Seth's Blog

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.

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”).

According to my theory of human evolution, a liking for ceremonies evolved because ceremonies increased innovation. Ceremonies increase demand for hard-to-make stuff, which helps the most skilled artisans make a living.

Stephanie Laursen, a letterpress printer, is an example. Letterpress printing is difficult. Larsen is a skilled artisan. She makes a living from wedding invitations. Without wedding ceremonies, she would probably be doing something else.

In an account of ghostwriting for students (i.e., term-paper factory) the following story stood out:

Although my university experience did not live up to its vaunted reputation, it did lead me to where I am today. . . . I was determined to write for a living, and, moreover, to spend these extremely expensive years learning how to do so. When I completed my first novel, in the summer between sophomore and junior years, I contacted the English department about creating an independent study around editing and publishing it. I was received like a mental patient. I was told, “There’s nothing like that here.” I was told that I could go back to my classes, sit in my lectures, and fill out Scantron tests until I graduated.

Inconvenient human nature. He wanted to learn something the school didn’t formally teach. The school controlled something precious that he needed — time. The rest of his life was at stake, but it wouldn’t give it to him.

His college was like a diet without necessary nutrients. It stunted growth.

For whom do colleges exist?

• aftermath of the Marc Hauser case (via Andrew Gelman)
• career advice in mathematics
• seeing meat calms men down. This research, which has been covered by many newspapers, was done by an undergraduate.

Thanks to Vic Sarjoo.