The methods of science, with all its imperfections, can be used to improve social, political and economic systems, […] Humans are not electrons or laboratory rats. But every act of Congress, every Supreme Court decision, every Presidential National Security Directive, every change in the Prime Rate is an experiment. Every shift in economic policy, every increase or decrease in funding for Head Start, every toughening of criminal sentences is an experiment. Exchanging needles, making condoms freely available, or decriminalizing marijuana are all experiments. Doing nothing to help Abyssinia against Italy, or to prevent Nazi Germany from invading the Rhineland was an experiment. Communism in Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union and China was an experiment. Privatizing mental health care or prisons is an experiment. Japan and West Germany investing a great deal in science and technology and next to nothing on defence - and finding that their economies boomed - was an experiment. Handguns are available for self-protection in Seattle, but not in nearby Vancouver, Canada; handgun killings are five times more common in Seattle and the handgun suicide rate is ten times greater in Seattle. Guns make impulsive killing easy. This is also an experiment.
“It is not the function of our government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error.”
US Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson, 1950
How confident are we that the power to drive and determine public opinion will always reside in responsible hands?
If we’re absolutely sure that our beliefs are right, and those of others wrong; that we are motivated by good, and others by evil; that the King of the Universe speaks to us, and not to adherents of very different faiths; that it is wicked to challenge conventional doctrines or to ask searching questions; that our main job is to believe and obey - then the witch mania will recur in its infinite variations down to the time of the last man.
he stood at the bedroom window, tears welling, as if in chain reaction to Sonya’s, and through his tears, watched raindrops doing their best to cling to the glass. The wind set them quivering and away they shot finally, only to be replaced by fresh drops, and continue the senseless battle with the wind.
https://bgme.me/@psychospider/108142735109461906
我只是想转 pingu 那个表情包哈哈哈哈
我拿奖学金
话说我可能真的是幸运拿了好多奖学金…出国是走的 CSC 本科生交流项目,名额有五个,报名了四个,毫无悬念地就从中国政府那里拿走了一万欧(。)
后来从德国这边也拿了三千六百欧的奖学金。
比较坑的是去瑞士写论文的时候,当时在学校申了一个工作人员告诉我稳拿的奖学金,结果等我在瑞士落地的时候突然告诉我没拿到,我顿时陷入生存危机,因为我妈工资只能供我在瑞士那边的房租(大概 650 瑞士法郎),剩下的完全不知道怎么办,哭了一会儿之后我就开始找瑞士当地的奖学金了,找到一个专供校际交流写硕士论文的,我去申了,那边还说像我这样 host university 而不是 home university 定题目来申请的还是第一个,总之就申请到了,非常可怕地一个月 1900 瑞士法郎,比之前落选的奖学金多多了,我一个月根本花不了那么多,总之就富裕起来了(瑞士真的好有钱