表意文字与知识普惠：汉语如何降低科技工程学习门槛并释放普通学习者的认知潜力（Ideographic Writing and Knowledge Democratization: How Chinese Lowers the Barriers to Learning in Science and Engineering and Unleashes the Cognitive Potential of Ordinary Learners）

Abstract

Language is not only a medium of communication but also an infrastructure for knowledge acquisition and cognitive development. This paper aims to explore the unique advantages of Chinese as an ideographic script (more precisely, a morpheme-syllabic script) in lowering the barriers to learning in science and engineering and promoting knowledge democratization. We propose and argue the core thesis: the lexical construction mechanism of Chinese—generating an unlimited number of new words from a limited set of basic characters—endows academic terminology with a high degree of *semantic transparency* and *analyzability*. This characteristic significantly lowers the linguistic barrier for non-elite groups to access and understand specialized knowledge. On this basis, the paper systematically examines three dimensions of the Chinese knowledge dissemination ecosystem: first, from a cognitive neuroscience perspective, analyzing the unique EEG responses potentially induced by Chinese reading and the associated "schematic" thinking potential; second, from a knowledge infrastructure perspective, reviewing the large-scale development of Chinese public-interest academic platforms, MOOC systems, and self-learning resources; third, from a case study perspective, presenting empirical evidence of multiple individuals with low educational backgrounds who have achieved capability leaps through self-learning in Chinese. Furthermore, the paper analyzes the profound impact of the continuously increasing proportion of Chinese data in the training of large AI models (currently exceeding 60%, reaching 80% in some models) on the knowledge acquisition methods of self-learners. This paper argues that the linguistic characteristics of Chinese constitute a unique knowledge democratization system characterized by "low-threshold access, high-transparency cognition, and strong ecosystem support," and that in the era of artificial intelligence, this system is further amplifying the potential of ordinary learners. (This paper was assisted in writing and organization by DeepSeek, an AI model developed by DeepSeek Company.)

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