Year: 2007

The Third Way—An Interpretation of Feenberg’s Philosophy of Technology (Reading Notes)

Philosophy & Thought2007.05.31
The Third Way—An Interpretation of Feenberg’s Philosophy of Technology (Reading Notes)
As usual, let me first post a rough draft of the essay. I had originally planned to write about Heidegger, but Heidegger’s articles are really too ethereal; when I read them, it’s all clouds and fog, impossible to get a grip on… Among the philosophy of technology thinkers discussed so far, aside from Marx, Feenberg is still the one most to my taste, though Ellul and Mumford are also worthy of respect. [US]Andrew Feenberg: Critique of Technology, translated by Han Lianqing and Cao Guanfǎ, Peking University Press,2005 Preface, p. 1, v, (first sentence) Must humanity submit to the harsh logic of machines? Or can technology be fundamentally redesigned so that…
book reading notes Marx Feenberg
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2007年5月31日
[English] Brian Ridley: “Is Science Magic?” —★

History of Science & Scholarship2007.05.27
[English] Brian Ridley: “Is Science Magic?” —★
[English] Brian Ridley: *Is Science Magic?*, translated by Li Bin and Zhang Butian, Guangxi Normal University Press, May 2007, 1st edition, 1st printing, 1–7000 copies, 118,000 characters, 787×1092, 9.625 sheets, 25 yuan — ★ Guangxi Normal University Press is really getting cooler and cooler! I couldn’t resist buying this set yesterday when I saw it at WanSheng, even though today I saw that the Wild Grass Bookstore’s 25% discount copies had also arrived (by the way, Wild Grass has finally taken back and merged in the neighboring “Masterpiece Movement” that couldn’t stay in business, doubling its space). But when you see such a cool series, you really can’t not make…
book reading science notes physics
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2007年5月27日
Under Construction… Under Construction…

Life & Notes2007.05.27
Under Construction… Under Construction…
These past few months, right under the window of the room I rent, it has been making a noise so unbearable that one can hardly tolerate it—from a little after 6 in the morning until well past 12:30 at night, there has been a continuous, irregular clanging of metal and electric-welding sounds all day long. Recently I learned that it seems this district is going to have its heating pipes or natural-gas pipes or something replaced; they’ve been digging everywhere to lay pipes, and the area right beneath my window seems to be, on the one hand, the place where a boiler room or something of the sort is to…
everyday life city
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2007年5月27日
This Week’s Music: Sunshine On My Shoulders

Life & Notes2007.05.27
This Week’s Music: Sunshine On My Shoulders
http://www.hsjch.pudong-edu.sh.cn/冯静音乐风景线/My%20Webs/music-ziyuan/english%20sing-shx/sunshine%20on%20my%20shoulders.mp3 （female voice） http://host12.tyjh.tyc.edu.tw/~english2/english-songs/MP3/Sunshine-On-My-Shoulders.mp3 No matter how I listen to it, a café still seems to be the more suitable place for American country music. What songs used to be played at Plato Café? I’ve forgotten. Still, this one seems to make a slightly deeper impression—unless I’m mixing it up with even earlier memories? In my hazy recollection, folk songs like Blowing In The Wind and Your Cheat in Heart also seem to have been heard often in cafés. Latest comments Yiwu 2007-05-27 21:54:00 Ah… John Denver…… I can sing a rough version of this one. Such a gentle, comfortable tune. I have one of his albums. I always think…
everyday life music
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2007年5月27日
The Mood for Going to a Café

Life & Notes2007.05.27
The Mood for Going to a Café
Today’s effort to make yet another return to the café has once again failed. This time it was not entirely due to subjective reasons; there were also some objective factors: Plato Café has changed. When I came in today, I was first startled by the “Merry Christmas” decoration at the door: at this point in the year, we are in the period farthest from both the previous Christmas and the next one, so why is “Merry Christmas” still posted at the entrance? Still, I gathered my courage and charged in, only to discover after entering that the room layout had been adjusted, and I didn’t recognize a single one of…
everyday life culture Plato
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2007年5月27日
[Repost] Since April, Various Places Have Been Strictly Cracking Down on the Illegal Terror-Related Publication Death Note

Life & Notes2007.05.25
[Repost] Since April, Various Places Have Been Strictly Cracking Down on the Illegal Terror-Related Publication Death Note
http://news.xinhuanet.com/legal/2007-05/25/content_6152545.htm Since April, various places have been strictly cracking down on the illegal horror publication Death Note Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, May 25 (Reporter Tian Yu) After the office of the national “Anti-Pornography and Anti-Illegal Publications” task force issued notices twice in April calling for the seizure of illegal horror publications such as Death Note, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Henan, Guangxi, Xinjiang, Fujian, Hubei, Sichuan, Chongqing, Guangdong, and other places have successively seized the book Death Note and related CDs. At present, various places have seized 2,409 copies of Death Note books, 366 discs, and 1,018 copies of other illegal horror publications, effectively striking at the unlawful conduct of harming the…
everyday life anime psychology
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2007年5月25日
The Dialectics of Nature Course Taught by the Teachers

Life & Notes2007.05.24
The Dialectics of Nature Course Taught by the Teachers
First, let me repost a thread: Sender: fengziforeve (Expired pineapple can～CME! U.S.-Russia! Little optics 。。), board: Philo From start to finish, I had never seen such an utterly top-notch, depraved “teacher” before. It felt to me like he was basically a psychopath; I have no idea how he became a teacher. Before class, he announced that there would be no homework for this session, and that if anyone didn’t want to listen, they could just leave. Then he went on to say that since you came to class, you should pay attention; if you didn’t want to listen, then leave—it wouldn’t affect your grade. Then, just as class was about…
everyday life education Peking University politics
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2007年5月24日
I Don’t Like Meditation; I Like Spacing Out

Life & Notes2007.05.24
I Don’t Like Meditation; I Like Spacing Out
Sitting cross-legged, eyes closed, gathering the spirit, meditating hard or thinking of nothing at all.—That doesn’t really suit me; I can’t sit still for very long. I like daydreaming. What is called daydreaming, unlike sitting in meditation, often involves staring fixedly at something. Staring at things that are at once moving and still. For example, staring at stars (stars are not motionless—they blink!), rain, water in a lake, grass, and trees. In Beijing there are very few stars and rain, so I like to stare at the wind and daydream. The wind is invisible, but the grass and trees that move with it can be seen. Stand under a big…
philosophy everyday life nature consciousness
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2007年5月24日
Everything Has Yet to Begin

Life & Notes2007.05.24
Everything Has Yet to Begin
I do not wish to erase a single beautiful hue, and still less to throw away the picture in my hands, yet I am about to create an entirely new world. All it takes is to change to another pen, change to another color, and everything has not yet begun. A whole new world opens its arms to me. Latest Comments unic 2007-05-25 15:42:21 Anonymous 222.82.226.29 [Reply] a whole new world…
everyday life dream
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2007年5月24日
This Issue’s Music: Prairie Dawn (Morin Khuur)

Life & Notes2007.05.22
This Issue’s Music: Prairie Dawn (Morin Khuur)
http://www.58w.cn/SN_Music/UpLoadFile/2007-4/74340_200741764637506.mp3 All the previous ones were Western music; let’s switch to something Eastern. Choosing music is such a troublesome thing—I'll just click one at random: ——“After the ‘national treasure’ music maestro Zhang Hongguang once again poured his full efforts into the musical creation for dramas such as [Emperor Kangxi] and [Great Emperor Wu of Han], he has joined hands with the grassland music master Siriguleng to jointly release the NEW AGE original-ecology album [Yi·Wolf City]. For the first time, it combines the concept of the wolf with NEW AGE music. The first original-ecology album to describe grassland life and scenery with music rich in ethnic characteristics.” 04. Dawn on the…
everyday life China music
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2007年5月22日