Author: 胡翌霖

“Selected Readings in Original Works of Philosophy of Technology” Course Summary for 2022

Teaching & Courses2022.07.12
“Selected Readings in Original Works of Philosophy of Technology” Course Summary for 2022
The courses I teach are mainly undergraduate general-education courses, and among graduate courses, this reading course is basically the only one I still have now. This is the second run of this course that I’ve taught. I don’t seem to have written a summary after the first run either, probably because there was no exam component then, so there was nothing to comment on. As for the course content, it was just reading, so there wasn’t much to summarize anyway. But in this run I added an exam component, so it became necessary to write a set of comments. This course itself is taught in a fairly lazy way: I…
philosophy course Heidegger Introduction to Philosophy of Technology
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2022年7月12日
Becoming Citizens Capable of Debate—Commencement Address for the 2022 Department of History of Science Graduation Ceremony

History of Science & Scholarship2022.06.27
Becoming Citizens Capable of Debate—Commencement Address for the 2022 Department of History of Science Graduation Ceremony
I am very honored to speak today on behalf of the teachers of the undergraduate minor in history of science. Building the undergraduate major has always been a priority for us in the Department of History of Science at Tsinghua University. In China as a whole, we were also the first department of history of science to enroll undergraduates. At present we are training a minor; in the future we will also train a major. So, why should undergraduates study history of science? Of course, one purpose is to train future scholars of history of science and strengthen the pool of applicants for our graduate program. But many undergraduate students…
history of science scholarship philosophy of science knowledge
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2022年6月27日
In Memory of Master Xianglong

Life & Notes2022.06.09
In Memory of Master Xianglong
Teacher Zhang Xianglong passed away yesterday… I was fortunate, as an undergraduate, to sit in on his introductory philosophy course, and later I also had quite a bit of academic and personal contact with him. I always got used to calling him Master Xianglong, because he was the first person who made me feel what the bearing of a master was really like: truly bringing together Chinese, Western, and Indian thought, and making one feel the profundity and richness of thought. Although Master Xianglong’s thought leaned toward antiquity, his horizon was broad and he kept up with the cutting edge. He insisted on reading the latest technology magazines, and when…
philosophy everyday life China Confucianism
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2022年6月9日
Why Is the Cat Version of “The God of Medicine” Wrong?

Culture & Public Commentary2022.05.07
Why Is the Cat Version of “The God of Medicine” Wrong?
This commissioned article was published in Science and Technology Daily (2022-05-05, p. 3, general section), with the title changed to “Why Was the ‘Cat Version of the Drug God’ Criminally Detained?” This was a change that deviated greatly from my original intent, and there were also some important alterations to the article’s content, especially the final paragraph. I understand why such rewriting happened, so I did not object further. My view is that the cat-version drug god did something wrong, but that does not mean the reason for detaining her is correct. I am not defending her detention; I am defending scientific research ethics and research norms. A few years…
science commentary law medicine
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2022年5月7日
From a Snail Shell to the Metaverse—An Evolutionary Theory of Technological “Organs”

AI & the Future of Technology2022.04.26
From a Snail Shell to the Metaverse—An Evolutionary Theory of Technological “Organs”
A lecture I gave a few months ago has been posted today, and I’m also putting up the original verbatim transcript here. In name, this lecture was about The Origin of Species, but it mainly talks about technology and evolution; in this respect, another lecture from back then is actually clearer: Humans and Technology in Evolution — Technology Also Needs “Biodiversity Reserves”. This time, “the metaverse” has been added. Recently there have also been many lectures about the metaverse, but their basic viewpoints do not go much beyond the series of articles I posted here earlier, so I won’t post them separately either. The theme I’m talking about today is…
technology Web3 history of technology Introduction to Philosophy of Technology
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2022年4月26日
The “Nonsense” that Scientifically Combats Scientific Nonsense — Preface to Recommending Exposing Data Nonsense

History of Science & Scholarship2022.04.07
The “Nonsense” that Scientifically Combats Scientific Nonsense — Preface to Recommending Exposing Data Nonsense
In the past I always wrote book reviews for newspapers; this time, for the first time, I was invited to write a recommendation foreword, which can be found in CITIC Publishing Group’s newly released Debunking Data Bullshit. Since it’s a recommendation and a bit of promotion, I suppose it can also be reposted here. One thing needs to be explained: when I received the advance copy, the tentative Chinese title was The Signal and the Noise of Science; by the time it was officially published, it had been changed to the current Debunking Data Bullshit. So when I wrote the recommendation, I started from the translated title, and the part…
book reading science philosophy of science book review
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2022年4月7日
Heavenly Endowment

Life & Notes2022.04.01
Heavenly Endowment
At 11:39 a.m. on April 1, 2022, a new life came squalling into the world. Yes, I have a daughter now~ I chose her name a few days earlier: Hu Tianyu. Don’t worry, I’m not suddenly going to turn into a shameless kid-showoff. Writing in the public sphere will not become excessively intimate. On the one hand, this post is a special commemoration; on the other, it is also an excuse to talk about certain general topics through my daughter’s name. Back in the day my grandfather gave me a name: “Tian Ding,” meaning roughly that my fate was decreed by Heaven. In the end, though, it was never used….
everyday life freedom Heidegger democracy
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2022年4月1日
The Science Museum in the Metaverse: Looking Ahead to the Future of Digital Collectibles

Web3 & Cypherpunks2022.03.31
The Science Museum in the Metaverse: Looking Ahead to the Future of Digital Collectibles
Recently I’ve had a few conversations about the possibility of combining NFTs with science museums, including people in blockchain circles and in the VR industry. I’m recording my thoughts here: The digitization of museums is nothing new; it’s been underway for many years, especially in many overseas museums, which long ago digitized most of their collections and made them public on the internet. Of course, digital exhibition halls and the like have also already been built in great numbers. Our own Tsinghua Science Museum is not behind the times either: every exhibition is turned into a “3D Digital Exhibition Hall”. But the current kind of digitization is basically still rather…
history of science education Web3 blockchain
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2022年3月31日
Creating Something Out of Nothing — How the Metaverse Inflates Big Bubbles

Web3 & Bitcoin2022.03.20
Creating Something Out of Nothing — How the Metaverse Inflates Big Bubbles
Recently there has been a milestone event in the NFT world, all initiated by the team behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club, Yuga Labs. First it acquired the IP of Cyberpunks and Meetbits—Cyberpunks was a pioneer of the NFT market, even one of its creators, while Meetbits was a derivative project of Cyberpunks. Then Yuga Labs launched Apecoin, part of which was airdropped to the holders of all ape-related NFTs (BAYC, MAYC, BAKC). One BAYC could receive a little over 10,000 apecoins. Apecoin is said to play a role in the metaverse project the team will build next. What exactly that role will be is still unclear, but the market…
technology Web3 value Bitcoin
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2022年3月20日
An Interview Transcript on Research Failure

History of Science & Scholarship2022.03.04
An Interview Transcript on Research Failure
In an earlier interview with China Science Daily, I answered quite a lot of questions, but when they compiled it into an article, they actually only quoted two of my sentences. Here I’m posting my original answers. 1. Someone once proposed that “failure refers to an action’s result deviating from the expected goal, or to the termination (interruption) of an action that has not achieved its intended value.” How do you understand “research failure”? The relationship between failure and success is dialectical. In your view, what kind of research counts as ‘failure’? Can “research failure” be divided into several types? How we define failure of course depends on how we…
science paper innovation scientific spirit
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2022年3月4日