标签：Watt

What Is Technology? (Transcript of the 25th Session of the Jishi Lecture Series)

AI & the Future of Technology2023.08.17
What Is Technology? (Transcript of the 25th Session of the Jishi Lecture Series)
In June I gave a long lecture for Ji-shi Capital, and recently they finished the transcription and released it in three installments. The text was transcribed by them; I went through it, but there may still be a few scattered errors. I’m posting the complete collected version here for the record. The original texts of the three installments can be found here: Why is our education devoted to producing copies?; Where does technology come from? Looking at Watt’s steam engine to see our misunderstanding of technology; If the AI revolution is similar to the Industrial Revolution, we will face a very terrifying situation. In fact, the three installments correspond to…
technology history of science history of technology AI
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2023年8月17日
Why Is Innovation an Economic Question? — An Analysis of the Concept of Innovation from the Perspective of the History of Science and Technology

AI & the Future of Technology2019.12.17
Why Is Innovation an Economic Question? — An Analysis of the Concept of Innovation from the Perspective of the History of Science and Technology
This piece was commissioned for Tsinghua University’s internal circle; the subtitle was a suggested theme, and the main title was chosen by me. At the time of publication, it was somewhat abridged (mainly with a few examples cut, which did not affect the overall argument), and some sentences were marked with emphasis, which I have restored here. These days we advocate “mass entrepreneurship and mass innovation,” and “innovation” seems to be everywhere; everyone admires innovation and pursues innovation. Whether at the level of the nation or at the level of industries and enterprises, “innovation” is indeed extremely important and certainly deserves everyone’s attention. But precisely for that reason, we need…
China technology innovation Industrial Revolution
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2019年12月17日
Visiting for an Exchange at Jiangsu Province Qinghe Middle School (What Kind of “General Technology” Do Middle School Students Need?)

AI & the Future of Technology2019.08.23
Visiting for an Exchange at Jiangsu Province Qinghe Middle School (What Kind of “General Technology” Do Middle School Students Need?)
Giving a Lecture to Middle School Teachers and Students On August 17 and 18, I was invited to Jiangsu Province Qinghe High School to take part in an exchange. They had an experimental project in educational reform, aiming to add elements of the history of technology to the teaching of the high school course “General Technology.” Jiangsu Province Qinghe High School is in Huai’an; it is not some famous school, but I was still very interested in this topic. Of course, it was also quite rare for the teachers there to think of inviting me, so I was more than happy to go. At the time, the incoming freshmen were…
technology history of science education history of technology
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2019年8月23日
Final Exam Paper for General History of Technology

Teaching & Courses2018.06.12
Final Exam Paper for General History of Technology
Notes As I said before, the final exam is “completely open-book,” and you may bring electronic devices to search the internet. The “attendance questions” are also my own new idea, something I wanted to try while the class size was still small. Why set attendance questions? I think students who take a course can roughly be divided into three broad types: first, those who are habitually diligent and honest, who will keep coming no matter whether the teacher’s lectures are good or bad; second, those who are habitually coasting, who will almost never come no matter whether the teacher’s lectures are good or bad; and third, those who are free-spirited…
scholarship course paper writing
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2018年6月12日
On the Industrial Revolution (I): Watt’s Kettle: Myth and Reality

AI & the Future of Technology2017.08.22
On the Industrial Revolution (I): Watt’s Kettle: Myth and Reality
Gradually turning my attention to research in the history of technology, the Industrial Revolution is of course a matter of the first importance. But just like the Scientific Revolution, this kind of historically crucial period has received very little attention in Chinese scholarship. The concept of the “Industrial Revolution” is, to be sure, quite a hot topic—mainly in the promotion of the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution, present or future. Roughly speaking, the third refers to the information revolution, and the fourth to big data or artificial intelligence. But the real Industrial Revolution, or rather the two Industrial Revolutions, has been studied only very superficially. There are not many translations of…
technology history of science history of technology Industrial Revolution
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2017年8月22日
On the Industrial Revolution (I): Watt’s Kettle: Myth and Reality

AI & the Future of Technology2017.08.22
On the Industrial Revolution (I): Watt’s Kettle: Myth and Reality
Gradually turning my attention to research in the history of technology, the Industrial Revolution is of course a matter of first importance. But just like the Scientific Revolution, this kind of historically crucial period has received very little attention in Chinese scholarship. The concept of the “Industrial Revolution” is, to be sure, quite a hot topic—mainly in discussions of the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution, whether present or future. Broadly speaking, the third refers to the information revolution, and the fourth to big data or artificial intelligence. But the real Industrial Revolution, or rather the two Industrial Revolutions, has been studied only very superficially. There are not many translations of Western…
technology history of science history of technology Industrial Revolution
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2017年8月22日
Lecture Notes on the General History of Science 14: Science and the Industrial Revolution [Starting Next Week, We’ll Move to a Different Classroom]

History of Science & Technology2015.06.05
Lecture Notes on the General History of Science 14: Science and the Industrial Revolution [Starting Next Week, We’ll Move to a Different Classroom]
First, a quick notice: we still have two classes after this. The classroom will be changed for these two sessions; it seems that the entire Jiao Eight building has been requisitioned by the school. Next week and the week after next, we will move to Jiao Nine201for class. Last time we mentioned that in the eighteenth century, the development of theoretical science, experimental science, and industrial technology was still relatively independent; theoretical science did not directly drive the Industrial Revolution, and even theory and experiment were out of sync. Last time, one student raised an objection and showed me a clip from *The Rise of Great Powers* and…
history of science course Scientific Revolution Industrial Revolution
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2015年6月5日