谈什么 CSSA，谈什么手机 plan，谈什么折扣机票，谈什么零时区，谈什么同乡联谊，谈什么 body shop，谈什么春节假期，谈什么华人学生，谈什么 DHPA，谈什么工作许可，我憎恨你们，对，我憎恨你们。
去他的火锅店，去他的 QQ，去他的猫扑，去他的申根签证，去他的开阔眼界，去他的摇滚，去他的古典，去他的登喜路，去他的 Land Rover，去他的音乐剧，去他的临湖别墅，去他的商学硕士，去他的风雅，去他的成功人士，去他的社交，去他的中产阶级，去他的北京小户型，去他的 Master Card，I don't give a sh*t, no, never give a sh*t.
忘记薯片，记住带泥的土豆；忘记怎么写套磁信，记住跟收银员说再见；忘记柏林爱乐乐团，记住命运的咽喉；忘记威士忌，记住关紧水龙头；忘记空调，记住穿长袖T恤；忘记中国餐馆，记住放辣椒；忘记学校排名，记住-37；忘记体面，记住尊严；忘记套考试题，记住复习；忘记高声谈笑，记住口齿清晰；忘记 Big Ben，记住带手表；忘记学位，记住阿伏加德罗常数；忘记我的母语，记住我是中国人。
不要欧陆风情，不要一帆风顺，不要少年得志，不要左右逢源；不要十八洞果岭，不要金装龙虎斗，不要领导人接见，不要健身房年卡；不要教授职称，不要影响因子，不要文章数，不要第一作者。不要告诉我什么是成功，不要告诉我什么是地位，不要告诉我一定要留北京，不要告诉我没有钱会怎样怎样，不要定义我的生活，不要以为我和你们一样。
为 Tyler Durden，高更和本雅明三欢呼！
2006年11月30日星期四
2006年11月29日星期三
SCI-BYTES: Science in China, 2001-05
SCI-BYTES: Science in China, 2001-05
当我们陶醉于世界第六的 GDP 时，再看看这组数据头脑就会清醒不少。中国未来的发展一个严重的问题就是缺乏占领先地位的基础研究，无论理科工科还是社会科学都是如此。数控机床、分析仪器、电子元器件等等都是国内的弱项，而其他战略意义不太明显的学科也都在世界平均水平以下。这意味着中国在很长一段时间内只能依靠来料加工和劳动密集型出口来实现资本的积累，而几乎没有什么产品的核心技术是属于中国的。这样的积累过程极其缓慢而脆弱，谁会等我们？
革命尚未成功，以此自勉。
当我们陶醉于世界第六的 GDP 时，再看看这组数据头脑就会清醒不少。中国未来的发展一个严重的问题就是缺乏占领先地位的基础研究，无论理科工科还是社会科学都是如此。数控机床、分析仪器、电子元器件等等都是国内的弱项，而其他战略意义不太明显的学科也都在世界平均水平以下。这意味着中国在很长一段时间内只能依靠来料加工和劳动密集型出口来实现资本的积累，而几乎没有什么产品的核心技术是属于中国的。这样的积累过程极其缓慢而脆弱，谁会等我们？
革命尚未成功，以此自勉。
2006年11月28日星期二
大问题……
刚把选修课的作业写完，溜到 snowytee 的个人文集上看了看，原来我和她居然也是有一样的着急的事。很快这一年就要过去，我也是将要到法定婚龄的人了。过了近1/4世纪，现在还是不知道自己的位置在哪里，在三十岁以前要如何如何。
工作对于学环境的人来说是个不小的问题，而对于我这样学到读博士突然发现这是一门社会科学的人来说就更是个大问题。目前看最有可能的就是继续在象牙塔里呆下去，但是不知道我这个博士论文的题目能不能帮我在理想的大学谋一个职位。至于其他的工作，目前信息都太少，但又不能不考虑。
不管怎么说，博士学位意味着在行业中的专家地位和相当的学术能力。也许这个学位不能让我得到大量的财富，甚至不能得到一份在旁人看来舒适优越的工作，但是我相信它最终一定可以给我相应的收获。抛开个人的得失不谈，我所要做的也必须有人去做。
工作对于学环境的人来说是个不小的问题，而对于我这样学到读博士突然发现这是一门社会科学的人来说就更是个大问题。目前看最有可能的就是继续在象牙塔里呆下去，但是不知道我这个博士论文的题目能不能帮我在理想的大学谋一个职位。至于其他的工作，目前信息都太少，但又不能不考虑。
不管怎么说，博士学位意味着在行业中的专家地位和相当的学术能力。也许这个学位不能让我得到大量的财富，甚至不能得到一份在旁人看来舒适优越的工作，但是我相信它最终一定可以给我相应的收获。抛开个人的得失不谈，我所要做的也必须有人去做。
2006年11月25日星期六
Week 9: Stop and get myself together
After handing in my review to my supervisor, I suddenly feel very tired. So tired that I virtually did nothing on this Friday, nor today. I think it is time now to look back and see what I have done in the past weeks.
The first review is good in that it covers many essential aspects, though not necessarily deep. Based on that, the second review on environment tries to find more about ecosystem components and their interactions. However, I find literature I read all focusing on certain topics: Holocene climate, alpine steppe, etc. Apparently a comprehensive review of Tibetan nature is still absent.
The Second review thus cannot be considered as good enough, though I myself cannot easily tell what is wrong. Perhaps I should return to it from time to time and write down what is relevant to my research area. The next review would be on Tibetan history, especially pastoral history. It would not be as easy as writing a chronology because there will be contrast of ideas, even ideologies.
During my searching I find that many people in academic world criticise transforming nomadism to sedentary pastoralism. Then what is the originality of my research? Perhaps a different geographical setting? Or perhaps I can reach a conclusion rather different? Maybe it will be original in a way that I do not expect.
The first review is good in that it covers many essential aspects, though not necessarily deep. Based on that, the second review on environment tries to find more about ecosystem components and their interactions. However, I find literature I read all focusing on certain topics: Holocene climate, alpine steppe, etc. Apparently a comprehensive review of Tibetan nature is still absent.
The Second review thus cannot be considered as good enough, though I myself cannot easily tell what is wrong. Perhaps I should return to it from time to time and write down what is relevant to my research area. The next review would be on Tibetan history, especially pastoral history. It would not be as easy as writing a chronology because there will be contrast of ideas, even ideologies.
During my searching I find that many people in academic world criticise transforming nomadism to sedentary pastoralism. Then what is the originality of my research? Perhaps a different geographical setting? Or perhaps I can reach a conclusion rather different? Maybe it will be original in a way that I do not expect.
2006年11月21日星期二
Bourdieu's symbolic capital in the context of mass media
At today's seminar we had a discussion on Pierre Bourdieu's work exploring classification, taste, and disgust. Bourdieu claimed that aside from economic capital -- capital in the traditional expression -- there are also social capital, cultural capital, and symbolic capital, which is the symbolic appearance of the three capitals above. I think symbolic capital is especially interesting because it is somewhat different from other capitals as it is purely externally determined, while others are accumulated by agencies (people) in the society and assessed by certain social structure.
Symbolic capital, in my opinion, is how people evaluate one's economic, social and cultural status, or capital, in the society. It is the means by which social class is determined and agreed, and the source of people's emotion towards classes, such as admiration, jealousy, and disgust. It has been noticed by some authors that symbolic capital does not necessarily have a material basis, nor its evaluation follow any fixed rule. It can be the product of merely impression, even imagination.
Therefore I wondered, whether recognition of classes in the 19th Century and earlier centuries is different from that in the 20th Century, which is an era characterised by mass media. From observation it is apparent that mass media defines the taste of certain people and products -- e.g. Häagen-Dazs ice creams for middle class young couples in China. I think surely it has something to do with people's imagination of classes -- and their attitude towards those classes.
While in 19th Century the symbol of one's capitals are formed through gossips in saloons, today's symbolic capital maybe more and more determined by how mass media, especially TV, portrait the characteristics of certain classes. An interest twist added to this, is that mass media themselves are symbols of taste and class. We often consider one who pays attention to CNN and Financial Times as a successful professional and those who watch sports channel and read tabloids lower class people. In this sense, mass media not only provided definition of class and taste, but also become part of the social structure that form classes and tastes.
I do not know if Bourdieu mentioned this in his masterpiece "Distinction", but I am really fascinated by this interaction between mass media and social classification.
Symbolic capital, in my opinion, is how people evaluate one's economic, social and cultural status, or capital, in the society. It is the means by which social class is determined and agreed, and the source of people's emotion towards classes, such as admiration, jealousy, and disgust. It has been noticed by some authors that symbolic capital does not necessarily have a material basis, nor its evaluation follow any fixed rule. It can be the product of merely impression, even imagination.
Therefore I wondered, whether recognition of classes in the 19th Century and earlier centuries is different from that in the 20th Century, which is an era characterised by mass media. From observation it is apparent that mass media defines the taste of certain people and products -- e.g. Häagen-Dazs ice creams for middle class young couples in China. I think surely it has something to do with people's imagination of classes -- and their attitude towards those classes.
While in 19th Century the symbol of one's capitals are formed through gossips in saloons, today's symbolic capital maybe more and more determined by how mass media, especially TV, portrait the characteristics of certain classes. An interest twist added to this, is that mass media themselves are symbols of taste and class. We often consider one who pays attention to CNN and Financial Times as a successful professional and those who watch sports channel and read tabloids lower class people. In this sense, mass media not only provided definition of class and taste, but also become part of the social structure that form classes and tastes.
I do not know if Bourdieu mentioned this in his masterpiece "Distinction", but I am really fascinated by this interaction between mass media and social classification.
BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Six imams ejected from US flight
BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Six imams ejected from US flight
发生在美国的又一起可笑的航班拒载事件。受害者仍然是穆斯林。布什的反恐政策制造了国家监视系统，全国性的恐慌和种族偏见，却没有抓到一个真正的恐怖分子。真正的极端分子可以偷笑了，他们不费一枪一弹就在5年里打垮了美国标榜在星条旗上的正义勇气和纯净。
在美国的大多数机场穆斯林或看来像穆斯林的人现在都是不受欢迎的人，任何“可疑”的行动都可能招致无端的怀疑和禁飞的不公正待遇。如果这种种族偏见继续扩张到社会的其他部分，那么信回教的人在这个国家的生活将不会比上世纪30年代德国的犹太人更好。随之而来的将是仇恨和冲突。西方社会对伊斯兰社会和人民长期的妖魔化必然带来难以下咽的苦果。而现在，西方后殖民主义社会标榜的多元化和文化宽容的信条已经受到了来自传统社会本身的威胁。
西方社会也许需要一个能够反省其对外政策并承认伊斯兰社会价值观的美国，而伊斯兰社会也需要让世界更了解自身，但不强求他人接受其宗教诉求。这样文明的冲突才有可能避免。但目前的现实是无论西方还是伊斯兰社会都无法在态度上急转弯，或者是长期的路径依赖使它们不愿改变现有的姿态。
发生在美国的又一起可笑的航班拒载事件。受害者仍然是穆斯林。布什的反恐政策制造了国家监视系统，全国性的恐慌和种族偏见，却没有抓到一个真正的恐怖分子。真正的极端分子可以偷笑了，他们不费一枪一弹就在5年里打垮了美国标榜在星条旗上的正义勇气和纯净。
在美国的大多数机场穆斯林或看来像穆斯林的人现在都是不受欢迎的人，任何“可疑”的行动都可能招致无端的怀疑和禁飞的不公正待遇。如果这种种族偏见继续扩张到社会的其他部分，那么信回教的人在这个国家的生活将不会比上世纪30年代德国的犹太人更好。随之而来的将是仇恨和冲突。西方社会对伊斯兰社会和人民长期的妖魔化必然带来难以下咽的苦果。而现在，西方后殖民主义社会标榜的多元化和文化宽容的信条已经受到了来自传统社会本身的威胁。
西方社会也许需要一个能够反省其对外政策并承认伊斯兰社会价值观的美国，而伊斯兰社会也需要让世界更了解自身，但不强求他人接受其宗教诉求。这样文明的冲突才有可能避免。但目前的现实是无论西方还是伊斯兰社会都无法在态度上急转弯，或者是长期的路径依赖使它们不愿改变现有的姿态。
2006年11月18日星期六
室内锻炼计划再启动……
很久没有练上肢力量了。今天到 Argos 买了这个杠子以后才发现安装是需要在门上钻孔的。学校大概不会允许我这样大兴土木。不过好在这套东西里还有用来做俯卧撑的器具，加上以前买的两个绳套后就组合成了这个简易单杠。实验了一下，还是比较结实的。这样就可以在室内练习引体向上了，而且腿因为窗台的缘故不能晃，估计锻炼效果会不错。
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