标签：philosophy

Course Plan: How Technology Shapes Our Daily Lives

Teaching & Courses2017.07.05
Course Plan: How Technology Shapes Our Daily Lives
Again invited by 706 Youth Space, I am preparing to open a course during the summer vacation, starting in late July, once a week, for about 5 to 6 classes. They are experimenting with the “project-based learning” format. I don’t know it in depth; broadly speaking, it is nothing more than a course form centered on students, guided by questions, and distinguished by interactive discussion. I am also willing to explore a livelier teaching format. Know Thyself The course I plan to teach falls within the fields of the history of science and philosophy of technology. On the one hand, this field is extremely profound; on the other hand, its…
philosophy everyday life technology history
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2017年7月5日
Is the threshold for “learning” Bitcoin higher? — Also on the Different Levels of Technical Knowledge

Web3 & Bitcoin2017.02.19
Is the threshold for “learning” Bitcoin higher? — Also on the Different Levels of Technical Knowledge
Recently on Weibo I again mentioned the issue of the learning threshold for Bitcoin: People always say Bitcoin has a high threshold and is hard to learn, and even some Bitcoin enthusiasts say so too. I think this is grossly misleading. In fact, it is not Bitcoin that has a high threshold, but old knowledge that has a high threshold, to the point that people who know a lot of old knowledge are unwilling to lower themselves and admit their own ignorance in order to learn new knowledge. If everyone were starting from zero, would understanding Bitcoin’s principles really be harder than learning all those M1, M2, interest-rate cuts, reserve-ratio…
philosophy technology Web3 Bitcoin
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2017年2月19日
On Phenomenology (I)

Phenomenology & Heidegger2016.12.24
On Phenomenology (I)
Recently I came across Master Xianglong’s article “What Is Phenomenology?”, and I thought it was terrific. This piece of his is especially suitable for readers who have some background knowledge of the history of Western philosophy but are unfamiliar with phenomenology. Teacher Zhang explains some basic concepts clearly, and between the lines he also conveys some of his own unique experience of phenomenology. It is truly a model of making the profound accessible. After reading Teacher Zhang’s article, I too could not help wanting to write about my own understanding of phenomenology. Of course, my article can hardly be compared with Teacher Zhang’s; my main purpose is to clarify my…
philosophy media phenomenology Wu Guosheng
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2016年12月24日
In Memory of Professor Ye Xiushan

Life & Notes2016.09.10
In Memory of Professor Ye Xiushan
叶秀山老师has passed away. On the occasion of Teachers’ Day, I am writing a few words in remembrance. Teacher Ye and I had two layers of relationship. First, he was Teacher Wu’s advisor—in other words, my academic grand-teacher. The other layer was that Teacher Ye was the teacher for my first philosophy course in college, namely Introduction to Philosophy. The relationship of seniority did not give me much direct feeling; the image of Teacher Ye in my memory was mainly formed in that Introduction to Philosophy class. When I heard the sad news, what kept flashing through my mind was the scene of him pinching an orchid-finger gesture while reading Da~sein….
philosophy everyday life scholarship phenomenology
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2016年9月10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
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2016年8月23日
“Our” Magazine, “Shared” Youth — A Commemorative Essay on “Gongqingyuan”

Life & Notes2016.07.11
“Our” Magazine, “Shared” Youth — A Commemorative Essay on “Gongqingyuan”
During my undergraduate years, I once served as the editor-in-chief of Peking University’s Department of Philosophy magazine *Gongqingyuan*, and I put out Issue 40; at that time, it happened to be the 15th year of *Gongqingyuan*. Later, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary, it was said that a commemorative issue was to be made, and I was invited to write a little text. This year is the 25th anniversary, and another commemorative issue is being prepared, so I, this senior alumnus, was dug out again for an interview, and was also asked to write whatever I liked. When faced with requests from younger classmates, I generally never refuse, and…
philosophy everyday life education Peking University
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2016年7月11日
Why Fear Artificial Intelligence? — Some Musings on AlphaGo

AI & Scholarship2016.03.13
Why Fear Artificial Intelligence? — Some Musings on AlphaGo
AlphaGo’s Go battle with Lee Sedol is now underway, and artificial intelligence has won 3:0; two honor matches remain, but the outcome is basically beyond doubt already. Whatever the final score may be, the historical significance of this match is beyond question. The significance of this match is mainly symbolic. In fact, since AlphaGo already defeated the European Go champion last year, proving that its Go-playing strength had reached the level of a professional player, its total victory over humans was only a matter of time. Of course, we might also say that ever since Deep Blue dominated chess, the AI conquest of Go had only been a “matter of…
philosophy technology history of science commentary
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2016年3月13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
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2015年10月24日
Philosophical Commentary [Episode 2] “What Nice Weather” (Part I): The True Is the Point of Emphasis

Philosophy & Thought2015.08.12
Philosophical Commentary [Episode 2] “What Nice Weather” (Part I): The True Is the Point of Emphasis
The previous installment may still have been a bit too academic in style, so this time I’ll try to speak a little more casually, offering only some prompts and not taking responsibility for digging too deeply. Today I’ll start from an ordinary phrase: “The weather is really nice.” Originally I wanted to write “Beauty, the weather is really nice today,” and discuss truth, goodness, beauty, heaven, earth, and humanity, but it felt like that would involve too much, so I narrowed it down to this one sentence and will talk only about “truth” and “goodness.” “Truth, goodness, and beauty” seem like the most solemn and sacred of all “big words,”…
philosophy phenomenology environment language
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2015年8月12日
Philosophical Ramblings [Episode 1]: Freedom Is Like Treating Someone to a Meal

Enlightenment & the Spirit of Freedom2015.08.07
Philosophical Ramblings [Episode 1]: Freedom Is Like Treating Someone to a Meal
Since I wanted to launch the “Philosophy Commentary” column, I had long been bursting with topics I wanted to write about, but when it came time to write, I no longer knew where to begin. Might as well start with an old topic: “freedom.” As for freedom, I have already written many articles discussing it; in fact, everything that needed saying has more or less already been said. But related discussions often involve the similarities and differences between freedom and equality, as well as specific issues such as freedom of speech, and they are not written in a very accessible way either. Here, I want to offer a popular-style commentary…
philosophy China freedom language
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2015年8月7日