分类：History of Science & Scholarship

Is It Worth Building a Super-Large Particle Collider?

Culture & Public Commentary2016.09.07
Is It Worth Building a Super-Large Particle Collider?
Recently, Mr. Yang Zhenning published an article opposing China’s construction of a super-large collider, turning the matter into a hot topic. The director of the Institute of High Energy Physics, Wang Yifang, has already rebutted Mr. Yang’s arguments point by point, so I’ll just make a few offhand comments on what the two of them have said. Mr. Yang Zhenning is a clear-headed man, and has always tended to think from the standpoint of ordinary people at the bottom. I remember that when he gave a lecture at Peking University and spoke about the comparison between Chinese education and American education, he thought that the usual saying that American education…
China science commentary value
阅读全文

2016年9月7日
Is It Worth Building a Super-Large Collider?

Culture & Public Commentary2016.09.07
Is It Worth Building a Super-Large Collider?
Recently, Mr. Yang Zhenning published an article opposing China’s construction of an ultra-large collider, turning the matter into a hot topic. The director of the High Energy Physics Institute, Wang Yifang, has already refuted Mr. Yang’s arguments point by point, so I’ll just offer a few casual comments on what the two of them have said. Mr. Yang Zhenning is a clear-headed man, and he has always tended to think about problems from the standpoint of ordinary people at the bottom. I remember that when he gave a lecture at Peking University and spoke about the comparison between Chinese education and American education, he said that what people commonly call…
China science commentary value
阅读全文

2016年9月7日
Travel Notes from the Xichang Conference

History of Science & Scholarship2016.08.23
Travel Notes from the Xichang Conference
The once-a-year conference on phenomenological philosophy of technology was held again, this time in Xichang, from August 8 to 13. It ran for five days all told, and, under the auspices of China National Geographic magazine, it was a good deal of fun—and even better eating~ This time we stayed at a hotel right by Qionghai, absolutely the best setting of any conference I’ve attended. The buffet breakfast and buffet lunch were indeed at a five-star level. Unfortunately, the schedule for both the conference and the sightseeing was very tight, and I never managed to carve out a daytime stretch to wander by the lake. On the way home, I…
philosophy media phenomenology Wu Guosheng
阅读全文

2016年8月23日
A Loose Phenomenological Discussion of “Artificial Intelligence”

AI & Scholarship2016.08.02
A Loose Phenomenological Discussion of “Artificial Intelligence”
This essay was prepared for this year’s conference on phenomenological philosophy of technology. It had been brewing for several months, but in the end I still failed to turn it into a complete paper, and handed in some essay-like prose instead. There were too many people attending this time, and Teacher Wu was not planning to have every participant present a paper; some papers would be included in the conference proceedings but not assigned a presentation, so I was even more willing to make do. The main reason I could not write the paper, of course, was that I simply did not have enough time; I had read the literature…
technology Heidegger phenomenology AI
阅读全文

2016年8月2日
Results Obscure Process—”Science Literacy Benchmarks” and Melamine

Culture & Public Commentary2016.04.29
Results Obscure Process—”Science Literacy Benchmarks” and Melamine
Recently I took part in the commentary on the “Basic Standards for the Scientific Literacy of Chinese Citizens.” I was invited to write a piece for China Science Daily, and it was published together with interviews of many teachers; see here. Because of the word limit, I accidentally wrote too much, and when the article was published it was edited and cut. In fact, the cuts were quite well done: the key points were all retained, and the tone was made less aggressive. Still, I’ll post the unedited original here for reference~ The newly released “Basic Standards for the Scientific Literacy of Chinese Citizens” has stirred up a great…
China science history of science philosophy of science
阅读全文

2016年4月29日
When Results Obscure Process — “Scientific Literacy Standards” and Melamine

Culture & Public Commentary2016.04.29
When Results Obscure Process — “Scientific Literacy Standards” and Melamine
Recently I participated in the commentary on the , and was invited to write a piece for *China Science Daily*, which was published together with interviews with many teachers; see here. Because of the word limit, I accidentally wrote too much. When the article was published, the editors cut and revised it; actually the revisions were quite good—they kept all the key points and reduced the aggressiveness. Still, I’ll post the unedited original here for reference~ The newly released has stirred up a great deal of controversy. Beyond simply laughing at it or picking holes in it, there has gradually also been some serious discussion by scientists and scholars…
China science history of science philosophy of science
阅读全文

2016年4月29日
I, Too, Will Take a Shot at the “Chinese Citizens’ Scientific Literacy Benchmark”

Culture & Public Commentary2016.04.24
I, Too, Will Take a Shot at the “Chinese Citizens’ Scientific Literacy Benchmark”
Recently the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Central Propaganda Department released the latest Benchmarks for Scientific Literacy among Chinese Citizens, which drew a great deal of mockery. Out of curiosity, I looked it up too, and after reading it I could not help wanting to mock it as well, so I sat down and wrote this (I’ve been trying to stimulate my own will to act lately). At first I only intended to pick a few items that had not been mocked much online and talk about them, but after writing I discovered there were far more targets for ridicule than I had imagined. Before I knew it,…
China science history of science philosophy of science
阅读全文

2016年4月24日
Obsolete Wisdom (Preface to Fifteen Lectures on the General History of Science)

Culture & Public Commentary2016.03.04
Obsolete Wisdom (Preface to Fifteen Lectures on the General History of Science)
I am about to edit and publish my lecture notes on the history of science. The original title was to be *Fifteen Lectures on the History of Science*, but the editor suggested changing it to a more eye-catching main title. After wracking my brains, I came up with this phrase: “Outdated Wisdom.” What follows is my explanation of this title, or perhaps it can serve as the first section of the preface or introduction. Of course, this title has not been finalized; suggestions and naming proposals from teachers and friends are always welcome~ Studying Outdated Things with a Clear Conscience When we say that something “has become history,” we…
science history of science philosophy of science history
阅读全文

2016年3月4日
Travel Notes from the Shenyang–Benxi Meeting (Benxi篇)

History of Science & Scholarship2015.10.24
Travel Notes from the Shenyang–Benxi Meeting (Benxi篇)
Continuing on from the previous post, there have recently been many things lined up and demanding to be finished, so I didn’t really have the mind to write the travel notes to completion. But in the end I discovered that if I didn’t finish the travel notes, I would always have this one thing hanging over my heart, and I wouldn’t be able to do anything else well either, so I still went ahead and filled them in…… After the first day’s sessions in Shenyang’s Xiaoshicheng, we arrived in Benxi, where the conference’s final two days were held. The morning of the 26th saw the start of Session 4, themed…
philosophy China technology phenomenology
阅读全文

2015年10月24日
Travel Notes from the Shenyang–Benxi Conference (Shenyang Section)

History of Science & Scholarship2015.10.08
Travel Notes from the Shenyang–Benxi Conference (Shenyang Section)
The annual conference on phenomenology and philosophy of technology has once again come to a successful close. This year it was hosted by Northeastern University and held in Shenyang and Benxi from September 24 to 28. In my travel notes from the Lushan conference in 2013, I wrote: Since going to Nanning in 2009 to attend the Third Conference on Phenomenology and Philosophy of Technology, I have now participated in five consecutive conferences. Apart from Nanning, where I only wrote a little “miscellaneous notes,” I wrote full-on conference takedowns for Hailar, Yangma Island, and Guangzhou. It has already become a case of riding a tiger and finding it hard to…
technology media phenomenology Scientific Revolution
阅读全文

2015年10月8日