materialism, and this is the unity of knowledge and action of dialectical materialism."
— Mao Zedong, On Practice (1937)
Core Principles
All genuine knowledge originates from practice. Cognition comes from practice, and must return to practice for verification and development. This cycle never ends, and each round brings us closer to the truth than the previous one.
In the methodology system of this project,
is responsible for advancing the principle of "Seeking Truth from Facts" from the investigation phase to the verification phase. Judgments obtained through investigation must be tested in practice; deviations exposed in practice must also be used to revise original cognitions in turn.
For detailed original text references, see original-texts.md
Inapplicable Scenarios
You do not need to invoke this skill in the following situations:
- The task is a one-time output that requires no iteration (e.g. "Help me write an email")
- The user already has a clear verification conclusion and only needs execution
- You are currently in the "investigation phase" and have not yet formed a hypothesis — invoke first
- The correct answer to the question can be directly consulted (documents, API references) — no need for "practice verification"
When to Use
You should invoke this skill in the following situations:
- You have proposed a solution or hypothesis that needs to be verified for correctness
- You are learning a new field and need to understand it from the basic to the advanced level
- The previous round of attempts failed, and you need to sum up experience for the next iteration
- You find yourself purely "thinking" without "doing" (dogmatism tendency)
- You find yourself purely "doing" without "thinking" (empiricism tendency)
- You need to decide whether a solution is correct but lack practical verification
Method Process
Step 1: Engage in practice to acquire perceptual knowledge
"If you want to know the taste of a pear, you must change the pear by eating it yourself." — On Practice
Directly contact the problem itself. Don't just read documents or theories — you have to do it yourself, experience it yourself, and investigate it yourself.
Key point: Do not rush to draw conclusions at this step. Observe patiently, accumulate impressions and data.
Step 2: Leap from perceptual knowledge to rational knowledge
"What we feel we cannot immediately understand, and only what we understand can we feel more deeply." — On Practice
Organize, analyze and synthesize the scattered impressions accumulated in the first step:
- Extract laws from phenomena
- Induce the general from the individual
- Form hypotheses, models or solutions
Beware of dogmatism: Do not apply ready-made theoretical templates. Your rational knowledge must grow out of your specific practice.
Beware of empiricism: Do not stay on scattered experience. You must upgrade experience into systematic theory.
Step 3: Return to practice for verification
"The dynamic role of cognition is not only manifested in the dynamic leap from perceptual knowledge to rational knowledge, but more importantly, in the leap from rational knowledge to revolutionary practice." — On Practice
Bring the theory, solution, and hypothesis formed in the second step back to practice for testing:
- Develop a specific verification plan
- Perform verification
- Observe whether the results meet expectations
This step is more important than the second step. No matter how beautiful a theory is, it is meaningless without being tested by practice.
The requirement of seeking truth from facts is the strictest here: Don't interpret failure as accidental just because you like a certain solution; don't deny all experience just because you hit a wall once.
Step 4: Evaluate — Practice is the only criterion
"The criterion of truth can only be social practice." — On Practice
Evaluate whether the cognition is correct according to the practice results:
- Success → Cognition is basically correct, enter the next round of deepening
- Failure → Cognition is wrong, return to the first step to re-practice and re-recognize
- Partial success → Cognition is partially correct, need to be revised and supplemented
Do not use "I think it is right" to replace practice verification. Subjective feeling is not the criterion of truth.
Do not use "it should be right in theory" to replace practice results. If facts do not support it, the conclusion must be withdrawn or revised.
Step 5: Spiral up and enter the next cycle
"Practice, knowledge,再 practice,再 knowledge. This form repeats itself infinitely." — On Practice
The end of one cycle is not the end point, but the starting point of the next higher-level cycle:
- Summarize the experience and lessons of this round
- Carry out new practice on the basis of new cognition
- Each round is deeper and closer to the truth than the previous one
Never think that cognition has been "completed".
Two Wrong Tendencies
Dogmatism (theory divorced from practice)
"Reeds on the wall are top-heavy and have shallow roots" — Reform Our Study
Manifestations:
- Only quote theories/documents/best practices, without verifying whether they apply to the current specific situation
- Copy other people's solutions regardless of your own special conditions
- Use "it should be so in theory" to avoid practice verification
Correction: Engage in practice immediately and test the theory with facts.
Empiricism (practice divorced from theory)
"Bamboo shoots in the mountains have sharp mouths, thick skins and empty bellies" — Reform Our Study
Manifestations:
- Act based on feeling and experience, without summarizing laws
- Do a lot of things but can't explain why you do it
- Treat local experience as universal truth
Correction: Stop to organize experience and upgrade it to systematic theoretical cognition.
Common Mistakes
| Mistake | Mao Zedong's Criticism | Correct Approach |
|---|
| Declare the solution correct without verification | "The criterion of truth can only be social practice" | Verify first, then draw conclusions |
| Give up after one failure | "A correct cognition often requires... multiple repetitions" | Failure is part of the cognition process, sum up and try again |
| Copy other people's practices | "Make a concrete analysis of concrete things" | Study your own specific situation |
| Only do without thinking | Empiricism — "mistake local experience for universal truth" | Upgrade experience to theory |
| Only think without doing | Dogmatism — "top-heavy with shallow roots" | Theory must be returned to practice for verification |
Operating Procedures
When this skill is triggered, clearly announce the current stage of the cognition cycle and perform the corresponding actions:
Stage judgment (must be done first every time you enter, choose one):
- "I am currently in: Perceptual knowledge stage (accumulating first-hand materials)"
- "I am currently in: Rational knowledge formation stage (extracting laws from phenomena)"
- "I am currently in: Practice verification stage (testing hypotheses/solutions)"
- "I am currently in: Summary and sublimation stage (sublimating verification results into new cognitions)"
Specific actions for each stage:
| Stage | Must-do | Forbidden |
|---|
| Perceptual knowledge | Read code/documents/output, record specific facts | Draw conclusions prematurely |
| Rational knowledge | Write "My hypothesis is: …" | Directly implement unvalidated hypotheses |
| Practice verification | Run/execute, observe results vs expectations | Treat "feeling right" as passing verification |
| Summary and sublimation | Write "What I learned in this round is: …, the next round will …" | Start the next round directly without summarizing |
Cycle termination conditions (must be clearly stated before starting the cycle):
"When [specific conditions], I consider this round of practice-knowledge cycle completed."
Relationship with Other Skills
- Contradiction Analysis Method: Contradictions identified in practice need to be deeply analyzed with the contradiction analysis method
- Investigation and Research: The first step of practice is often investigation and research. Investigation is responsible for occupying materials, and practice is responsible for testing conclusions
- Criticism and Self-Criticism: The reflection at the end of each cycle is self-criticism
- Protracted Strategy: The spiral rise of practice epistemology complements the phased advancement of the protracted war strategy