标签：culture

On Backwardness and Getting Beaten

AI & the Future of Technology2019.09.10
On Backwardness and Getting Beaten
Wu Lao recently brought up again the idea that “being backward does not necessarily mean getting beaten,” which sparked controversy and even drew criticism from the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League. This claim of Wu Lao’s is by no means a recent one. As early as his 1999 book *Thoughts on Modernization*, he included an article titled “Does Backwardness Mean Getting Beaten?” I read that book in high school, and it was one of the books I brought from Shanghai to Beijing when I entered university. (I remember that among my desk books at the time were several *First Push*…
culture technology Introduction to Philosophy of Technology modernity
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2019年9月10日
Was There Confucianism in the Ancient West?

Culture & Public Commentary2019.08.25
Was There Confucianism in the Ancient West?
The recent atmosphere has me a little like a startled bird, so I’m continuing to use encrypted mode. This article really isn’t worth encrypting; in a couple of days I may quietly decrypt it. A teacher has recently been disciplined over remarks about the Four Great Inventions, and that is truly shocking. I don’t want to reopen here the warning against a culture of informing on others; I only want to talk about the academic question. What makes this incident even more frightening than before is that the remarks that led to the punishment were not a political issue, but an academic one. Even the official media could not stomach…
culture China technology science
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2019年8月25日
The Responsibility of Intellectuals

Enlightenment & the Spirit of Freedom2019.08.22
The Responsibility of Intellectuals
Note: This article may not be reproduced; it is for Suixuan readers only. This article was written out of a sudden impulse. I had originally meant to dash off two paragraphs in one go, but the more I wrote, the more awkward it felt; in the end, I not only wrecked the thing, I couldn’t keep going either. But since, before I knew it, I had written more than seven thousand characters, I might as well post it. For archive purposes only. Emotions or attitudes, like thoughts and speech, are part of each person’s “freedom.” I have the right to worry myself sick, and I also have the right…
philosophy culture autobiography public sphere
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2019年8月22日
The “Two Cultures” Debate Is Long Outdated

Culture & Public Commentary2019.07.02
The “Two Cultures” Debate Is Long Outdated
Published in China Science Daily (2019-06-28, p. 5, Culture) In 1959, the British writer C. P. Snow proposed the thesis of the “two cultures” in a lecture, sparking intense debate. Even sixty years later, the topic is still with us, and seems not to have gone out of date. But I want to put forward a seemingly out-of-place claim: the two-cultures debate is already passé, and there is not much point in still fretting over the issue Snow raised. First, let us return to the context of the time and see just what split between what two cultures Snow was actually talking about. Nowadays, when many people talk about…
culture science sociology intellectuals
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2019年7月2日
On Sexual Harassment

Culture & Public Commentary2018.08.01
On Sexual Harassment
Me too Movement Recently the Me too movement has swept into China, and that is an encouraging thing; I only hope it won’t die young. As for Me too, I mentioned it in passing on Weibo, but Weibo’s limitations make it hard to fully articulate a point of view. I hope my remarks will not be too hastily interpreted as a rejection of Me too. In fact, of course I welcome Me too with both hands; even though I have raised the need to be wary of a Chinese-style slippery slope, in fact, even if it really did develop into some kind of “overdone” state, that would still be better…
culture freedom commentary pluralism
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2018年8月1日
How Technology Has Shaped Our Daily Lives: Using the Toilet

Teaching & Courses2017.08.25
How Technology Has Shaped Our Daily Lives: Using the Toilet
The summer course series has finally reached the halfway point. After talking about getting up and eating, I’ve now moved into a more vulgar domain: this time, defecation. 1. Cross-section The scene this time is something everyone knows all too well: going to the toilet. Why do people go to the toilet? — So-called “three urgent needs” of human beings; excretion can be said to be one of the most basic natural needs of humankind, so there’s no need to say much more. But just like the example of eating breakfast, the ways and concepts of going to the toilet are also historical. In addition, besides meeting basic needs, going…
culture technology history course
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2017年8月25日
On Political Correctness (I): Political Correctness and the God’s-Eye View

Culture & Public Commentary2017.02.10
On Political Correctness (I): Political Correctness and the God’s-Eye View
Trump, from the campaign to the inauguration, has been a hot topic in Chinese cultural circles, sparking countless polemics and splits. From the standpoint of enjoying a good spectacle, I actually quite welcome Trump taking office; after all, he has set off several fires just a few days into his term, and it’s been lively enough. Of course, I only want to watch the show; I do not want to take sides. If I had to say so, then from a personal standpoint I certainly look down on Trump as a person. The key issue is not so much his opposition to political correctness as his anti-intellectual tendency. But as…
culture freedom commentary value
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2017年2月10日
The “Layers” of the World—A Few Words on Pokemon GO and AR

AI & the Future of Technology2016.07.12
The “Layers” of the World—A Few Words on Pokemon GO and AR
Recently, the mobile game Pokemon GO has taken the world by storm (China is generally not included in “the world”), and it is worth noting that this should be an emblematic game: a classic application of AR (augmented reality, mixed reality) technology. From this game we can glimpse a possible image of the future world. Although the game’s effects are still very crude at present, it is not hard to imagine what it will become as the relevant technologies develop in the future (those lacking imagination can simply look up the promotional video for Pokemon GO, for example here). Researchers in philosophy of technology are well worth paying attention to…
culture technology commentary history of technology
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2016年7月12日
“It Must Be Rectification of Names” — Politics, History, and Science

Chinese Civilization & the Way of Chinese2016.04.20
“It Must Be Rectification of Names” — Politics, History, and Science
Recently, the issue of the extension of property rights on Chinese real estate has come to light, and many people have only then discovered that the so-called “automatic renewal” in the Property Law as they had understood it was merely a misunderstanding; “automatic,” it turns out, does not include the meaning of “free,” and moreover there is no fixed amount for how much one must pay to renew. Wenzhou said one would have to pay 30 percent of the housing price to renew, and then issued a clarification saying the matter was still under study. But the problem is: if the rules were already established long ago, why must the…
culture China commentary tradition
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2016年4月20日
Internet + Real Estate = Free?

Culture & Public Commentary2016.03.15
Internet + Real Estate = Free?
The “surge” in property prices in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen at the beginning of this year was enough to drive one to despair; it felt as if the Chinese economy had completely given up its chance for a soft landing. We all know reform is necessary, but I really do not know where the “turning point” lies. Dragging things on is possible—take North Korea as a reference—but if we really still hope for successful reform, then it is hard to imagine avoiding a collapse. The only remaining suspense is when it will collapse, and who will be the first to collapse. It’s not that I’m being pessimistic about China. I…
culture commentary Peking University internet
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2016年3月15日