Topics
The writing here lives in eight topics, each post in exactly one, and each topic has a look of its own. Read the sign before you step in.
- TopicsBy field: this page.
- Series10 long threads across the topics, each with a suggested reading order.
- Columns11 serials and recurring formats, in running order.
- TagsKeywords. The atlas below joins the ones that travel together.
184 posts
Philosophy & Thought
Philosophy, phenomenology, ethics, metaphysics and notes on ideas.
Step into this topicRecent
- AI, Freedom, and the Formation of the Self
- Question the Heart, Not Calculation: A Dialogue on Moral Philosophy, the Self, and Publicness
- A Philosophical Discussion of Reality and Happiness (vs. ChatGPT)
- From “Whether There Is a Mind” to “How to Establish the Mind” — The Broader Question of Heart-Mind Studies in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
- How to Be a Punk Philosopher
Key pieces
- Personality Philosophy vs. Propositional Philosophy: On the Inevitability of the Decline of Continental Philosophy and the Immortality of Its Significance
- From “Whether There Is a Mind” to “How to Establish the Mind” — The Broader Question of Heart-Mind Studies in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
- The Path to “Authenticity”—On the Intent of Being and Time
- Negative Ontology
- Human-Centricity or Humble Solipsism? — A Discussion of Whether Heidegger’s Philosophy Is a Philosophy of Subjectivity
- How to Be a Punk Philosopher
278 posts
History of Science & Scholarship
History of science and technology, academic life, papers and research reports.
Step into this topicRecent
- Please Touch, Please Do Not Touch: Hands in the Museum
- From Inscription on the Page to Spatial Exhibition: Why Art and Science Need to Meet Again
- The whole world has erupted into a shouting match—what right does a museum have to step in and play peacemaker?
- How Science Museums in China Can Innovate by Bringing Forth the New
- The Linguistics of the Life Sciences: From Mechanical Analogies to Teleological Analogies—Preface to the Recommended Chinese Translation of The Book of Life
Key pieces
- History of Science as a Nature Reserve—A Darwinian View of Science
- Obsolete Wisdom (Preface to Fifteen Lectures on the General History of Science)
- What, Exactly, Is the Scientific Revolution?
- Printing, Natural History, and the Birth of Modern Science
- The Biography of Objects: Methods and Significance in the History of Scientific Instruments
- The Structure of the Historiographical Revolution — An Introduction to The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
203 posts
Culture & Public Commentary
Cultural observation, historical commentary, public questions, language and society.
Step into this topicRecent
- Machines Can Ban Accounts, and Regulators Must Also Explain—On the Uber Case and the GDPR
- DEI Must Start from Equality for All (Starting from the A’erdai Incident)
- Criticizing Meta Does Not Mean Letting the Government Become the Product Manager—On “The Medium Is the Message,” Parental Responsibility, Corporate Deception, and State Paternalism
- Women’s Sports Are Not an Identity Alliance—On Transgender Participation in Competition
- On Wang Hong, Math Olympiad Competitions, and the Freedom to Run Schools
Key pieces
- Arendt Reading Notes
- Do the People Have the Right to Be Ignorant? — With a Discussion of Enlightenment and Unconcealment
- Reviving the Culture of the Court Historian——The Institution of the Court Historian as a Religious System
- In Praise of “Rumors”
- From Melamine to Thesis Plagiarism Checks: A Completely Meaningless Detection-and-Evasion Battle
- Can a Screen Change the Fate of Education?
165 posts
Philosophy of Technology & AI
What technology is and how it shapes us: philosophy of technology, media and the body, virtual reality, artificial intelligence.
Step into this topicRecent
- Reviving the Original Aspiration to Seek Knowledge: In the Age of AI, Everyone Is a Scientist — Call for Entrepreneurial Partners
- Let Despotism Stop at the Factory Gate—On Anthropic’s AI Safety Politics
- In the Name of Transparency, Opaque Watermarks—On the EU’s AI Text Marking Regulations
- Put a Leash on AI, Not Pull Its Teeth — On Agent Safety: Capabilities Can Be Open, but Actions Must Be Bounded
- AI Should Be Born Bearing Sin
Key pieces
- The Definition of “Technology” — A Means to an End, or Something That Can Be Learned?
- Was Heidegger a Technological Pessimist?
- Why Fear Artificial Intelligence? — Some Musings on AlphaGo
- Unemployment or Liberation? Artificial Intelligence’s Dual Revolution
- If Scholars Don’t Use AI, That Counts as Academic Corruption
- Put a Leash on AI, Not Pull Its Teeth — On Agent Safety: Capabilities Can Be Open, but Actions Must Be Bounded
77 posts
Web3 & Cypherpunks
Bitcoin, blockchains, DAOs, NFTs, network states and the philosophy of decentralisation.
Step into this topicRecent
- Do We Still Need Central Banks in the Age of AI? — Why Should a Small Clique Still Decide the Global Market?
- On the Structural Biases of European Financial Regulation: Regulation Should Not Eliminate Voluntary Risk on Behalf of the Public, but Rather Restrain Risk Spillovers, Information Asymmetry, and Systemic Harm.
- Stablecoins Are the “Royalists” of the Crypto World: Open USD Lets the Old Monetary System Enter the Arena Itself
- The Future Did Not Attend the Project-Approval Meeting: From Unpaid Wastewater Plant Fees to Pre-Sold Apartment Buildings, Hu Yilin Discusses the Monetary Roots of “Afford to Build, but Not to Maintain”
- The Great Blockchain of Being—Decentralized Philosophy in This Age (An Introduction to Blockchain Philosophy)
Key pieces
- Bitcoin: The Nature of Money
- Bitcoin: The Disappearance of the State
- From BTC to NFT: From Wealth to Power
- Why PoS Ethereum Cannot Become a Base Currency
- Immortality: The Intrinsic Connection Between Transhumanism and Web3
- The Great Blockchain of Being—Decentralized Philosophy in This Age (An Introduction to Blockchain Philosophy)
71 posts
Teaching & Courses
Courses, lecture notes, teaching design and classroom materials.
Step into this topicRecent
- Commentary on the 2023 Exam Paper for “Media History and Media Philosophy”
- Summary of the Course “A General History of Technology” (Fall 2022 Semester)
- Summary of the Introduction to Philosophy of Technology Course (Fall Semester 2022–23)
- “Selected Readings in Original Works of Philosophy of Technology” Course Summary for 2022
- Course Summary for A General History of Technology, Fall 2021 (Questionnaire Summary)
Key pieces
- On Writing Papers — Summary of the “Introduction to Academic Research” Course
- On Plagiarism (A Zero Without Appeal and Unsparing Mockery)
- Final Exam Paper for General History of Technology
- What Kind of Assignment Does the Teacher Hope to See? — Reflections on Assigning the “General History of Technology” Assignment
- Lecture Notes on the General History of Science (Introduction)
- From Deep to Shallow—Summary of the Introduction to Philosophy of Technology Course
Recent
- The Philosophy of Raising Children (I): How to Reason with Children
- The Street Is Not a Tourist Attraction—Afterword to I, My Singapore, My Street, My Walks
- In Memory of Master Xianglong
- Heavenly Endowment
- In an increasingly impossible-to-take-seriously world, an earnest run-in with JD.com customer service
Key pieces
- Philosophy of the Starry Sky
- Silent Wonder
- Hu Yilin’s Recruitment Notice [Expired]
- Can This Really Count as a General History? — The Publication of Extension of Man: A General History of Technology
- Heavenly Endowment
- The Street Is Not a Tourist Attraction—Afterword to I, My Singapore, My Street, My Walks
61 posts
Site Matters
Site announcements, redesign notes, and odds and ends that fit nowhere else.
Step into this topicRecent
Tag atlas
The 300 most used tags, set out on a globe where every topic has its own region of sky; tags too broad to mean much, forms of writing and columns are left out. Brighter stars carry more posts; tags that often share a post are joined by a line. Drag to turn it, pick a star to see its neighbours, pick a few more and the posts that carry all of them appear on the right.
- history of science 142
- freedom 123
- philosophy of science 122
- media 99
- education 81
- faith 69
- Aristotle 68
- Web3 66
- tradition 66
- Peking University 66
- phenomenology 63
- religion 63
- politics 63
- Heidegger 63
- value 60
- mathematics 58
- internet 57
- Bitcoin 56
- Kant 56
- Scientific Revolution 55
- website 55
- Introduction to Philosophy of Technology 54
- history of technology 52
- knowledge 52
- human nature 49
- blockchain 47
- modernity 44
- music 44
- sociology 43
- pluralism 43
- pursuit 43
- AI 42
- environment 42
- public sphere 40
- nature 39
- self 38
- Wu Guosheng 37
- writing 36
- Plato 36
- Marx 36
- Chinese 36
- language 36
- decentralization 34
- Christianity 34
- McLuhan 33
- truth 33
- Liu Huajie 32
- game 31
- reason 31
- economy 31
- democracy 30
- Greece 30
- innovation 29
- intentionality 29
- civilization 28
- emotion 28
- Kuhn 28
- money 28
- historiography 27
- Confucianism 27
- Huawendao 27
- ontology 26
- university 26
- revolution 26
- scientific spirit 26
- government 24
- responsibility 24
- logic 23
- Wittgenstein 23
- love 23
- God 23
- intellectuals 23
- virtue 23
- trust 23
- equality 22
- DAO 22
- children 22
- script 22
- art 22
- space 22