Year: 2012

The Distanting and Severing of “This”

Philosophy & Thought2012.04.19
The Distanting and Severing of “This”
Today in the discussion session, Ban Jingqi gave a presentation, and I could clearly feel that Jingqi was in high spirits—especially at the very end, when he hoisted up the blackboard to discuss Heidegger, he looked full of swagger and dash, seeming even more spirited than before he fell ill. Congratulations, congratulations~ After the classroom discussion, Jingqi also sent emails and posted on Weibo to continue the discussion, and I wrote a long response as well. Since he is also happy to publish it publicly, I might as well repost it on the blog too~ As for Jingqi’s original text, I have directly pasted his long Weibo post here (see…
philosophy Heidegger phenomenology discussion
阅读全文

2012年4月19日
In Praise of “Rumors”

Culture & Public Commentary2012.04.15
In Praise of “Rumors”
Recently the word “rumor” has once again become a hot topic, and a full-scale “war” against “rumors” is plainly about to break out. At a time like this, it is all the more necessary to reflect on what “rumor” really means. On Weibo, I saw Sun Haifeng repost Deng Wenchu’s “Nine Theses on Rumor,” written several years ago, and applauded it enthusiastically (you can find it among some of the earliest posts on his blog, though it seems a few of the theses have been harmonized?). Later I read Kapferer’s Rumor: The World’s Oldest Media, and found it quite rewarding as well. So let me offer a few casual remarks…
book reading China tradition politics
阅读全文

2012年4月15日
The Multiple Layers of Technological Embodiment (embodiment, incarnation, manifestation)

AI & the Future of Technology2012.04.12
The Multiple Layers of Technological Embodiment (embodiment, incarnation, manifestation)
Today in the discussion seminar, Wu Ningning criticized Dreyfus’s view that “the internet is not embodied.” Dreyfus’s understanding of “embodiment” is monotonous and one-sided: he clings too rigidly to the human body as already at hand, and emphasizes the binary opposition between embodiment and disembodiment in an overly schematic way. For him, embodiment at most has only a monotonous difference of degree, such as the seven stages of learning. But in my view, embodiment not only differs in degree, but also in kind and dimension. In some respects the internet is indeed less embodied—for example, chatting online is in some ways not as full as face-to-face conversation—but such differences cannot…
technology media education Heidegger
阅读全文

2012年4月12日
Why Place Ads

Site Matters2012.04.10
Why Place Ads
Has everyone noticed that “advertisements” have appeared in the blog’s sidebar? I added them in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep because my rhinitis flared up~ Of course, putting up ads was also something I had long had in mind. Why put up ads? First of all, of course, ads can make money. Right now, to keep this blog running, with hosting fees and domain fees, I spend about 300 yuan a year. Although I don’t really care about money, after all I’m only spending my parents’ money, so if I can make up a little of it, that’s always good. But judging from this blog’s current…
media blog internet website
阅读全文

2012年4月10日
Technical Intentionality and the Unconscious

AI & the Future of Technology2012.04.09
Technical Intentionality and the Unconscious
Yesterday, Senior Brother Han Lianqing gave a lecture at Beihang for the Beijing Philosophy of Technology Forum, “Intermediation and Constitution — The Meaning and Function of Artificial-Object Intentionality.” Teacher Wu sent us a text message in the morning, but lately my rhinitis has been acting up badly, and I stayed home unwilling to go out; as a result, I didn’t go. Although this rhinitis comes and goes, even though it is there every day, it still flares in bouts, and by that afternoon I was already feeling quite a bit better. In the evening I asked Wu Ningning for the recording and asked Senior Brother Han for the paper, and…
technology media Peking University phenomenology
阅读全文

2012年4月9日
The Re-Creation of the World: How Modern Science Came Into Being

History of Science & Scholarship2012.04.08
The Re-Creation of the World: How Modern Science Came Into Being
[荷]H·弗洛里斯·科恩：《The Re-Creation of the World: How Modern Science Came into Being》，translated by Zhang Butian, Hunan Science and Technology Press, 2012 This is a slim booklet written for ordinary readers, and may be regarded as a popularized version of the author’s other weighty scholarly work, *How Modern Science Was Born: Four Civilizations, One Breakthrough in the Seventeenth Century*. The Needham Question has long been a topic of particular concern to Chinese historians of science and even to the general public. The Hong Kong scholar Chen Fangzheng recently published *Inheritance and Rebellion: Why Did Modern Science Appear in the West?* Teacher Zhou Cheng translated a book also called *Why Did Modern…
book reading China notes history of science
阅读全文

2012年4月8日
On “Gongqingyuan”

Life & Notes2012.04.01
On “Gongqingyuan”
《共青苑》 is putting out a special issue for its 20th anniversary, and this piece is specially written for it. When I was a freshman, Brother Wang Xin was the editor-in-chief of issue 39 of 《共青苑》, and I took part in doing some of the layout. When the handoff came to issue 40, it seemed that no suitable successor could be found for the moment, so I volunteered to become editor-in-chief. Apart from having some interest in layout work — now that I think about it, I already had a bit of a tech-nerd bent back then — I was also very happy to edit a magazine like this. Of course,…
philosophy everyday life Peking University Gongqingyuan
阅读全文

2012年4月1日
[Weibo] Earth Hour

Life & Notes2012.03.31
[Weibo] Earth Hour
I think the significance of “Earth Hour” lies not at all in whether the event itself can actually save energy or electricity. It is a ritual of awe and reverence toward nature. To question whether a “ritual” has any practical use is meaningless.
everyday life environment ritual life
阅读全文

2012年3月31日
The title doesn’t show up on the blog homepage, but it still exists~

Site Matters2012.03.30
The title doesn’t show up on the blog homepage, but it still exists~
From now on, when I post to Weibo, subscribers won’t be bothered with notification emails anymore~ Some subscribers’ email addresses keep bouncing messages back to me. Besides spam accounts, there may also be some innocent ones that got caught in the crossfire. If you’ve subscribed but have never received an email, please check your spam folder~
website Weibo
阅读全文

2012年3月30日
Let’s test posting a Weibo directly on the blog~

Site Matters2012.03.30
Let’s test posting a Weibo directly on the blog~
Spring has arrived, and so has my rhinitis~ To date, I’ve had three submissions rejected and one accepted (the one I least expected, yet somehow had long had a premonition about; I’ll keep you in suspense for now). For the very first piece, I unconditionally accept the outrageously, ridiculously expensive page fee, but if you ask me for it again after that, we’ll have to talk it over~
blog website Weibo
阅读全文

2012年3月30日