Category: China

Rich and Poor Students: How to Distinguish

Seth Roberts2 Comments

At Tsinghua University, there is a great range of wealth among students. Some are from very rich families, some from very poor. I asked a friend how to distinguish rich students and poor ones.

“At the student store, rich students buy things that cost more than 15 yuan [2 dollars],” she said.

I asked another student the same question.

“By their shoes,” he said, “especially sports shoes.” Poor students wear Chinese brands you’ve never heard of. Rich students wear American brands.

Like my friend’s answer, this surprised me. At the Beijing Zoo, I paid $10 for Nike shoes that cost $100 in America. Yet when visiting America, Chinese people I know have bought Nike shoes, because genuine Nike cost less in America than in China. So the American shoes of the rich students are probably genuine (> $100) and the Chinese-brand shoes of the poor students cost less than $10 ($5?).

Chinese Economics Joke

Seth Roberts10 Comments

Person A to Person B: “See that piece of shit? If you eat it I’ll give you 100 million yuan.”

Person B eats the shit.

But Person A doesn’t want to give him 100 million yuan. He says to Person B: “How about I eat shit too? Then we’ll be even.”

Person B agrees.

Person A eats some shit. “Now we’re even,” he says.

They have just increased GDP by 200 million yuan.

Walking Creates A Thirst For Dry Knowledge

Seth Roberts12 Comments

A few weeks ago I got a treadmill for my Beijing apartment. Two days ago I was walking on it (I try to walk 1 hr/day) while watching Leverage to make the activity more palatable. But Leverage bored me. It was too simple. So I took out some Chinese flashcards (character on one side, English and pinyin on the other) and started studying them. I was astonished how pleasant it was. An hour of walking and studying went by . . . uh, in a flash. In my entire life I have never had such a pleasant hour studying. The next day it happened again! The experience appears infinitely repeatable. I’ve previously mentioned the man who memorized Paradise Lost while walking on a treadmill.

I’ve noticed before that treadmill walking (by itself boring) and Chinese-character learning (by itself boring) become pleasant when combined. So why was I astonished? Because the increase in enjoyment was larger. The whole activity was really pleasant, like drinking water when thirsty. When an hour was up, I could have kept going. I wanted to do it again. When I noticed it earlier, I was using Anki to learn Chinese characters. Now I am using flashcards in blocks of ten (study 10 until learned, get a new set of 10, study them until learned . . . ). The flashcards provide much more sense of accomplishment and completion, which I thinks makes the activity more pleasant.

My progress with Chinese characters has been so slow that during the latest attempt (putting them on my wall) I didn’t even try to learn both the pinyin and the meaning at the same time; I had retreated to just trying to learn the meaning. That was hard enough. I have had about 100 character cards on the walls of my apartment for a month but I’ve only learned the meaning of about half of them. No pinyin at all. In contrast, in two one-hour treadmill sessions I’ve gotten through 60 cards . . . including pinyin. For me, learning pinyin is much harder than learning meaning.

It’s like drinking water when you’re thirsty versus when you’re not thirsty. The walking turns a kind of switch that makes it pleasant to learn dry knowledge, just as lack of water creates thirst. Not only did studying dry materials become much more pleasant I suspect I also became more efficient — more retentive. I was surprised how fast I managed to reach a criterion of zero mistakes.

I had previously studied flashcards while walking around Tsinghua. This did not produce an oh-my-god experience. I can think of three reasons why the effect is now much stronger: 1. Ordinary walking is distracting. You have to watch where you’re going, there are other people, cars, trees, and so on. Distraction reduces learning. If the distractions are boring — and they usually are –Â the experience becomes less pleasant. 2. Ordinary walking provides more information than treadmill walking (which provides no information at all — you’re staring at a wall). The non-flashcard info reduces desire to learn what’s on the flashcards. 3. On these Tsinghua walks I had about 100 flashcards which I cycled through. Using sets of 10, as I said, provides more sense of accomplishment. I’ve also had about 20 Chinese-speaking lessons while walking around. The walking made the lessons more pleasant, yes, but it wasn’t nearly as enjoyable as the treadmill/flashcard combination. And because lessons with a tutor are intrinsically more enjoyable than studying flashcards, the increase in enjoyment was less dramatic.

As I said earlier I think there’s an evolutionary reason for this effect: The thirst for knowledge (= novelty) created by walking pushed us to explore and learn about our surroundings. One interesting feature of my discovery about treadmill and flashcards is that it may take better advantage of this mechanism than did ordinary Stone-Age life — better in the sense that more pleasure/minute can be derived. In the Stone Age, novelty, new dry knowledge, was hard to come by. You could only walk so fast. After a while, it was hard to walk far enough away to be in a new place. Whereas I can easily switch from flashcards I’ve learned to new ones. An example of a supranormal stimulus.

Guan Er Dai

Seth Roberts6 Comments

A few years ago the Chinese people invented a new noun: guan er dai (官二代), meaning the children of government officials. There was already fu er dai, meaning the children of rich people.

The reason for the new term is that guan er dai act badly. A few weeks ago at Hebei University, a guan er dai, driving a car on campus, hit and killed a girl. Angry bystanders gathered around the car. “My father is Li Gang!” shouted the guan er dai. Li Gang is a mid-level police official. Not especially powerful, but powerful enough. Hubei University covered up the incident.

Government officials have always been very powerful, said the friend who told me this. But only recently have people become aware of this. This is why guan er dai is a new term.

A few years ago a Tsinghua sociology professor and a graduate student wrote a book about the hierarchy within Chinese society. Government officials on top, below them business people, and so on. Perhaps farmers at the bottom. The government did not allow this book to be published — “we are not on top of society, we are the servants!” said a government official. All that work, down the drain.

More The reckless driver was sentenced to three years in prison. The New York Times has a long article about this.

Secrets of Chinese Retail

Seth Roberts2 Comments

In Chinese supermarkets now and then you see a large and a small version of something taped together — for the price of the large version! For example, a quart of milk and a pint of milk taped together, sold at the price of one quart. Wow, you think, for the same price I get 50% more.
Today I looked closely at one of these deals. The milk was several days older than the rest of the milk for sale. I realized it was the Chinese equivalent of putting a day-old sticker on something and selling it at half-price. Day-old stickers have negative connotations (“stale”) but the taped packages have positive ones (“your lucky day”).

A Chinese Physicist Resigns

Seth Roberts2 Comments

A Chinese physicist recently resigned from his job (pure research) at a Beijing research institute. His salary was too low. The base salary is something like $200/month, with something like $1200 for each paper you publish. He explained his decision in a letter to his bosses, which he posted on the Internet. From Google Translate:

Dear leaders:

Hello!

August 2006, I single-handedly carried the mat, one hand holding the quilt to the school to report to work. Slept on the floor in the office 3 nights later, Frank and others XX XXX Street, shares a house, 800 yuan per month. Themselves feel better. However, when my wife came to see me when to Shanghai, but a cry. She did not expect this to write beautiful prose, in English is superb, the monthly salary of ten years ago, men who have three thousand dollars so come down: the room to work without a decent table, there is no place to sit, could only sit bed; office also can take place without her. Yes, until now, my office is a chair, a common HP laser printer or the wife gave me a birthday present. His wife’s insistence, in March 2007, after six months sharing with others, I moved to Village X XX X, X round room (Reference: College on XXXX XXX), monthly rent of 1,600 yuan.

I come to school only task is to do research. Not in class, not with the students. I do specialty is theoretical physics. In my opinion, the current basic problems of theoretical physics can be divided into three areas, but also three levels: the top and most shallow, which is the quality of particle physics, neutrino problem, particle state mixing problem ; Secondly, the harder is self-consistent description of the gravitational field and unify quantum field; final, most difficult, is the true cosmology, the concept of the universe all things are included, the true cosmological should a TOE (Theory of Everything). Cosmology is now called, should be called observational cosmology, from a theoretical point of view, can only be called up to fit the observational cosmology. Three aspects of the course, or interrelated, each is at stake.

Second half of 2006, I understand the unified description of the main energy to the gravitational field and quantum field theory and mathematical tools needed which, in an arbitrary manifold reflects the quantum characteristics of the mathematical tools may be harmonic analysis. But I do not master any of harmonic analysis on manifolds.

Time to flash the first half of 2007, the annual meeting of gravity, I consider the possible use of Finsler geometry to try to do quantum gravity, began to self-Finsler geometry, the same year by the end of September, I made use of Finsler geometry re-expressed in general relativity. However, re-expressed with the Finsler geometry of general relativity does not make me to the direction of quantum gravity there is any progress, Finsler geometry is very strict rigid mathematical structure, the introduction of any features of the quantum structure itself will be incompatible with the geometry. Of course, you can put Finsler space-time structure of dark energy as an inevitable result, however, computability theory, the ability to compare theory and observations are not good.

July 2007, I bought a house in Shanghai, the total price of 96 million, 30-year loans to 66 million. After that, our economic pressure to the limit: my wife rented a house in Beijing, XXX XX Garden Park Unit X X X Building, Room (Reference: Beijing XXX Company XX), monthly rent of 2,500 yuan; my house in Shanghai, monthly rent of 1,600 yuan; also close to 6,000 yuan per month mortgage. All of my salary: two accounts, one CCB, more than 2,000 points (up once already, I am now in January 2669.27 yuan (March 2010)); another investment line, 1,800 yuan per month. Do not say that I run in Beijing and Shanghai both transport costs, my salary to feed my already running out. So we got married in 2005 had never to children.

Under the pressure of the huge costs climb in 2007, first half of 2008, I intend to do some simple problems, the observation of neutrino cosmology application, or vice versa, according to some astronomical observations to discuss the micro- Mass of sub-limits. However, read the literature, in-depth period of time to do that: this work is not a person with a PC machine can be done, at least a group of some value to make it possible to do the work. So, do I still have to go back I am a person with a PC, will be able to do mathematical physics. At this time, there have been two things: First, my wife is pregnant, should be joyous, married 4 years, she has XX years of age. Second, in June 2008, my body feels discomfort, severe cough began after the end of August, the end of September to do CT, in the chest, heart on top, between the lungs lymphatic tumor, a copy of the specific report, see CT.

08 expiration of the contract work my wife returned to Shanghai from Beijing. August 30, we arrived in Shanghai, after living for a month in a hotel (of course, is my wife’s company out of accommodation), I X, X, Room XXX Village renters (references, XXX), 3,300 yuan monthly rent. Our own new home in the June 30 submitted to, because my physical problems, and his wife was pregnant, there is no way to decoration. Only in November 2008 leased to our new home workers rough (references XXXX), monthly rent of 1,800 yuan.

My CT report came out, there are three doctors that the disease: sarcoidosis best results, followed by lymphoma or lung cancer. Six City Hospital, Zhongshan Hospital and the City Chest Hospital’s doctors agree that: To do mediastinal thoracic endoscopy to confirm the diagnosis. However, my child is born in November 2, and before that in October, I can not do chest examination. October 21, 2008, in my guarantee, Chest Hospital, XXXX decided in accordance with sarcoidosis, I began to hormone (prednisone) therapy. In fact, I know, if it is worse than the result of sarcoidosis, I have only the choice of suicide: I can not let my white mother in the cold begging to others: “Save my son… “; or my wife holding an infant child:” save my husband… ”

Thank bliss, I am still alive and well. But, my friends were not so lucky: Mao XXXX, 2005 in High Energy suicide; von XXX, one of my best friends, in January 2007 committed suicide at Tokyo University. Their death, and they chose Theoretical Physics, chose to do research are closely related. Von XXX, 28 years old when he died less, 8 years old his father died, take pains to support his mother and younger siblings. In the Babaoshan, watching Von XXX’s mother, that Ganchangcunduan, piercing woman, I was deeply sad but misery. To von XXX, I think I should continue to do theoretical physics.

2009, I went back to quality issues, problems and mixed particle state mixing matrix. An elegant theory that all the observed phenomena should be explained with the natural, but the existing weak unified theory, have failed. After several months of effort, I think, rest mass operator should be introduced to the rest mass of the quantum field operator as is the rest mass of the intrinsic value, so that uniform interpretation of quantum states can be mixed and mixed matrix. Done in July, found the problem difficult to overcome, and because of physical reasons, was closed. After the October, and XXX, XXX discussions and continue to do for some time. I found a little forward, but there are fundamental problems from a distance, need to be more profound thoughts.

In 2009, my body slowly getting better. Done 4 CT, 4 after March, the condition improved slowly. And then to Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital treatment is the same method. September 2, to Nantong XXXX hospital medicine treatment, medication in January, costs over 3,500 yuan (can not be reimbursed, easy to find the invoice.) To October 2009, my medical insurance card, no money already. At this time, CT showed that half of the tumor has disappeared, the results see the copy. Since then I have to give up treatment, on the one hand do not want to spend more money on the one hand I believe I can beat the rest of the half.

2008 year-end assessment, I did not write. Do write to me to do research, but failed; or I was sick; or I just add a small baby at home? Write my difficulties, I do not want to let others sympathetic to buckle my money? For a limb still, physical and mental health of man, which is a shame.

Thus, starting from March 2009, my investment line of Cary, 900 yuan less per month, only 900 yuan.

Finally, I deeply know that I am the circle around me, most people are not doing scientific research. Doing scientific research is false, is an issue, published an article to change some money, to live. (Above paragraph, is not directed against any person or thing, I seriously do research and those who pay tribute to the depths of his heart. Even if someone is writing papers for money, as long as there is no plagiarism, is beyond reproach, and now the rule is like that. I can not do, but my poor ability to adapt.) von XXX, XXXX Mao may also, like me, are the idealists, does not fit in this circle there to do, so they died.

Yes, I suddenly realized: I do not fit inside the circle to do the research now. Otherwise, I will and Feng XX, XXX Mao same fate. In the November 25, 2009 made a report terms of rest mass operator, I decided to leave. November 30, in the center of the meeting, I proposed to my research was no longer suitable.

All see, I know, the year-end 2009, has not filled out the necessary assessment: whether what I was made or not made anything, I knew.

So, I Merchants Bank of Cary, from the beginning in January 2010, a month is 0. I can start another kind of living law.

Determined from the high school to study physics to me, from the self to the Thermodynamics of Newtonian mechanics, to quantum mechanics; from the self-study calculus to linear algebra; learn from differential geometry, group theory, and then learn topology. Into his own youth, twenty years into his effort, and now had to give up, is a frustration.

Dreamed last night: spring, towards the sea, I lingered under the weeping willow, think about the physics, think of the beauty of the universe!

I know, only to leave, I can live. When people have forgotten that the earth is the soul of the physical sacrifice, I still worried about soul.

Must live with dignity, I can only leave. In the vast universe, the short life of individuals, such as fireworks, energy and all the leaders met, life is fate. Besides, I also get more help and the central leadership to take care, keep in mind when I hope to have the opportunity to return.

Learning Chinese Characters

Seth Roberts5 Comments

I have 80 Chinese characters (flashcards for children) taped to a wall of my Beijing apartment. I add about five per day. I wrote about this earlier, before starting. So far it’s working. With almost no effort, no discipline, I know what almost all of them mean. I test myself a little whenever I’m in that room. This is a vast improvement over several previous attempts to learn the characters, such as studying flashcards the usual way or using Anki, a flashcard program.

I ruefully realize this is an application of something I thought of many years ago: the forces we can turn on and off are much weaker than pre-existing forces we can only take advantage of. Burning coal is a force we can turn on and off. Solar power is a pre-existing force we can take advantage of (and which almost everyone in Beijing uses to dry clothes). The sun shines no matter what we do. Deliberate studying we can turn on and off. We can study or not. In contrast, I am inevitably going to be in that room. Taping characters to the wall takes advantage of that.

How She Adjusted to Living in China

Seth Roberts7 Comments

I asked an American friend who’s been in China for a year how the year had changed her. She told a story:

I was in a restaurant in Inner Mongolia. This guy was going around smashing things, throwing glasses. He was drunk. I was shocked. I expected a strong reaction: Get out of my restaurant! That’s not what happened. There was no strong reaction. The guy finally left and the staff cleaned up the mess he made. I’ve learned not to react strongly to unusual behavior.

I love this story. That travel changes your assumptions is hardly a new idea but this says it vividly and briefly.