A Dinner on Etiquette

When I was in college, I learned that in the old days, European people has a set of strict etiquette rules. If one violates the rules, he or she will not be considered as gentleman or lady, and consequently not be accepted in so-called upper class. Last Thursday, the Institute of Optical Science in UofT organized a dinner on continental etiquette. I joined that dinner to have an experience how Victorian people lived.

The dinner is actually a workshop. There was an instructor,who is a certified etiquette counsel, talking throughout the entire dinner. She "teached" us how to act properly from entering a dinner table till leaving the table. I guess only royal family had the luxury to enjoy such dinner for some of the rules only apply to a formal dinner comprising several dishes. Also, from those rules comes a sense of dignity and pride, which suggests royalty. But the royal class are "gone with the wind". For me, those rules are like chains on the body as well as on the mind. Thank goodness I do not live in Victorian times.

For amusement, here is a list of several interesting rules the certified etiquette counsel talked.

• Enter a table from the left of the chair.
• Put the napkin on top the chair during temporary leaving.
• BMW: bread on the left, meal in the middle, water on the right.
• When replying thanks, say my pleasure instead of no problem.
• The rule of eating: SMALL bite.
• Use the leftmost forks and rightmost knives first if multiple sets are provided.
• Never do the clean-up. Call waiters or hostess.
• When leaving the table temporarily, put the forks and knives in 7:20 position; when finishing the dinner, put the forks and knives in 12:00 position.

Websign

It's so true.

Critical Self-assessment 1 cont.

Second of all, research. It is the main reason of my being here. I joined Prof. Geoffrey Ozin's group at the end of September after the supervisor selection period. It is a materials chemistry group which focuses on inorganic nanomaterials. I have been involved in three projects since then, and am still in the process of training on related technical skills. I have taken a chemistry course related to my research; its name is nanochemistry: a chemical approach to nanomaterials. It provides a broad view of current research endeavor on nanoscience, and such a helicopter view is just what I want and need in this beginning period. In summary, either in lab or in class, I am still in the process of training, and I have not yet been able to produce anything creative and novel. In the self-assessments that come afterwards, I should gauge my research performance by how creative my work is, not by how much work I have done.

Thirdly, non-major courses. I took three courses that are not related to my major in this semester: two English courses and one course on entrepreneurial skills. They are pretty informative, and I have summarized important sessions in my previous posts.

As for spare time, gosh, I hardly had any real spare time. But I went to a concert once, visit a distance relative once, chatting in pub, having fun with other group members. Seems not a too dull life.

Silly things and mistakes. I certainly made lots of mistakes. But most of them are about food, and have little worth for recording: wasting food because I store them too long, poor cooking, etc. There are also silly things I have done in getting alone with people. But it seems that I forgot them quickly, and now I cannot recollect any of them. I should keep a list of silly things I have done and update the list more frequently than self-assessing.

So here ends my first self-assessment.

Negotiation Style

I took a course on entrepreneurship here in Toronto, and a recent talk is on negotiation. The speaker is from either a law firm or a consulting firm. During the talk, he mentioned various aspects of negotiation, such as goals, styles, value distribution VS. value creation, dispute resolution (negotiation, mediation, arbitration or litigation). What I found most valuable is the three styles of negotiation he said, which are competitive, accommodating, and avoidance.

People with competitive negotiation style tend to push, push and push until the other part says NO. Accommodating people are often soft, and tend to say "OK" and make concession. Avoidance people will not negotiate at all. The negotiation styles are actually determined by personality. And there is no best style. The most effective negotiators have the style of their own, and are always assertive and empathic.

I have been through a competitive negotiation. It was during the FACES conference, and it was a mock negotiation between the Chinese and US governments on Taiwan issue. Both parties tend to push their lines and want the other party to concede. The negotiation is like a hell, but in the end, we made some deals. Afterwards, when I met people from the negotiation group on trade and economy, I was surprised that the negotiation went so "friendly" because each parties voluntarily make concessions. I had no idea why two negotiation were so different, and I know now that it is just two different style.

The blog entry for that class is here.

Critical Self-Assessment 1

In 23 Aug 2006, I left my hometown Nanjing, where I lived for almost 22 years, and arrived in Toronto to begin a new life. I rented a room in a house near University of Toronto. I joined the Prof. Ozin's research group, and involved in several research projects. I take chemistry courses as well as English Skill courses. I do laundry, shopping, and cooking regularly. Now, I have lived on my own for almost 2 months. How good am I in the past 2 months? Did I perform good in coursework? Did I do a good job in research project? Did I spend my spare time meaningfully? Did I recover from the health breakdown last year and keep a good health? What mistakes did I make? What are the silly things I have done? In a word, I need to evaluate myself.

First of all, health. In general, I have kept a healthy life for the last 2 months. I eat as much vegetables and organic food as possible. I eat 2 apples a day, exercise a hour, and rest as frequent as I can during the day. My new goal of a day, in terms of health, is how tired I am not at the end of the day. But still, I eat unhealthy things like artificial flavor added candies and biscuits; I do not eat my meals at the same time each day; I feel dizzy sometimes after lunch or dinner. So I am still in the process of recovery, and I believe there is still a long way to go before I reach my optimum health state.

To be continued.

Image from: http://www-old.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~ipg/sarah/MovieStills1/mirror.jpg

What kind of scientist you want to be?

On the nanochemistry course this week, my prof. raised a fairly interesting statement. He said that there are scientist that are (destructively) creative, and scientists that are deeply analytical, and scientists that are both. He said that one of the main question out of one's Ph.D is what kind of scientist one wants to be?

Given all kinds of creative experiment and ideas presented in the nanochemistry course and admiring them, I should say becoming a creative inventor is almost an irresistible choice.

Image is from wikipedia.

Learning Pyramid - Active learning

That's what impressed me the most in the TA training session. It reminds me how boring lectures are. Learning actually should involve conversation, should involve direct communication. That's how I find knowledge is alive in person, not dead in book.

Notes taken while watching a speach by Robert Kiyosaki

Robert T. Kiyosaki is the author of Rich dad, Poor dad. He is famous for his idea of creating cashflow through passive income, the income that is generated while one does not need to work. I watched a video of his speech in Beijing.

1. Money is an idea: never say I cannot afford it, but ask how can I afford it.

2. Money doesn't make you rich-->high pay job doesn't make you rich. Money management is what make you rich.

3. Two kinds of money problem: not enough and too much.

4. Getting rich is a team sports! Who is on your team? Attorney, accountant, and lots of other people. (The hardest thing "I" have ever had is talking with my attorney and accoutant when I have no money.) Who is your friend? Getting touch with other rich people.

5. The vocabulary rich people use and poor people use is different.

6. Three kinds of income: earned income (50% Tax in US); portfolio income (20% Tax in US); passive income (0% tax in US). The first one is that you work for money; last two are that money works for you. It's impossible to get rich by earned income. In China, the exact tax maybe different, but rich people getting rich is because the last two.

7. How to read a financial statement? The key is paying attention to the cash flow.

Asset is what put money into your wallet whether you work or not. Liability is what put money out of your wallet whether you work or not. So a house can be asset or liability depending on whether it makes money or consumes money, so is a car.

8. The boss, banker may trap in the mouse circle, too. If you have lots of liabilities, like house, car, nice furniture, nice clothes, watch(which is on your liability part in your financial statement), it is very difficult to get rich.

9. Asset: business, real estate, paper asset.

10. Getting into the game of investment: the fundamentals in $4,000 deal and $4,000,000 deal is the same, it is the financial statement.

11. We (Robert Kiyosaki) look 100 deal and do 1 deal in real estate.

12.Most people spend their lifetime in rat race. If you do not have enough money, (100,000 passive income), you will not allow to invest in the fast track according to the US laws.

13. Stock Market has three trends. Bull market (which goes up slowly), bear market (which goes down very quickly), and channel market (which vibrates at a certain price). Professional investor will make money in all three kinds of market through put and call options and short. You must know what you are dong.

14. Continue to push the education, change the mindset. The highest level of investment: make money with no money input and with no risk.

Reason cannot handle everything

The statement seems to be simple and obvious, but it took me nearly twenty years to discover.

I was very good at maths in primary school, and then very good at physics and chemistry in middle school. I admired the power of deductive reasoning, and was fascinated by the beauty and elegance how Newton's law explain motions, and how thermodynamic laws explain thermal phenomenon. The elegance of how these fundamental laws explain physics phenomena gave me the impression that we may explain everything if we found those several laws that govern the nature. However, it is not true.

In my third year of college, I was exchanged to National University of Singapore and had a little break from usual hard science training. I was free to choose the course so I took a course in philosophy. In that course, I was asked to compose an essay on the question: under what condition it is acceptable to play favor to those closest to us. The question originates from a story in the Dialogue, in which a man named Euthyphro rushed to the court to prosecute his father, and was stopped by Socrates who ask him the question of why. In the essay assignment, I tried, very hard, to find a principle that can apply to all possible cases including the case of Euthyphro, but I cannot. And it turns out that this very one principle that governs all ethical questions has never been found; I was astonished when I was told so.

On reflection, I realized that I fell into the habitual deductive reasoning unknowingly, because I was good at it and used to it, as the proverb said, "when you are a hammer, every problem seems like a nail". As a result, I was more prone to look for principles that I can apply deductive reasoning to in order to understand facts. This realization subtly but profoundly changes the way I looked at the relationship between natural laws and the world. Before, I am more inclined to think that principles are absolute and governs the world; now I am more inclined to think that the principles are necessary to the extent of helping us to understand the world, but they are not absolute. This realization also enriched my life; I do not seek only principles and natural laws, but rather learn to appreciate facts as they are.

Image credit: www.mathworks.com

notes taken in Stanford ATI Entrepreneurial Conference

Opening Speech by John Bravman, Vice Provost, Stanford University

Stanford is "a wellspring of innovation": HP, Cisco, Sun, Yahoo!, MIPS, Atheros, DOLBY, Google, CHIRON.

How difficulty is to prodict the future: the prediction of the no. of computer the world needs.

Entrepreneur will play a key role in answering questions of future: nine times out of ten, they fail; but the ten percent of success will change the world.

ACM report on Globalization and Offshoring of software: the world will continue to shrink.

Welcome Speech by director of Pudong Zhangjiang High Tech Park

Pudong Zhangjiang is to be a centre of Microelectronics, Biopharmaceutics, Software design in China.

Alternative Energy Panel

What is alternative energy: the bottle neck in solar cells is cost; how much energy do you actually consume in manufactoring the device? The efficiency of energy use, energy storage, and energy supply.

What are the drivers for alternative energy and clean technology? Profit, short of conventional energy, environment, people's health, global warming.

Is ther hope in coal? Coal is the no. 1 source of energy in China. clean coal tech, energy efficiency.

Technology aside, what else is holding up clean technology? Policy setting, energy price (current mature industry in US and Europe is based on low-cost oil, with the price of oil soaring, much more opportunities in alternative energy will come up in the booming industry in China.) , entrepreneur, profit.

What's next? Lithium battery, coal, nuclear, solar, geothermo, hydros.

The current solar power company in China: 天威保电, 无锡尚德(Suntech), 航天机电, 江苏阳光. Company (upriver industry chain: polycrystaline silicon, downriver industry chain: product).

Keynote Speech by Jim Boettcher, General Partner, Focus Ventures

China: A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity here and now.

Private Equity Participation; pre-IPO.

Valuing Revenue-stage companies is different from valuing venture companies.

Value=P*S*E, P=size of the problem, S=solution, E=entrepreneur team;

Value=P*S*E*CPF; CPF=China Paradigm Factor, which include a strong government leadership, high GDP growth, reconstruction of capital market, risk-taking culture, genius people, innovation environment, cooperation with the west(investment flowing rapidly into China).

Web2.0 panel

ucool.com: personnel database, city8.com: city virtual tour,

Webcompany need to find a revenue module-->identify clients. Successful module includes ebay.com, qq;

Google is technology-based, easy to globalize. Yahoo! is culture-based, difficult to globalize.

web2.0: interactive, user-generated content.

IP panel

manufactory driven country-->innovation driven country.

Enforcement of the legal power in IP protection.

Business model ocean.

In China, 149 law firms that could provide patent protection. they are of different quality, and price.

One-product company VS. Platform technology (a series of patent--patent strategy)

In the beginning of the start-up, a law firm is needed to work hand-in-hand with entrepreneurs, not only in providing legal support, but also human network support.

Laywer selection: interview 3-4 law firms, find a particular laywer in the firm, also building network.

Stanford ATI Entrepreneurial Conference - Shanghai 2006

Stanford ATI Entrepreneurial Conference - Shanghai 2006. I really wish I could be there. Please give me a chance.

Observation of me

Multiculture society is a society that has people with different culture backgrounds. I was raised up in a single culture society, and never thought that people could be totally different, collectively, until I lived in Singapore for five months as an exchange student.

My most important discovery is that Singaporean students regard extracurricular activities (EA) as important as their studies. They could spend a whole summer preparing for the exhibition of the Flag Day, a university-wide competition among residential halls in the beginning of fall semester, and the committee member could have a meeting for ten hours coordinating this event. They put as much time in EA as in their studies or even more in school time also. Various activities, in block, in hall, in faculty and in university, requires commitment of time. They have a complicated points system to evaluate a student's performance in a hall in order to determine whether he or she could stay for the next year. And to stay in a hall for all four years is a honor, comparable to a faculty dean's list. The people, students as well as teachers, in my home university never think like that. Back home, study is always the first priority.

When I began to think about why the practice is so different in Singapore from that in my home university, the first answer seems to be that the systems are different. But then I realized it is people who make the system. So maybe it is the difference of people's attitudes towards EA and studies in a society leads to the different systems and, in turn, different practice. So further comes the question: how come the different attitudes? History, culture, or level of development? I am not sure.

As I am thinking about these questions, I am trying to find the reasons for my own practices, not only in my time arrangement, but also in other aspects of life, such as the way I talk, diet, and pace of life. It turns out that some of them are just imitation of people around me: I did as people around me all did. This finding strikes me: in a sense, I had been doing things unconsciously for about twenty years.

Luckily, now I begins to think about the reason for my daily practice, and if there could be any alternative. I began to be aware of many things which I had unconsciously ignored. In a word, I began to observe myself. And that is interesting. I found that when my pride is hurt, I might argue; I found I like to get things done as soon as I receive them, and if not, I began to worry. There is so much I learn just by pay attention to what I do and how I feel, and there are so many things that I realize I can improve by learning how bad I had done.

Updated 15 June 2007

Image credit: www.windows.ucar.edu

Health

When I was travelling in Hangzhou, I met two girls from Denmark in Youth Hostel. They once slept in the room for a whole day. Since I was used to believe when traveling, daytime should not be slept away. So It seems to me a bit surprising. When I asked them the next day, they told me that because they had done too many things in a too short time, they felt tired and needed more rests. Travel, for them, is not only for tourism, but also for knowing the limit of themselves.

We all have our limit: the longest distance we could run, or the heaviest weight we can lift. From the two Denish girls, I found a limit that I never thought about before: the limit of how many things one could do at one time. Without the knowledge of this limit in me, I foolishly piled up six tasks last year. Later when I found I may not be able to finish them, I began to feel worried and anxious. And that worry, together with the pressure of work, leads to a breakdown of my health.

This breakdown lasted for one year. In the worst time, I could not read, write or even think for more than half a hour. This breakdown forces me to change my diet, my living habit, and my attitude towards the body. I eat more fruits than before; I cook food with traditional Chinese medicine; I practice breathing exercises; and I learn how to monitor health through signs in the body, like tongue diagnose. Beside, I began to estimate how much time each task could cost before actually doing it, and I also began to learn how to manage my pressure and stop worrying. Most importantly, I learn that health is a dynamic state of body which, if I do not pay attention to maintain, will decline.

I am now in the process of recovery. Now and then I think about that, if I have not experienced such a breakdown, what will change in my life. Obviously, the tasks in last year could have been done better. But in the long run, say in a ten years, if I do not reconsider my attitude and practice towards my body, if I still do not know the limit of my body, I will surely have a breakdown of health. Comparing having it early with having it late, I prefer to have it early, when I still have the courage to cope with it.

Updated 15 June 2007

Image credit: www.healthshaper.com

Institutionalized control

Morpheus: "The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around. What do you see. Business men, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system, and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inert, so hopelessly dependent on the system that they will fight to protect it. ..."

In the movie Matrix, machines turned humans into the energy source through the matrix, an interactive neurosystem that is assimulated to control human minds. Recently, I watched a documentary that explains the philosophy behind the movie. It said that the interactive neurosystem can be seen as a symbol that resemble a society that runs a institutionalized control over its people, and people in such a society sumbit their life forces to run the society. If the society is a system of control, who is the one that controls? Government? Captialist? J.S. Mill digs much deeper and says that the people who are in the society can collectively control the individual in it.

A recent dissusion with three friends gives me some real-life samples of the control by society over individuals. Simon says 26, 27 and 29 are the ages at which most girls get married. Ben describes that, influenced by one of his classmates, he once dreamed in getting a high-paid job instead a meaningful one. Clara said about her anxieties when she was asked what kind of job she get when, in fact, she still has another year to finish. Clearly, my friends are all fighting against such a control. Some, luckily, succeed temporarily.

I think the strongest control by society seems to be the prearranged route of life: receive education, get a job, get married, and have a child. The constant nagging from parents, grandparents and other people around that warns us to follow that pattern only make such a pattern more boring than it actually is. After all, we cannot defy the rule of nature: we are getting older. Luckily, we have something else in control: how we get old. But how? How do I know I am not a monotonous mold shaped by the society? How do I know where I differ from anyone else? To how much extent I am actually myself, not a mold? To how much extent I know which part of me is the real me and which part is just a mirror of the society?

Evolutionary Psychology

Introducing Evolutionary Psychology, by Dylan Evans and Oscar Zarate, is a required reading for Keanu Reeves, the actor of Neo in the Matrix Trilogy, before he opened up the script. It is a book with illustrations on every page; reading it is fun.

Evolutionary Psychology (EP) is the discipline that explains the mental processes, the cause of human behaviors, in the light of the idea that these mental processes are adaptations of the environment human ancestors live 100,000 years ago. It combines cognitive psychology and evolutionary biology. From cognitive psychology, it adopts the idea that human behaviors are caused by mental processes and the idea that the mind is a computer, by which the cognitive psychologists mean a set of operations for processing information. From evolutionary biology, it adopts the idea of evolution and extends evolution to the formation of human mind.

Evolutionary psychologists call the special-purpose programs in human mind, modules, which collectively constitute the mind. Examples of these special purpose programs include vision, hearing, and memory. Other interesting examples, which are usually controversial, include language acquisition module, alliance-formation module and mate selection module. It is fascinating to learn enlightening ideas that our mind is preprogrammed to learn language and that logic is a byproduct of the cheat-detecting function of the mind. But it is a bit sad to learn that nepotism is a phenomenon due to human nature.

At the end of the book, the author warns that EP does not justify status quo: it "describes what human nature is -- it does not prescribe what human should do". Knowing what human nature is will, on the one hand, help us "know ourselves" better so as to make improvements, and, on the other hand, help us understand the fallible nature of human being so as to be tolerant to each other's faults.

Google in China: The Big Disconnect

Google in China: The Big Disconnect: "While Baidu appealed to young MP3 hunters, Google became popular with a different set: white-collar urban professionals in the major Chinese cities, aspirational types who follow Western styles and sprinkle English words into conversation, a class that prides itself on being cosmopolitan rather than nationalistic."

By contrasting with "cosmopolitan", the author probably uses the negative meaning of the word nationalism --"The belief that nations will benefit from acting independently rather than collectively, emphasizing national rather than international goals" (From American Heritage Dictionary). I wonder, however, whether it is possible for one to be cosmopolitan and nationalistic at the same time. The neutral meaning of nationalism-- "Devotion to the interests or culture of a particular nation--provides such a possibility. So if one who has a global view devotes to the interests or culture of a particular nation, one is possible to achieve a balance between being cosmopolitan and nationalistic.

A Collision Between The Milky Way And The Andromeda Galaxy

"Current measurements suggest that, in about five billion years, the Milky Way and Andromeda may collide! What will happen? " See A Collision Between The Milky Way And The Andromeda Galaxy!!

Level 10

When having the dinner today, Jason told to me about a kind of Gongfu that seldem can anyone reach the 10th level, for the final level is obtained only when all the ligaments are broken and then rebuilt. Another friend, Yitao, wrote to me once that it is only when you lost everything that you are free to do anything.

Both sayings are related, in some ways, to the living pattern of phoenix, reborn. I like it.

What is knowledge? : Internal justification

Philosophers say that in order for one to KNOW a proposition, three conditions have to be met: a) the proposition is true, b) one believes the proposition, and c) you are justified in believing the proposition. This analysis of knowledge is referred to as the JTB account: knowledge as justified true belief. What interests me most is that philosophers disagree in ALL three conditions. The last condition seems to be the philosophers' s favorite topic. I device two example to show the disagreement between philosophers known as internalists and those known as externalists.

First, suppose John has a dog. Every evening when John comes home, he opens the door and finds the little dog already sitting besides him. The dog smells the usual odor of John before the door is open. Intuitively, we will not refuse to admit that the dog knows John is back. In this case, we attribute knowledge to animals.

Next is a scene depicted in the movie, Minority Report. Imagine a girl who is constantly haunted by terrible dreams about murder at night. What she sees in her dream is real murder in near future, although she does not recognize her psychic ability at that time. Later a scientist proves that those murders really happen after the girl dreamed about them. And according to predictions of the girl and two other boys who also have the psychic ability, the police build a system called precrime to prevent possible murder, which the movie is all about. Do you think she kNOWS the murder before the scientist proves her psychic ability?

Here we meet a controversy. The dog does not have the idea that its senses are reliable. Neither does the girl had the idea whether her sense, the psychic ability, is reliable. But we attribute knowledge to the dog, but not to the girl. Why? Is it because the psychic ability is something not as common as ordinary senses like taste, smell, or sight? If so, let us view the case just as a thought experiment. So it suggest that in order to know, one should recognize the reliability of the senses. On the other hand, the example of the dog suggests that such a recognizability is not necessary for knowledge. Senses is one common source of our knowledge; the recognizability of their reliability is one example of the direct recognizability of justification -- what the internal justification is.

So the fundamental question is whether the internal justification is necessary for knowledge?

Pacific ocean current

This Ocean current animation shows that the Ocean currents on the sea surface is opposite in direction to those currents under the surface. It lets me remind the geography class in high school. Geography, one of my favorite courses, and it still is!

What is knowledge? : Do not show off the "knowledge", especially when nothing is known.

When I was about 14, I showed off in front of my classmates what I read from a popular public science book, A Brief History of Time. That book is about the images of space and time. Now, after taking physics courses in college, I can understand a few of the physical concepts in that book, and I can actually "know" some, but not all, physical images described in that book. The physical images I learned from that book at the age of 14 were, in a sense, epistemic luck for me, for I was not able to give reasons or justifications when facing the question--"How do you know?". So, strictly speaking, I knew nothing written in the book at 14.

To show off only brought me a satisfaction coming from the delusion that I seemed to "know" more than others. Though such a desire might be a stimulus for me to read when I was a child, its superficial nature makes it impossible to sustain any extensive involvement in a subject. It might also blind me from the true impulse of learning--curiosity. It can kill an inquisitive mind.

What is knowledge? : Epistemic Luck is NOT knowledge

John and Sandy were carrying bags of salt across a desert. One night John threw a small handful of salt into the campfire; the salt makes a cracking sound. John then said that they should not go tomorrow, because it was going to rain. Sandy did not believe it. Next morning, there was no sign of rain in the sky, so Sandy continued the trip alone. Shortly after Sandy left, a rain began; it washes away all the salt Sandy carried.

At the end of the story--as most stories for child under ten always do-- it tells the reader why the sound of the salt predicts a rain: the high humidity in the air, an indication of the coming rain, makes the salt wet, and the wet salt makes a cracking sound in the fire.

If I were Sandy, I wouldn’t believe John's words either. For me, the sound of the salt in the fire is just like the image on the crystal ball that a wizard sees. I would also deny that Sandy knew the rain, for it seems to me a random luck for John to correctly predict the weather considering that even now weather forecast is often inaccurate.

From an epistemic perspective, philosophers would also deny that John knew the rain. They would claim that at that night John only had the belief that the rain would come, and the rainfall next day turns John's belief to be true. But a belief's turning out to be true can be just due to luck, which epistemologists refer as the epistemic luck. In order for a true belief to amount to knowledge, justification is required. Though it is uncontroversial that an epistemic luck is incompatible with knowledge, there is a huge disagreement over the nature of justification and consequently over the nature of knowledge. Let us simply conclude that without justification, what one can have is only a belief, and an instance of the belief turning to be true is an epistemic luck.

We therefore exclude a considerable amount of information in our head from the range of what we know. Religious beliefs are not knowledge. Most daily predictions, most sayings about human nature, and understanding of abstract concepts that has no exact definitions, such as love, life, and success, are better to be classified as beliefs.

The fact that one mistakes belief for knowledge alone does not matter too much; what matters is the feeling attached with "one knows", when, in fact, he does not.

Google Mars

Mountains, Canyons, Dunes, Plains, Ridges. Mars seems to have everything earth has, except life. Or maybe it had before? I believe here is where a second earth will be.
Have a look at Google Mars. Have you decided where to live if you are in Mars several years later?

Truly Micro Electronics in a Single Molecule - New York Times

"...I.B.M. researchers have succeeded in fashioning an electronic circuit around a single carbon nanotube molecule...The researchers report obtaining switching frequencies of 52 megahertz, which is roughly the equivalent of an Intel 486 microprocessor chip commercially available 15 years ago."

"An author of the I.B.M. paper, Zhihong Chen, said she believed that it would ultimately be possible to build molecular devices that reach switching speeds of trillions of operations a second. Such computing performance is obtained today only by the fastest parallel supercomputers."

The above two paragraph is from Truly Micro Electronics in a Single Molecule - New York Times.

What is worth noting is the number of Chinese names in the author list in the article on science. Here is the abstract of the article: An Integrated Logic Circuit Assembled on a Single Carbon Nanotube -- Chen et al. 311 (5768): 1735 -- Science

How to make China even richer

When talking with some of my foreign friends, I am surprised with their knowledge about China. Sometime I feel ashamed, as a Chinese, of how little I know of my own country. This article, How to make China even richer, gives me a sense of what might be going on in the countryside of my country. Unlike the articles published by Chinese news agencies, which has to obey certain rules in order not to perish, its viewpoint is straightforward: "Let the peasants own their land". It also briefly discussed the pros and cons of its argument.

Pros: "If peasants could mortgage their land (after having the possesion of the land, of course), they could raise money to boost its productivity. Ownership would give them an incentive to do so. And if peasants could sell their land, they could acquire sufficient capital to start life anew in urban areas. This would boost urban consumption and encourage the migration of unproductive rural labour into the cities. For China to sustain its impressive growth rate and reduce inequalities, getting the many tens of millions of underemployed peasants off the land and into wealth-creating jobs is essential. The exodus would help those left behind to expand their land holdings and use them more efficiently."

Cons: "Communist Party ideologues are all too aware that a failure to handle rural issues properly can be destabilising. They worry that allowing peasants to sell their land could restore a rural landowning class, and that peasants would sell up in huge numbers and descend upon ill-prepared cities, throwing up shanty towns and pushing up crime."

I am quite interested in how the author describes the history of China at the end of its article; it lets me remind of what I learn in my Chinese history course in middle school.

"The leadership knows that China's history has been one of recurring bloody upheavals by landless peasants; it is caught between wanting to retain control and wanting to avoid another upheaval."

Image Credit: Economist.

The beauty of earth at night

Simple look at Blue Marble Navigator
. What a mysterious planet we are living on!

What is knowledge? : Why am I interested?

Since the first semester in college, I have been stuck to the belief that the main purpose of college life is to learn knowledge. It seems ironic, however, that I have spent nearly four years seeking knowledge without a clear understanding of what it is. So I wish to find justification of my purpose of college life.

Also, I often perceive in myself a feeling of excitement and satisfaction whenever I open a book on a new subject. And the link, I think, between books and knowledge is direct, so knowledge is what I desire. Understanding of what is knowledge might shed a light on understanding on my desires.

Besides, understanding the nature of knowledge will provide guidance for my future if I pursue a professional career in science, whose sole purpose is knowledge. I can imagine now that at some point of my scientific career, I will inevitably question myself whether I make original contributions to the mansion of knowledge. Making clear the direction I am heading as early as possible is beneficial for me in the voyage of science.

What, after all, is knowledge?

Quotes

Typos are very important to all written form. It gives the reader something to look for so they aren't distracted by the total lack of content in your writing. -- Randy K. Milholland

Denial is the most predictable of all human responses, but rest assured, this will be the sixth time we have destroyed it, and we have become exceedingly efficient at it. –Matrix Reloaded

What man desires is not knowledge, but certainty- Churchill

The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt –Russell

How an analogy makes the argument vivid!

What is worrying is the failure of China to be at peace with its own history, even though it has come a long way to evolving into a great country. What is worrying is its quickness to pay a huge cost (both in denying the entry of an internationally renowned movie, and in denying alternative interpretation/version of Chinese history in a strong armed manner). The emotional baggage is holding back China from truly "growing up". Like a young adult who, despite how rich and successful he is nowadays, shows his anger openly whenever someone mentions or remotely implicates his less glorious history.
What China needs is the capacity to face history as it is. It is natural to have emotional reactions, but China has yet to learn to show its stance in a legitimate and gracious manner.

--From Emily So.

GDP and GNP

Though I often heard them in TV, newspaper and daily talk, I do not know what they actually mean until I did a little search in answers.com.

GDP: Gross Domestic Product, the total market value of all the goods and services produced within the borders of a nation during a specified period.

GDP = consumption + investment + exports − imports

It is one of the measures of national income and output. It may be used as one indicator of the standard of living in a country, but there may be limitations with this view.

GNP: Gross National Product, the total value of final goods and services produced in a year by a country's nationals (including profits from capital held abroad).

GNP = GDP + income earned by domestic residents through foreign investments - the income earned by foreign investors in the domestic market.

Since World War II, GNP has been generally regarded as the most important indicator of the status of an economy.

It is important to differentiate Gross Domestic Product from Gross National Product (GNP). GDP includes only goods and services produced within the geographic boundaries of the U.S., regardless of the producer's nationality. GNP doesn't include goods and services produced by foreign producers, but does include goods and services produced by U.S. firms operating in foreign countries.

Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

The following is supposedly an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid-term. The answer by one student was so "profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well.

Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's law: (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant.

One student, however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So, we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving.

As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different Religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell.

With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added. This gives two possibilities:

1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until, as the saying goes, all Hell breaks loose.

2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until, - - Hell freezes over.

So which is it? If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, "it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you, and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number 2 must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct...leaving only Heaven -- thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting "Oh my God."

THIS STUDENT RECEIVED THE ONLY "A".

Comment on its scientific argument: He assumes that the hell has a positive heat capacity, which means the hell will gives off heat when its temperature drops. But his premises, that every soul goes to hell and no soul leaves it, let me think of black hole, a celestial body which engulfs everything near it. And black hole has a negative heat capacity, which means it will gives out heat when it temperature increases. Therefore, if his premises are all valid, and given that the hell also has a negative heat capacity like black hole, the hell is endothermic.

Comment on its propriety in Chinese culture as a joke: It will inevitably be considered improper as an answer on a mid-term test in major universities in China. But if we consider the attitude of sex portrayed in the movie, American Pie, it might be proper in US.

My personality profile

Overview
Some of the following information may seem inaccurate or incomplete. Remember, that this profile is a snapshot of your personality at a specific moment. It is not intended as an in-depth analysis of your complete being, but as a tool to aid in self-discovery:

• You have a strong feeling of optimism, considered favorably by most people around you. Your perception is that the bottle is half-full rather than half-empty.
• You have a strong sense of humor. You usually know when to lighten a difficult situation, amuse and entertain people.
• You have to be with people. This extends into the need to gain popularity, achieve social recognition and influence those people around you. The "bottom-line" is a strong people orientation.

Communication
The following statements offer a look at the natural behavior you bring to an interpersonal relationship.

• You have a natural, outgoing style that some have labeled as the "natural salesperson." You are generally likable, talkative and socially assertive. Your primary intent is convincing or persuading people.
• You can generate enthusiasm in yourself and in other people. Your enthusiasm, often contagious, involves many people in a social activity who might not ordinarily become involved.
• You show sympathy to the feelings and needs of others. Your natural empathy style may draw others to you.
• One of your great strengths is your ability to communicate and talk readily. Since all strengths may be overused at times, you may sometimes talk too much.

Improving communication,
Below is a list of communication styles that will mesh well with your own:

• Share specific ideas to carry out an action.
• Be brief, clear and to the point.
• Motivate and persuade by referring to objectives and RESULTS.
• Provide options, rather than opinions.
• Plan sufficient time to talk and listen.
• Talk about expectations.
• Support results, not the person, if you agree.
• Ask for opinions and ideas.
• Be ready at the exact time.
• Plan interactions which support dreams and goals.
• Provide questions and choices for making decisions.
• Be stimulating, fun-loving, and fast-moving.

Strength
Following are some of the specific strengths and/or personal characteristics that you bring to a relationship. These may form the foundations of many of your friendships and dealings with other people.

• You are usually enthusiastic about activities and planning.
• You enjoy situations where you can demonstrate your skill or mastery of a subject.
• You are optimistic and tend to make others feel good about themselves.
• You generally don't like to back away from a challenge.
• You like to analyze problems and discuss their possible solutions before taking action.
• You are socially poised and people-oriented.
• You have an excellent sense of humor and tend to see humor in events spontaneously.
• You tend to enjoy life and share that enjoyment with others.
• You tend to be influential in decision-making situations. Others often turn to you for advice.
• You like to initiate new activities.

Needs
While answering the Relationship Questionnaire you established a pattern of basic, subconscious wants. This section of the report was produced by analyzing those patterns. Our wants change as we mature and obtain our life goals. You may find it valuable to revisit this section periodically to see how your wants have changed. You may want:

• Support of your ideas and dreams.
• Equal relations with others.
• Others to adhere to your high standards.
• Popularity.
• Acceptance in a variety of groups.
• Time to adjust to change.
• Recognition of skills and ability.
• Social recognition of your accomplishments.
• A support system to help you get things done.
• Reassurance.
• A friendly, favorable social environment.
• Better planning for change in the future.

I did this personality test in eharmony, an professional online dating service site. I am surprised by my patience to complete such a long questionnaire.