标签：scientific method

Biography of Things (Continued) — Educational Significance, Secondary-School Science and Technology Innovation, and the Bottleneck Problem

AI & the Future of Technology2021.11.04
Biography of Things (Continued) — Educational Significance, Secondary-School Science and Technology Innovation, and the Bottleneck Problem
Yesterday’s comments still weren’t finished. What I wrote yesterday was that research in the history of scientific instruments can be positioned as “artifact biographies,” in which meaning is formed around the artifact itself. But that does not mean that, beyond this intrinsic meaning, research in the history of instruments has no other benefits. We can also make an analogy with biographical research. Unlike general academic research, biographical works as the outcome of research on individuals often lie somewhere between scholarship and popularization. Apart from non-academic biographical literature, research-based biographies also tend to have a popularizing dimension, making them easier for general readers to read. Between intervening in academic issues and…
technology history of science history education
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2021年11月4日
In what sense is “basic science” the cause of “bottlenecking”?

AI & the Future of Technology2020.10.03
In what sense is “basic science” the cause of “bottlenecking”?
In that earlier interview transcript, what I posted as the “original draft” was in fact not the original draft either; the part about “basic theoretical research” was added only at the reporter’s prompting. As for the proposition that “the reason for the bottleneck is weak basic research,” I myself actually have reservations about it. Of course, I am willing to partly support this view, first because the official wording that “encourages free exploration and full exchange and debate” is indeed rare and valuable. Second, in a certain sense, this formulation is correct. But we have seen many completely wrong tendencies. For example, some people think that in order to break…
technology China history of science commentary
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2020年10月3日
Lectures on the General History of Science 8: Printing and the Scientific Revolution

History of Science & Technology2015.04.23
Lectures on the General History of Science 8: Printing and the Scientific Revolution
Last class I talked about medieval science. We discussed the emergence of the “university,” and the conceptual preconditions that Christian theology may have provided for modern science. But I have not yet given a concrete introduction to the theoretical creativity of medieval scholastic philosophers. I had originally considered giving a comprehensive account of the specific contents of medieval science in this class as well, but after weighing it up, I decided not to devote a single lecture to it. The main contributions of medieval science were concentrated in natural philosophy and in the clarification of certain concepts; they are relatively speculative in character, and if treated in a separate class…
course Aristotle Scientific Revolution natural history
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2015年4月23日
Lecture Notes on the General History of Science (Introduction)

History of Science & Technology2015.03.04
Lecture Notes on the General History of Science (Introduction)
Course Arrangement Spring 2015 semester, Wednesday evening18:00-19:40, room Shengsiclass now moved to Jiaoba 306. Course requirements: no memorization, no calculations, and no particular background knowledge is required of students; only free reading and independent thinking are expected. Assessment requirements: Class attendance and discussion performance: 20%; (basically free points; active questioning and participation in discussion earn bonus points) Reading report: 30%; (choose from the recommended reading list, or choose other related books you personally like; choosing a good book earns bonus points, choosing a bad book loses points.) Final short paper: 50% (the topic is of your own choosing; it can also be completed on the basis of the…
history of science freedom course Aristotle
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2015年3月4日
A Natural History of Media—McLuhan’s Method

History of Science & Scholarship2013.08.10
A Natural History of Media—McLuhan’s Method
1. Introduction: Literary Style or Research Method? Marshall McLuhan (1911–1982) was the most influential and at the same time the most controversial media thinker of the twentieth century. As a pioneer or founding figure of the media ecology school, his reputation rose and fell dramatically: he was once elevated to the altar, and then quickly neglected and forgotten. With the dawn of the network age, he came once again to be widely known in academic circles and indeed throughout the cultural world as a “prophet-sage,” yet some still regard him as a mountebank who merely uses gibberish to hoodwink the public. These two images are not really contradictory. So-called prophets…
media Heidegger paper nature
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2013年8月10日
Recommended Introductory Readings in Philosophy of Technology

History of Science & Scholarship2011.07.26
Recommended Introductory Readings in Philosophy of Technology
The department’s magazine, *Qingqiu Yuan*, invited me to write a few recommendations of good books in philosophy of science and technology, mainly to provide some guidance for students who have not yet settled on a direction. I am very honored. In addition, I hope that all students interested in philosophy of science and technology will get in touch with me. On my blog (yilinhut.com) you can find my various contact details. Undergraduate philosophy majors are required to choose a supervisor and a direction in their freshman or sophomore year. At this stage, apart from introductory courses in Chinese philosophy, Western philosophy, and Marxist philosophy, students have relatively little knowledge of…
book reading science history of science notes
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2011年7月26日
[Draft] Several Issues in the Philosophy of Science from the Perspective of Media Ontology—Scientific Method, Causality, and Realism

History of Science & Scholarship2011.02.17
[Draft] Several Issues in the Philosophy of Science from the Perspective of Media Ontology—Scientific Method, Causality, and Realism
I had originally planned to write a paper that would re-interpret some issues in traditional philosophy of science from the perspective of media ontology (phenomenology). I tried to “translate” certain discussions in traditional philosophy of science from the standpoint of media theory, and thereby raise the questions anew. Roughly speaking, there were several lines of inquiry: first, realism (and so-called instrumentalism); second, causality and scientific explanation; third, scientific method and the demarcation of science. But in actual writing I dragged on for N long, and to this day still have nowhere to start. With the first report of the new term looming, I am frankly uneasy, so I decided to…
science philosophy of science media Heidegger
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2011年2月17日
How Is Scientific Realism Possible?

History of Science & Scholarship2009.01.10
How Is Scientific Realism Possible?
Although every paper I write leaves me feeling revolted and miserable, it has been a long time since a paper made me this uncomfortable. After finishing it, I barely even read through it once before hastily printing it out and rushing to school to hand it in. The process of composing this paper was especially unpleasant too—I did read a lot of books: Quine, Dummett, Goodman, Putnam… all sorts of textbooks and handbooks on philosophy of science, metaphysics, epistemology… of course, all in Chinese translation. You ask why I still didn’t look for English materials? First, there wasn’t enough time; second, I really didn’t want to read them. I found…
history of science philosophy of science paper truth
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2009年1月10日
On “Quantification”

History of Science & Scholarship2007.12.11
On “Quantification”
What is “quantification”? This word is easy to understand, but it is not at all easy to explain just how the modern worldview has been “quantified.” “Quantification” was certainly not invented by modern science; “quality” and “quantity” are indispensable when human beings observe things, or one could say they are a priori—if we do not regard things in terms of qualitative or quantitative relations, then the world can only be a mass of chaos. Human beings always “partition” this world through quality and quantity, so that the world can be understood and described. Natural history, one might say, takes an approach that emphasizes partitioning by “quality.” At first, people may…
philosophy science history of science mathematics
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2007年12月11日
How Can We Promote Technological Innovation?

History of Science & Scholarship2006.06.10
How Can We Promote Technological Innovation?
Just as a lightning strike is an extremely accidental event, hard to predict and grasp, people can nonetheless figure out what conditions make lightning more likely to occur. They can then install lightning rods and other facilities to channel possible strikes. Technological innovation is also unpredictable, but people can strive to create environmental conditions conducive to innovation, promote the emergence of innovation, and more effectively bring its effects into play. So how can we create a technological environment favorable to innovation? I think this first requires adhering to a certain “tolerant” attitude. A tolerant attitude applies to many issues; here I will begin with a preliminary discussion from the following…
science history of science scientific spirit scientific method
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2006年6月10日