标签：intellectuals

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
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The “Two Cultures” Debate Is Long Outdated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The “Two Cultures” Debate Is Long Outdated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 Even sixty years later, the topic is still with us, and seems not to have gone out of date.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
Should We ‘Bid’ to Snatch Up Talent?

Culture & Public Commentary2019.06.17
Should We ‘Bid’ to Snatch Up Talent?
Published in Chinese Science News (2019-06-17, p. 1, Top News); some edits were made at the time of publication. The original draft is posted here. This article is a kind of forcibly optimistic reading. In fact, I am quite worried: even if it really is a demand made of the government, in the end the government will probably not change much, and it will still be carried out as a matter of disciplining intellectuals. But, how should I put it? If everyone interprets things in a more positive direction, the world will become a little better too. Recently, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office…
China freedom commentary intellectuals
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2019年6月17日
Is Eugenics Justifiable? — A Delayed Judgment [Third Review]

Culture & Public Commentary2018.12.07
Is Eugenics Justifiable? — A Delayed Judgment [Third Review]
At the turn from the 19th to the 20th century, as Darwin’s theory of evolution gained popularity, “eugenics” arose one after another in several countries in Europe and America. Various countries adopted all kinds of compulsory or incentivizing birth-control policies, encouraging some people (the healthy, the highly intelligent) to have more children, while suppressing the reproduction of others (the sick or the “low-end population”). It was not until eugenics became linked with genocide in Nazi hands that it finally fell into disrepute. So after World War II, in addition to trying the Nazis for their crimes, the international community also abolished eugenic policies one after another. With the rise of…
philosophy technology commentary modernity
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2018年12月7日
On Shanzhai: On the Advantages of Being a Latecomer

AI & the Future of Technology2018.08.07
On Shanzhai: On the Advantages of Being a Latecomer
Recently, Pinduoduo, which bills itself as a platform for “consumption downgrading,” went public and stirred up plenty of controversy; I also said a few things on Weibo. It is not the case that anything with market demand is worth doing. For example, what is equally hard for city people to understand is that in China there are widespread customs such as abandoning baby girls and trafficking in people. Should there then be an app for human trafficking to serve them? If this app were hugely popular, should we then educate those city people who are thunderstruck that you just don’t understand China? Nonsense! Everyone knows that the lower strata of…
China technology scholarship commentary
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2018年8月7日
An Explanation Regarding Going to Teach a Public Class at 706 and the Strike

Life & Notes2013.05.28
An Explanation Regarding Going to Teach a Public Class at 706 and the Strike
A few weeks ago I went to 706 Youth Space to give three public lectures. The course was originally planned to have five sessions, but I decided not to continue with the last two. Any students who participated and would like to continue the exchange are welcome to stay in touch with me through the blog, Weibo, email, and so on. As for the background and aftermath of starting the course and the strike, let me explain here. I had not previously known much about 706 Youth Space. I went to give the lectures because I received an invitation from Zhou Ruixuan. I checked the organization’s positioning online—spontaneous pursuit of…
everyday life blog intellectuals ranting
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2013年5月28日
Settling Accounts After the Fall and Talking About Shoes

Life & Notes2013.03.27
Settling Accounts After the Fall and Talking About Shoes
A few days ago I reposted and mocked Xi’s “shoe theory” on Weibo, and my dad got unsettled. He immediately called to warn me to be careful with what I said, so as to avoid settling accounts after the autumn harvest. Generally speaking, it is rather awkward when the blogs and Weibo accounts of people born in the 1980s and 1990s come under the gaze of their parents, and I am no exception. Although my writing is addressed to anyone, and even if it is watched by parents and relatives it will not place any real pressure on me, it would be a lie to say that it causes no…
China freedom history Aristotle
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2013年3月27日
Joining the Party Burdened by Guilt

Life & Notes2012.06.04
Joining the Party Burdened by Guilt
On this special day today, I served as a Party introducer for the first time and signed the recommendation statement. Why am I not only willing to join the Party, but also willing to recommend others to join? I need to explain. Indeed, this is not only something I am willing to explain, but something I must explain. I joined the Party when I was in high school; if I had not joined then, I would probably be too lazy to apply now. But I would never simply attribute that decision to youthful ignorance. Certainly, as I have grown older, my life plan has changed enormously: from initially wanting to…
China history autobiography tradition
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2012年6月4日
The Left and Right, Chinese Style

Enlightenment & the Spirit of Freedom2012.05.15
The Left and Right, Chinese Style
Recently I’ve been mentioning the left and the right quite often, but always rather cautiously, always wanting to add a couple of lines: I don’t like taking sides, I only use labels because I have no choice, and so on. To keep on like that is not really a solution, so I might as well write an article and talk through my understanding of the so-called left and right. My first acquaintance with the concepts of left and right probably came in middle school political class, where the teacher explained that the left was progressive and reformist, while the right was backward and conservative. We children, brainwashed by China’s rote-learning…
China freedom autobiography tradition
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2012年5月15日