Essays ⁽³⁴⁹⁾

How many commercial advertisements do we encounter in a day? The oceanographer Jacques Cousteau did a fascinating experiment: between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., as he walked around Paris, he counted every ad he encountered. He said: "Whenever someone tried to sell me something I…

The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge. — Philosopher Bertrand Russell In 2002, at 23, I served as lead writer and coordinator on a project led by the National Development and Reform Commission concerning "sustainable development of resources, population, and…

There is a peculiar phenomenon in my family: the children in our clan were all very lively and talkative when young, but after adolescence most became taciturn. I am no exception. Of course, when I say this, readers may find it strange — would someone…

On the phone to exchange New Year greetings with an old friend, he told me that an acquaintance of his had jumped from a building and died before the year ended, at 53. Before the suicide he was stuck at work, depressed and unfulfilled; a…

Under the pandemic we have welcomed another Spring Festival. At this moment, some are still working hard for everyone well-being, while some unfortunate people are suffering. I sincerely thank those who still work for our health at this time; it is their sacrifice that buys…

On the evening of January 22, 2022, the WeChat Public Platform sent me a message saying I had qualified for custom red-packet covers. I did not know what WeChat red-packet covers were for, nor did I plan to learn about this novelty unrelated to my…

At night I was reading Professor Feynman book The Pleasure of Finding Things Out, and came across his essay Cargo Cult Science, from which I gained much.Many people say they are honest and do not deceive themselves, and when they say so they truly mean…

Sometimes I think impractical but interesting questions. Today I wondered: if Zhang Zhongjing, the Buddha, and Zhuangzi were all still alive, I would very much like to ask all three the same question - would they be willing to learn modern science such as mathematics,…

Dear readers, Happy New Year to you all! Another year has passed in the blink of an eye; we have lived for two full years under the shadow of the plague. These two years have been truly hard. Whether humanity can walk out of the…

I cannot put into words the storms that have raged in my heart over these two years, nor the profound suffering humanity has endured. Beginning in December 2019, when reports about brucellosis in Lanzhou, plague in Inner Mongolia, and unexplained pneumonia in Wuhan appeared one…