甘地，六十年

© Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos，1948

1948年1月31日，“圣雄”甘地遇刺身亡。

Does Max Planck Hobble Universities?

Thanks to Harrison's reminder, I picked up the news on Science horribly titled as Max Planck Accused of Hobbling Universities. Is Max Planck going to be sentenced?

It is an interesting piece of news, but far from good enough in argument, in
my opinion. The author made a mistake at the very first step as she/he quoted the international university rankings to prove the problem of Germany's education. It is nonsense for European universities, as it is an invention of US style. However, I don't intend to deny the trouble the Germany's universities face and has been argued for a long time. In fact, The "problem" that is talking about is a consequence of globalization rather than a problem of Germany, or any other country. And it is never an independent trouble of the education and research system.

The institution of Germany, or more generally, Europe, is largely different with that of US in many an aspect, among which the distinction in welfare system, including education, may be most significant. For example, in the recent documentary film 'Sicko', Moore compared the health insurance system of US and France. Generally speaking, along the dimension of equality and freedom, US often shows propensity to
individualist, while the European continent prefers egalitarian to some extent. I believe the institutions evolved via different paths historically, and fit well in their own niches for some time, until the parts of the world merge together.

By the same token, the education systems start with different points. For US, it is biased to meritocracy, that is, the universities open for the rich and the clever. While for Europe, the colleges serve the public, and everybody, either rich or poor, clever or stupid, as long as she is willing to, has the opportunity for higher education. The result is that the former wins in efficiency, of course. And once the borders are open, the clever flow to US, since they can benefit more than average there. Will the transformation of Max Planck reverse the trends? I believe not.

The situation is like two Nash equilibrium strategies, each of which is stable itself. But if placed in the same playground, one invades another. However, it is too early to conclude that one is better than another. Suppose in the prisoner's dilemma the defector dominate the cooperator but leads to a worst outcome. That is it.

To sum up, I'd like to quote the former core, that this article is "too simple, sometimes naive".

PS: If we further include China's education in this debate, where should we place it? I'd prefer to identify it as much more extreme than US in utilitarian. The poor have no way to receive good education, and the universities are in a hurry to copy certifications rather than to culture youth and do science. As a result, we are obviously among the most efficient, but as to quality, I'm not sure. Will more fundings boost China's universities? I have to be pessimistic.

Anyway, it is somewhat ironic for me now to consider two offers from Max Planck and Stanford as once a very "bad" bachelor student in Tsinghua.

2008:选举与旁观

刚刚开始的2008年，也许在中国媒体上出现最多的词语将是“奥运”，但如果放眼世界，新年的主题无疑应是“选举”。当然，别人选举，我们是看客。

当今的世界唯一超级大国美帝的总统初选今天即将在Iowa州打响；再过些日子海峡对岸那个“省”也要选他们的非法领导人了；还有我们的友好邻邦巴基斯坦计划中也要选出一个能够对炸弹免疫的穆萨拉夫的继任者（如果不打内战的话）……

虽说“闲事莫管，吃饭三碗”，可毕竟这些国家的政局动向对于中国的影响都是不可忽视的，所以也不能完全算是闲事。根据经验，届时定然会有不少“家事国事天下事事事关心”的国人紧盯新闻快报的，而其中绝大部分又不得不被官方媒体所引导，不自觉地倒向中央制定的某一派，尽管选举的实际情况往往与官方评论员的大嘴差之千里。

更多的人还会在抱着胳膊看热闹的同时冷嘲热讽几句，比如今天中午在食堂的饭桌上就听见有人说亚洲人不适合民主选举制度。当然，这也算是当下在民间很流行的一种观点，毕竟也有充足的论据：台湾的“伪总统”选战劳民伤财且丑态百出，严重破坏和谐。所以既然我们要建设和谐社会，就应该引以为戒，不要再梦想民选——亚洲人做惯了奴才，学不来民主，还不如安心当奴才。

听说《阿Q正传》要从中学课本上删掉了，以后就不用再担心后来人会再骂我们阿Q了，很好，很和谐。

为了像Prada的Gucci

年终岁尾，总是要在酒精的麻醉下才能极不情愿地提起笔来，草草码几行字，算是新桃换旧符以迎接变幻之时。醉眼朦胧中浮现竟然出阿妙打开铁匣的情景：一个小小的笔记本被取出，上面写着“阿妙n岁，离开鱼市”；另一个小小的本子被放入，上面写着“阿妙n+1岁，离开鱼市”……

人生来就不平等，有人生在富贵人家，万事不愁；有人只有一个潦倒老爸，还背着一身赌债。然而无论王子与乞丐，至少每个人的心中都可以有不受现实羁绊的梦想。哥伦布梦想到达东方，阿妙梦想离开鱼市。我们常说知足常乐，然而一个相反的事实却是，我们又都相信手边的东西总不是最好的。鱼佬、饼佬、猪肉佬，与其说比较哪一个更好，毋宁说哪一个离得更远。当Prada与Gucci都摆在眼前，阿妙只好回答：像Prada的Gucci。

像Prada的Gucci，它的存在与否并不重要，因为一旦出现，它也就会被新的梦想所代替。而miss，正是为了考验梦想而存在，所以每个人都在不停地错过一些东西，直到放弃梦想。很难说梦想带给人更多的究竟是幸福还是痛苦，但至少有一点可以肯定：追求梦想本身应该是生命的意义的一部分。

Vladimir与Estragon在等待戈多时曾这样说：

- He should be here.

- He didn't say for sure he 'd come.

- And if he doesn't come?

- We'll come back tomorrow.

- And then the day after tomorrow.

- Possibly.

- And so on.

- The Point is ——

- Until he comes.
...

- It's not certain.

- No, nothing is certain.
...

- Shall we go?

- Yes, Let's go.

They don't move.

戈多会来吗？这不重要。重要的是，你愿意等待吗？

For Benazir Bhutto

© Abbas / Magnum Photos, 1988

清华大学失踪

一个重大发现：清华大学失踪了！

清华大学距离我的实验室大约500米，中间只隔一条轻轨和一片棚户区，今天临窗眺望，突然发现眼前一片空白，清华大学的建筑连同那条轻轨铁路一同消失的无影无踪。

北京城果真是个大大的魔术师，可惜这会儿没赶上奥运会，不然咱给世界人民也展示一把“鸟巢失踪”。当然了，在官方的语法书里，北京与污染两个词连用属于逻辑错误，发言人会说：“那是雾。”

看来要提高空气能见度，还得先提高社会能见度才行。

Magnum: Merry Chrismas

This is a little gift from the Magnum Santa Claus? Click and enjoy it.