I went down last year to Shanghai, that I participated the project led by Prof. Ting Su; and also because I wanted to see in what manner they would do research, which was a new thing. I put my body and soul into the process of the project; but that of the group of the mentor was equally, if not more, successful. When I had finished our projects and viewed the spectacle of research, I went back to my hometown for a peaceful and extended summer holiday, lasting two months.
Thanks to the long summer holiday, I had the leisure to read what I wanted and to ponder deeply about things that most people don’t usually have the time or inclination to consider. To introduce the topic of this blog, I’d like to start with a question from Zhihu: “What do you think is the best thing in life?”. I answer, thinking rationally is the happiest thing I can do, and happiness have little to do with money, power and others. Nevertheless, I would be though by the lookers-on to be the most wretched idiot, although they would praise me to one another’s faces.
Many people may feel curious and question me: “After postgraduate recommendation, why not go on a trip, get a girlfriend or just lie flat instead of choosing to travel thousands of miles (from Changchun to Shanghai) to work on projects that are hard and yield less”. To answer this question, I cite Allan Bloom’s interpretive essay of chapter 9 of the Republic: Glaucon initially wants Socrates to compare who is happier, the just or the unjust, and instead of answering directly, Socrates chooses to build an ideal state, ultimately transforming the comparison into a comparison of philosophers and tyrants.
Both tyrants and philosophers are men of extremes, and it may be said that the former are extreme in the body desires, and the latter in the souls desires. In Aristotle’s words, one is like a beast, and the other like a god (“Anyone who does not partake of society is either a beast or a god”).
Eventually, Glaucon understands that what he previously thought of as justice on the rack is not pleasure, but that pleasure does not come only from the body desires pursued by tyrants, but that there is a more important and appealing pleasure than bod desires: the soul desires pursued by philosophers. He also meets the practitioner, Socrates, who is rational but also full of desire; who is happy but not dependent on anyone, who seeks the inside and not the outside; who is moderate but not indignant. He is, as Yangming Wang puts it, “It’s the conscience where there is the knowledge of good and wrong. It’s the learning in where to do the good while disdaining the wrong”.
Back on topic, I don’t feel any regrets, nor do I bother to explain myself to those who feel pity for me, but rather feel pity for them. At least writing is enjoyable for me now, at least it was enjoyable for me recently when I was reading this Allan Bloom essay at home, at least my daily life is self-contained. Sitting at my desk in the dead of night, reading and looking up information and making notes is a moment I enjoy. The loudest sound in the room at this time is probably the wind from the air conditioner.
Written on Oct 26, 2024, in Anhui Province, China.
Having seen countless human struggles and evils during the covid-19 pandemic, I know what is trueas well as what is an idea and I feel in my heart that many people are so obsessed with body desire (e.g. money, power, sex) that they spend their lives “dozing and dreaming” all their life. They are, in the words of Plato, prisoners bonded in the cave. I hope that through my hard work, I will become a true person and a rational person (get out of the cave).
This is why I choose to pursue a PhD.