Year: 2014

A Summary of the Reading Group on The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

History of Science & Scholarship2014.12.10
A Summary of the Reading Group on The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
This semester, at the initiative of a few undergraduate students, with me leading the reading, we organized a reading group on Kuhn’s *Structure*. By last week, we finally finished *Structure* (skipping the postscript), and starting this week the reading group has begun *Being and Time*. This time around, leading *Structure* was quite a coincidence: just when Professor Wu went abroad, the undergraduate students in our department’s history and philosophy of science project were left without anyone to supervise them. These two students were especially eager to learn and spontaneously wanted to start a reading group, asking Professor Wu to find a teaching assistant to lead it. Professor Wu knew that…
philosophy history of science book reading philosophy of science
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2014年12月10日
On CC Licenses

Site Matters2014.12.05
On CC Licenses
//This piece was commissioned by 8btc. The Bitcoin community is naturally inclined toward the spirit of free software, so it ought to be easier to accept the CC licenses. But copyright awareness in China is generally rather weak, and CC licenses are even less familiar, so plagiarism occurs frequently. Even places like 8btc that have brought up CC licenses still lack respect for them within the community. So some popular explanation is indeed necessary. For the moment it is hard to expect CC licenses to have legal force, but in the long run they are beneficial for fostering an atmosphere of mutual respect and collaboration in the industry, as well…
freedom Web3 Bitcoin internet
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2014年12月5日
On Civil Servants

Culture & Public Commentary2014.11.30
On Civil Servants
I’d promised two current-affairs commentaries plus two book reviews every week, but my habitual procrastination put me off for a whole week. Starting today, I’m officially kicking into gear. The commentaries and reviews may be very short in length; their main purpose is to keep me in writing shape. The long-parked conference travelogue will also be produced sometime in the next few days. Today is the day of the national civil service exam. I hear that this year’s number of applicants has fallen to the lowest level in five years. Perhaps that is because civil service pay has declined; perhaps it is because young people nowadays are increasingly opinionated; or…
China culture freedom education
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2014年11月30日
An Outline of the General History of Technology

History of Science & Scholarship2014.11.21
An Outline of the General History of Technology
Outline of a General History of Technology Hu Yilin I. A Survey of Western Studies in the History of Technology In the English-speaking world, the history of technology as an established academic discipline roughly began in the 1950s. Its landmark was the publication of the monumental Oxford History of Technology (volumes 1 through 5 were published from 1954 to 1958, the final two volumes in 1978, and the general index for volume 8 was completed in 1984). Another milestone was the founding of the American Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) in 1958 and the launch of its journal Technology and Culture in 1959. From roughly the late 1950s…
technology culture media phenomenology
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2014年11月21日
Giving a Talk on the History of Science at Central China Normal University

Life & Notes2014.11.05
Giving a Talk on the History of Science at Central China Normal University
Last weekend I went to Wuhan to give a lecture on behalf of Teacher Wu. My audience was two dozen or so graduate students, who are being trained as reserve talent for the Hubei Science and Technology Museum. The required course I was to teach consists of three parts: the history of Chinese science and technology, the history of world science and technology, and the philosophy of technology. The part on the history of world science and technology had originally been assigned to Teacher Wu, but since he was abroad, I was sent to teach it. I lectured for a day and a half straight on Saturday and Sunday, twelve…
philosophy everyday life history of science science
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2014年11月5日
Course Outline: A Guide to Academic Research

Teaching & Courses2014.11.05
Course Outline: A Guide to Academic Research
As I mentioned earlier, next semester I’m planning to teach two courses at BNU. One is the general elective A General History of Science; the second is going to be a specialized course. However, at the Philosophy Department of BNU, one cannot just open a new specialized course at will; one must claim a course that already exists in the pre-established teaching plan. And most of the courses, of course, have already been claimed by one teacher or another, leaving only two and a half uncclaimed. So I chose this one, “Introduction of Academic Research.” Though this course may seem rather expendable, I feel it is still quite meaningful. In…
philosophy scholarship course Peking University
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2014年11月5日
Course Outline: A General History of Science

Teaching & Courses2014.11.05
Course Outline: A General History of Science
Next semester I’m preparing to teach two courses at Beijing Normal University. No one is actually making me do this; I went to Beijing Normal University in the first place because I wanted to teach. Whether I end up staying at Beijing Normal University as a lecturer or not, I might as well first build up some experience—at least then my postdoc won’t have been for nothing. I’m planning to offer one general-education elective and one major course; the general-education elective will be a General History of Science. I listened to Teacher Wu’s lectures on the general history of science in several rounds at Peking University, and I’ve already served…
history of science course Scientific Revolution Wu Guosheng
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2014年11月5日
Bitcoin’s Value Depends on Holding It

Web3 & Cypherpunks2014.10.11
Bitcoin’s Value Depends on Holding It
http://zl.yibite.com/point/2014/1011/23952.shtml After several months of doldrums, Bitcoin’s price has recently sunk to a new low, and it is frankly appalling. At a time like this, talking about prices again is perhaps fitting. Of course, I have no intention of predicting Bitcoin’s short-term trend. Although I did not expect it to fall this badly beforehand, it is really not a big deal either; it was always a long-term investment, something to be left there like a pension policy. Besides, over the past year, almost every indicator and performance metric in the Bitcoin world, apart from price, has been developing steadily, so there is nothing to worry about. The reason I am…
Web3 Bitcoin value money
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2014年10月11日
Media as Environment — A Rough Philosophical Reading of Media Ecology

History of Science & Scholarship2014.09.25
Media as Environment — A Rough Philosophical Reading of Media Ecology
This is the draft of the talk I’m preparing to give tomorrow at Tsinghua; by then I’ll basically plan to read straight from the script, of course after finishing I’ll probably also expand on certain parts extemporaneously depending on how things go… This talk aims to offer a brief and accessible overview of the basic claims of my dissertation. My dissertation involves many problems, and the relationships among its chapters are originally rather loose, so it is not very easy to distill. Here I can only focus on a few core concepts. Since I have avoided the most abstruse parts (ontology and transcendental philosophy) and the most concrete parts…
philosophy technology history of science media
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2014年9月25日
Should Bitcoin Exchanges Have 100% Reserves?

Web3 & Cypherpunks2014.08.18
Should Bitcoin Exchanges Have 100% Reserves?
This piece was commissioned for the 8BTC special topic: http://www.8btc.com/caution-money After many quiet days, the recent plunge in Bitcoin has finally made the various communities lively again. Quite a few people have popped up to cry, curse, or else gloat for a bit; of course, there are also some calmer players who have come out to reflect on the issues, such as once again reexamining the question of whether exchanges should maintain 100% reserves. Markets rise and fall; that is perfectly normal. There is no need to make a fuss every time prices crash. Short-term coin speculators ought to welcome violent market fluctuations, while long-term hoarders need not care…
China freedom Web3 Bitcoin
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2014年8月18日