Suixuan

标签：Introduction to Philosophy of Technology

Is an E-cigarette a Cigarette?

AI & the Future of Technology2019.10.05
Is an E-cigarette a Cigarette?
Commissioned by Jiemian, published in Jiemian Commentary, “Is e-cigarette smoke really smoke, yet another race between technology and regulation” Is e-cigarette smoke really smoke? At first glance, this question seems like nothing more than sophistry along the lines of “a white horse is not a horse,” but on closer thought, it is in fact a serious question. First, in terms of appearance, apart from the very early generation of e-cigarettes, which deliberately imitated the shape of cigarettes, today’s popular e-cigarettes are worlds apart from traditional cigarettes in outward form. Some look like USB flash drives, some like fountain pens, some like mice, some like hammers, some like flying saucers; in…
technology commentary Introduction to Philosophy of Technology law
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2019年10月5日
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*…
technology culture Introduction to Philosophy of Technology modernity
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2019年9月10日
From Spirit Photography to Face-Swapping Apps: On the Popularization and Abuse of Technology

AI & the Future of Technology2019.09.01
From Spirit Photography to Face-Swapping Apps: On the Popularization and Abuse of Technology
Published in Jiemian Commentary: “From Soul Photography to Face-Swapping Apps: The History of Humanity’s Struggle with PS Technology” A face-swapping app called ZAO went viral overnight, triggering heated debate. Many people are worried about the popularization of face-swapping technology. Using AI to swap faces in videos is actually nothing new. In 2017, a user known as deepfakes began sharing pornographic videos that swapped the faces of the actors with those of film stars, drawing widespread attention. Later, the relevant program code was open-sourced and shared, the technology developed rapidly, and some derivative applications have long been easy for ordinary people to use. Face-swapping technology certainly has some legitimate uses….
technology commentary Introduction to Philosophy of Technology knowledge
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2019年9月1日
Am I “One” or “Many”? — A Review of I Encompass All Things

AI & the Future of Technology2019.08.16
Am I “One” or “Many”? — A Review of I Encompass All Things
Published in *China Science Daily* (2019-08-16, Section 7, Book Review) “Who am I?” — this may be the oldest and most enduring great question in the history of human thought. Philosophers have poured their energies into it, and modern science has also advanced human self-understanding from different angles. Some say human beings are rational animals; some say they are political animals; some say they are tool-making animals… But in any case, few people would doubt this point: “I am one person.” The question “Who am I?” is immediately transformed into “What is a human being?”, thereby bypassing any inquiry into the “one.” No matter what I am, I am first…
philosophy technology book reading Introduction to Philosophy of Technology
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2019年8月16日
Humans and Technology in Evolution—Technology Also Needs “Protected Areas for Diversity”

AI & the Future of Technology2019.05.02
Humans and Technology in Evolution—Technology Also Needs “Protected Areas for Diversity”
Last week I went to give a lecture at 新华·知本读书会. Both Book City Magazine and Pengpai’s book-reading crowd published records of it, and both were arranged quite well. Here I’m reposting the transcript from The Paper (authorized). Pengpai’s arrangement reconstructed my line of thought better, and the clickbait title also captured the essence. My originally planned lecture title was “Humans and Technology in Evolution: Parasitism or Symbiosis,” and I actually wanted to focus mainly on the cyborg direction. But during preparation I found that cyborgs are really not so easy to talk about, so I toned down the subtitle. Thus the title revised by Pengpai—“Technology Also Needs a ‘Diversity Preserve,’…
technology history of technology Introduction to Philosophy of Technology environment
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2019年5月2日
Writing Robot: The Conflict Between Education and Technology

AI & the Future of Technology2019.02.19
Writing Robot: The Conflict Between Education and Technology
Still a submission for Jiemian, with the published title changed to “The Writing Robot Has Arrived: Smash It to Pieces, or Throw Up Your Hands and Surrender?” Recently, the “writing robot” has burst onto the scene and sparked heated debate. Because it can imitate a child’s handwriting to finish copying textbook passages, copying new characters, and even hand-copying a class newspaper, some parents angrily smashed the machine to bits, while others welcomed it with open arms and wanted to buy one to help their children cope with “boring homework.” The “writing robot” is a new thing, but the conflict it reflects is not new. In essence, it is the distance…
philosophy technology commentary education
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2019年2月19日
From Deep to Shallow—Summary of the Introduction to Philosophy of Technology Course

Teaching & Courses2019.01.31
From Deep to Shallow—Summary of the Introduction to Philosophy of Technology Course
The second course I taught for undergraduates at Tsinghua, “Introduction to Philosophy of Technology,” has now come to a fairly successful close. I had already posted a summary of comments on the assignments for “Introduction to Philosophy of Technology”. Now let me give a proper summary. Overall Design This course, together with the earlier General History of Technology, is one of the two general-education courses I have been “scheming” to build. Once I have taught these two courses well, I may also try offering courses such as “General History of Science,” or “History of the Industrial Revolution,” “Introduction to Philosophy of Science,” and “History of Science and Philosophy,” but for…
philosophy course Heidegger Introduction to Philosophy of Technology
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2019年1月31日
A Compilation of Feedback on the Homework for Introduction to Philosophy of Technology

Teaching & Courses2019.01.28
A Compilation of Feedback on the Homework for Introduction to Philosophy of Technology
After grading the final papers, the semester is finally over. This semester’s *Introduction to the Philosophy of Technology* was a brand-new course, and over the next two years it will probably be offered alternately with *A General History of Technology*. I’ll write a separate course summary a bit later. For now, let me first gather together the comments I gave on the assignments. In fact, ever since I started teaching I’ve always insisted on giving students written feedback on their papers, but why did I want to post it this time? On the one hand, I wanted to blow my own horn a bit. Some students said that there really…
philosophy scholarship course Introduction to Philosophy of Technology
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2019年1月28日
On the Backboard — A Phenomenology of Beat Saber

Phenomenology & Heidegger2018.09.28
On the Backboard — A Phenomenology of Beat Saber
Recently I’ve basically been grinding Beat Saber in VR, so I should count as having reached the expert level, right? Among the official songs, aside from standard mode where everything is A rank and Full Combo, I’ve recently started tackling no-arrow mode and one-handed mode, and in both modes I’ve also got 3 FC clears each~ Just the other day, in the introductory philosophy of technology class, we had just finished discussing Stiegler’s tertiary retention, and one of the links in that discussion was a phenomenological analysis of music. Applying that whole phenomenological analysis here is actually kind of interesting. When people first get into the game Beat Saber, many…
philosophy technology phenomenology Introduction to Philosophy of Technology
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2018年9月28日
Course Schedule for the 2018 Fall Semester (Introduction to Philosophy of Technology + Selected Readings in Classic Works of Philosophy of Science)

Teaching & Courses2018.09.19
Course Schedule for the 2018 Fall Semester (Introduction to Philosophy of Technology + Selected Readings in Classic Works of Philosophy of Science)
This semester I’m teaching two courses: one is “Introduction to the Philosophy of Technology” for undergraduates, and the other is the required graduate course “Selected Readings in the Classics of Philosophy of Science.” Introduction to the Philosophy of Technology meets every Tuesday at 15:20, in 6B113 of Building 6. Selected Readings in the Classics of Philosophy of Science meets every Wednesday at 13:30 (adjusting to 13:00 after October), in 3203 of Building 3. As for the reading group, the time has not yet been decided; I guess it may not officially get underway until after the National Day holiday? Introduction to the Philosophy of Technology Course Description This course alternates…
philosophy of science course Heidegger Introduction to Philosophy of Technology
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2018年9月19日