·The difference between technology and history is that human nature always hides behind technology, letting technology resist all the weaknesses of human nature, but it always stands in front of history, letting history shine through all the advantages of human nature. Human beings also continue to reflect, use technology to pave the way, repeatedly sharpen human nature, and create history. If you see the world collapsing, it also means that it is about to be reborn.
Every year, we pay attention to new happenings. This year, we may be even more touched by those who have passed away.
2022 has passed. Looking back on this year, it seems that a lot of things happened, but nothing seemed to happen. More than seventy years after the last world war, the world may have entered a mid-life crisis in a hundred years. Mid-life crisis is a kind of inexplicable irritability, where you can’t get rid of things that you can’t get rid of when you move forward, and things that you can’t look back on later. The world is like the water of the Yellow River , which comes from the sky and flows to the sea and never returns, but you can only stand in the mirror in the high hall and be sad, and your white hair is like blue hair turning into snow at dusk.
The mid-life crisis is an indescribable one. Looking back, all the laughter, anger and curses were nothing more than nonsense. When I was about to talk, I gave up. I just said that the weather had been cool for a long time, and then I realized that the change of a century had entered its mid-term.
Those who abandon me will not stay the same as yesterday.
There is a woman who attracts worldwide attention, but she can no longer speak for herself.
Queen Elizabeth II passed away suddenly this year. As the longest reigning king in the UK and second in the world, this is almost an expected surprise for the world.
Even in the UK, the debate over whether the royal family should exist seems to be raging. The last Prime Minister Truss whom the Queen met before her death showed an obvious intention to "despise the royal power" and even refused to salute in person. But as a virtual monarch, the Queen still receives widespread respect and love at home and around the world. This may not only be her personality charm, but also the power of time and the opportunity of history. She was born after World War and before World War II . She experienced the most brutal war in human history, the only king in British history who voluntarily abdicated, the rise and fall of the British Empire, the reconstruction of national and international systems, the division of federal countries and nations...
Over the past hundred years, the world has been in endless torment, but this virtual king stands tall because of his "virtuality". Her experience has become a rare stabilizer and glue in chaotic times, and a source of faith and comfort for nation-states struggling in the midst of tearing and fragmentation.
The world is always making progress. She has witnessed her uncle having to leave a foreign country because he insisted on marrying a divorced woman; she has also witnessed her son insisting on marrying a divorced woman and being criticized by the world but not being harmed; she has also witnessed her grandson marrying a divorced woman and voluntarily leaving his hometown and receiving a lot of applause and support.
With or without her, these would have happened, but it happened to be her who was standing on this train of history.
Those who disturb my mind are so worried today
Because the world does not always seem to be progressing, and may also be going in circles.
After going negative a few years ago, British inflation soared to over 90,000 miles, reaching double-digit breakthroughs for the first time in decades. At the same time, economic growth is hovering on the edge of recession. People are exclaiming, although economic theory and monetary tools have developed greatly, will the stagflation of the last century make a comeback?
Although it is advocated that men should enjoy their own identity as women, women's autonomy has been pushed back to the last century. The U.S. Federal Supreme Court overturned the "Roe v. Wade" case and canceled the legal right to abortion stipulated in the Constitution. There is "legal abortion" in the UK, but the number of women accused of illegal abortions has been rising this year. Some women are in jail for not complying with the abortion “procedure”, even during the pandemic.
Elizabeth II is often called the "fluid prime minister and the iron queen". Because of her long "standby" time, she appointed 15 British Prime Ministers. It may be difficult for her descendants to exceed the length of her reign, but they may not be unable to exceed the number of prime minister appointments. Long-lived monarch VS short-lived prime minister. Truss, who had just been appointed by the queen, became a thing of yesterday in the blink of an eye. He served as prime minister three times in two months. The speed of the new king's accession to the throne could hardly keep up with the change of the new prime minister.
The world is still in chaos, EU is still divided and divided, women finally no longer hinder men's political futures due to second marriages but they still cannot control their own bodies, and the colonial people who once had to look up to the dynasty sit at the highest position in the empire.
With or without her, these would have happened. She remained silent, but instead won a good reputation. It is history that creates history, or all kings are just virtual kings.
Cut off the water and the water will flow again
For some people, fate is unpredictable, tomorrow or accident, I don’t know which one will come first.
Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot and fell to the ground while delivering a speech on the streets of Nara City . His cardiopulmonary function stopped when he was rushed to the hospital, and he died of his injuries. After the incident, the world was shocked. Leaders from various countries sent messages of condolences, and he was buried with a state funeral.
Although the age of 67 is far from the longevity of the Queen of England, as Prime Minister, similar to the Queen, Abe is the first to be born after the Second World War, the youngest to serve after the war, and the longest term.
Abe has strong political resources and is good at dancing. He has paid homage to the Prime Minister twice. This time he seems to be making a comeback. His experience is both forward and circuitous.
When he first took office, Abe was ambitious and intended to improve relations with Northeast Asian neighbors and treat historical issues with caution. After forming the cabinet for the second time, he launched "Abenomics", using the "three arrows" to promote Japan's economic recovery. He has also continued to move closer to the United States and Europe, promoting negotiations on the Japan-EU Economic Cooperation Agreement (EPA) and the Trans-Pacific Economic Cooperation Agreement (TPP11) without the United States.
But everything seems to have to come around. He seeks to amend the peace constitution formulated after World War II to make Japan a "normal country". He is committed to strengthening the Japan-US alliance, promoting the 2+2 security meeting between the foreign ministers and defense ministers of the United States and Japan, and launching "overlooking the globe diplomacy." However, the anti-terrorism bill triggered a public backlash, and the economy encountered challenges after the epidemic began. He finally resigned for the second time citing physical reasons.
With him or without him, what things might not happen, and what things might happen? There are thousands of knots in history. If people try to untie them, will they tie themselves tighter?
Raise a glass to relieve sorrow and worry will become worse
Abe has considerable influence in Japan and internationally, but what makes him extremely sad and glorious is probably this assassination without warning. The world has been at peace for a long time, but assassinations in the streets are like a legend from the last century, reappearing on the streets, especially in Japan, which is shocking, confusing and uneasy. The
assassination itself is a process of continuous reincarnation of history.
Since Hirobumi Ito abolished the Taisei official system and implemented the cabinet system in 1885, 8 prime minister-level figures have been assassinated, 7 of whom died. The history of the Prime Minister’s assassination may also be the history of Japan’s political reform and national ecology.
Hirobumi Ito was the first Prime Minister of Japan and the first Prime Minister to be assassinated. When he was young, he secretly smuggled himself through China to the UK to study. After returning to Japan, he became prime minister four times. Under his leadership, Japanese militarism became popular. In 1909, Ito Hirobumi was assassinated by North Korean patriot An Jung-geun in Harbin.
The second Hara Kei to be assassinated was the first prime minister of civilian origin. He attacked the constitutional party cabinet for entering politics. In 1921, he was assassinated by a right-wing youth at Tokyo Station.
The third Yuyuki Hamaguchi has a tough style and is nicknamed the "Lion Prime Minister". Ignoring the opposition of right-wing forces and the military, he forced the signing of the London Naval Treaty to reduce armaments. In his second year in office, he was assassinated by a member of a right-wing group.
Afterwards, three prime minister-level figures were assassinated within five years. Shinzo Abe’s grandfather, Nobu Kishi, was also assassinated.
Although the murderer does not seem to have a traditional political purpose, the economic and social difficulties caused by so-called cults and other issues may be a reflection of the current world. The people are not that concerned about the grand narratives of politicians. It is fundamental to have an influence on the minute details that involve themselves.Was
chosen by the national destiny or by fate? Which one is the decisive factor in history, the passion for nationalism or the suffering of people’s lives?
There are people who are unhappy in life.
There are people. Time has passed, but they are still floating. Time is floating, and he has passed.
The last leader of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev , died at the age of 91 due to ineffective treatment for a long-term serious illness. Russian President Putin was deeply saddened by the death of Gorbachev and sent a message of condolences to his relatives and friends.
Gorbachev was the youngest person at the top at the time. He also had a long life, experiencing, creating and witnessing the changes of the century.
Although Gorbachev was not originally from Ukraine like some other top leaders, his ties to Ukraine ran deep. It was while on vacation there that he encountered the biggest crisis in his life, and then experienced and made many more.
Today, people suddenly discovered that the historical issues in this region have never stopped being entangled, and they still have a profound impact on the world. As the epidemic enters its third year, high inflation caused by supply chain disruptions, urban production shutdowns, and massive monetary and fiscal releases has already caused distress. The unpreparedness of regional conflicts has further added fuel to the fire.
Sanctions and counter-sanctions, taking sides and opposing taking sides, in a situation where everyone claims that they have no expansion ambitions, everyone claims to feel insecure.
Gorbachev, as one of the few who has received high "bilateral" honors from the United States and Russia at the same time, witnessed the conflict again after gradual changes, sudden changes, huge changes, and then gradual changes. This time, he saw no results. However, did he ever really see the results he wanted?
Is history created by people? Sometimes, some people seem to have created history, so some people also want to create history. But looking at the longer history, history has its own trends. Sometimes it is destructive, sometimes it is stubborn, and sometimes it is even capricious. However, when history is erratic, it may respond with more ferocious devastation.
Ming Dynasty distributed flat boat
In this year, people seem to have become more accustomed to the passing of human beings, and their worries about the "passing" of "human beings" have increased.
Chat GPT was born, showing strong natural language processing capabilities. When humans have degraded to the point where they can only use monosyllabic , overlapping words and interjections to describe and communicate on the Internet, AI has begun to join the social environment with rich and colorful language capabilities. Sometimes it is full of knowledge, sometimes it is incomprehensible, and sometimes it is serious nonsense. But it is so calm that humans sometimes feel a sense of awe.
We are assisted and surrounded by technology. Will we also be imprisoned by technology, or even attacked by technology? In the powerful new grid space created by technology, will we become a small black spot in the parallel universe , and if we are not careful, we will be parabolically isolated from the world?
The most powerful technology upstart Musk said, no. No, he said, technology would leave humans behind. But his personal experience said, no. After many twists and turns, he bought Twitter and discovered the secret of technology changing public opinion and political ecology - the program is fixed, but programmers and their bosses have preferences. When everyone criticizes Musk for his unbridled and willful behavior, everyone is actually the same. Musk can turn his hands into clouds and rain when calling on Twitter employees, but why doesn’t Twitter do the same to the public? Musk hides his willfulness behind the legitimacy of capital market , and Twitter hides his willfulness behind the complexity of technical software and hardware.
In the final analysis, it is not human nature. At the end of the day, it's all just human nature.
The difference between technology and history is that human nature always hides behind technology and lets technology resist all the weaknesses of human nature, but it always stands in front of history and lets history shine through all the advantages of human nature.
In the thousands of years of human history, the present is undoubtedly the most modern and cutting-edge moment in technology.However, economic and financial market theories and tools are so advanced that the shadow of economic crisis is looming more and more frequently; communications, transportation and technology have made the vision of a global village a reality, but regional and national conflicts and ethnic divisions have become more and more intense; the Internet has allowed the circulation of goods, services, and information to be synchronized around the world at the same time, but the world has become increasingly out of sync, becoming an experimental absurd drama played by chickens and ducks.
There is no cocoon room of information here, it is just the emperor's new clothes of human nature, which is constantly expanding with the blessing of technology and it is difficult to reflect on it.
technology can create history, but it is also subject to history. Its connotation is actually that human progress lies in overcoming oneself, but human progress is always tortuous due to the weaknesses of human nature. Therefore, a false king like Elizabeth II has become a model by not explaining or doing anything, because he has overcome the greatest enemy of human nature, the arrogance of vanity.
Postscript
Zi once said in Sichuan a long time ago: "The dead are like this! They don't give up day and night."
In this world, we always feel that there are important things and unimportant things, important people and unimportant people. Does
really exist?
If Zhongni is not born in the sky, it will not be like a long night in eternity. God will give birth to Bernie Uncle Nicky.
If a day does not give birth to Zhongni, eternity will be like a long night. There will always be a moment of awakening, forming new social consensus and values, breaking through the dark night, and moving on.
Human beings have experienced World War I, World War II, the Cold War ... "Death-seeking" with no regrets after nine deaths. But humans also continue to reflect, use technology to pave the way, repeatedly sharpen human nature, and create history.
If you see the world collapsing, it also means that it is about to be reborn.
Zhongni is a spirit. Only when Zhongni realizes that he is not Zhongni, he is that Zhongni.
let history choose, and then let history evaluate. Even if history stops, it will definitely move forward. And it will be devastating.
(The author Wanzhe is an economist, professor of Beijing Normal University , and special commentator of The Paper .)
