Sunday, July 2, 2017

回答美国高中生的问题

张维迎那篇关于自由是一种责任的演讲,让我想到多年前在我回答一个美国高中生提出的多达十个问题中,有些回答有着类似的见解。我不认为自己是个聪明人,但至少我是个能保持独立见解和自由思考的人。中共统治下的中国恰恰抹杀的就是这种能够独立和自由思考的人。

把那次的问题和回答贴在这里,也算是个对应吧。10/14/2011

First of all, I don't know where you get to know that China is an "eco-friendly" country-----back to 100 years ago, it might be the case. In my view, nowadays China could be anyting but so-called eco-friendly country. Here I'd like to give you a clue----have you heard about a map issued by NASA last year that offers a Global View of Health-Sapping Air Pollution? Here is the link. http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/health-sapping.html. Hope you can easily find where China is.

Secondly, I have to admit that the topics of your ten questions are so big that we may have to write an academic article to answer each of them. Anyway, I will try my best to give my own opinion.

How is living in China different than living in America?

A: This question is quite broad and the answers really depend on personal experiences but overall I guess it is safe to say there are many differences in terms of living in America vs China. As you may understand, the biggest difference will be culture-related,which requires another article or even a book to address. As for the other aspects of living, in our own case, for example, here we have a bigger housing, a cheaper utility et al.

Pros in USA, better housing, better education system, can have more than one kid, more freedom, better law system, better air quality, less people,more sports/game choice, can play and carry guns, et al.
Pros in China, better food choice, more relatives gathering,  better career development, less working time.


Do you think Chinese people are more technology-savvy than Americans?


I don't know what to say. I mean I didn't get the point of such question. Can you name a few of technology that were invented in China in past 50 years or maybe 100 years? I don't think this is a question that will make sense for your project because in any population you will always find that some people are more savvy than other people and vice versa.



Do you think China as a whole is more technologically advanced than America? If so, what does America need to do to meet China’s standards?

see the answers above. or a short answer is NO. There is no such thing as China's standards.


Do you think America should be relying on China for “eco-friendly” innovations, or should Americans be focusing on domestic innovations?



1. China is not eco-friendly at all.
2. Yes, I guess America only can rely on themselves. 



How is your job in America different than past jobs in China? How many hours do you work in America as opposed to China? Do you think you get better benefits in America or China?

1. I am here a cyto technologist and I used to be a professor in the college when I was in China. I guess you can easily tell how much difference between these two jobs. As for working hours, overall there are almost same but I had more vocation time in China.
2. When you gain something, you lose something as well. In terms of career choice, It's hard for me to say I gained something here.

What are some Chinese family values and morals? From your perspective, how do American values differ from Chinese values?

1. There are too many to list here. In my view, one of biggest different of Chinese family values and morals vs American's is involved the way how we treat elders and kids. As in many Asian cultures, the elders of the family in China are revered for their wisdom. In both traditional and modern families, elders are respected, taken care of and looked up to by the rest of the family. We basically have an obligation to take care of our parents when they are aged. At this point we always feel very guilty because we are so far away from our parent although luckily we have our siblings in China.

As for raising a child, I am not sure whether you had read a book called Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy L. Chua. She was born here but her parents are Chinese but they moved from Philippines instead China. So somehow I don't think this author is real Chinese. This book was published in January 2011 and basically she tells the stories how she raised her two daughters successfully.  This book ignited a global parenting debate on how hard we as parents have to be on our kids. Anyway, many Chinese people actually didn't feel surprised when the Chinese version of the book was published and they think this only reflects a typical way how most of us raise children in China.
Take myself as an example, I asked myself whether I am a tiger mother and I discussed with my hubby. The conclusion was that I am not a real tiger mother but I am a pusher.

If you had a chance to ask every Chinese parent you met in America whether their kids learn any instruments. The answers would be 100% yes. And at least 9 out of 10 would be piano.

What do think American leaders need to do to get us out of our economic recession?

I guess the answer is very obvious if every politician pays attention to the movement of Occupy Wall Street that are happening now.



Do you think America has the means to make major changes in our energy efficiency (i.e. replacing the electrical grid, installing solar panels, using electric cars, etc.)?

Absolutely yes, The means are there but someone just ignores. I heard a story told by an American colleague of my hubby.  He believes that the technology of utilizing water as power resource to drive our car is there long time ago. However the oil companies not only already hold such patents but also try their best to prevent such patents into mass production. He said someone has been killed due to this. Do you believe such conspiracy?

Which innovations in China would be good to re-create in America? What do you think are the most important changes we (Americans) need to make in our energy efficiency?


1. Please refer to the answers above.
2.  I don't know what would be the most important changes regarding of energy efficiency in USA. But I do hold a question about why Americans love to dry their cloth in the electronic dryer when there is a more natural and more eco-friendly way-----showering in the SUN.

How do you think America should go about making these changes (in energy efficiency)? Do you think the government will be able to enforce these changes?

1. Let's start a small step before go too far---stop using any electronic dryer.
2. Unfortunately, I don't think so. We have first amendment here.



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