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This is something that isn't just unique to higher education in the U.S, it's pretty much standard practice back in China as well. It's all about rote memorizat

This is something that isn't just unique to higher education in the U.S, it's pretty much standard practice back in China as well. It's all about rote memorization & tests. What you can't memorize, you find a way to cheat through. You can't cheat? Then buy off your professor or teacher. Bribing educators in China is the quickest and easiest way to pass. Practically no creative learning takes place in China. This is interesting to me because it's something that's inherent to China's culture. It persists passed the education stage of their life, well into adulthood. And that's a terrible shame because it sets up China for failure. Without actually learning/understanding the material (and learning to think critically), the general populace isn't equipped and stands no chance when it comes to future innovations. The foundation for future technological innovation (in any industry) simply isn't there. Their country has always been a few steps behind, and keeps falling further and further behind as the decades pass. There are no new big innovations coming out of China, they've only been able to hold their own (if you can call it that) by buying, copying or stealing technology from other countries, entities or businesses. The problem is, China's targets have wised up over the years, so future IP/technology theft will be much, much harder if not impossible. Unfortunately, I think because this has its roots in China's culture (systemic), there is no quick fix as changing the culture of a billion people is nearly impossible. I think the entire thing needs to come down and be rebuilt from scratch.

studentrob 10y ago
> Unfortunately, I think because this has its roots in China's culture (systemic), there is no quick fix as changing the culture of a billion people is nearly impossible. I think the entire thing needs to come down and be rebuilt from scratch. I agree with everything you wrote up to here. I'd have said the same thing until I moved to Taiwan. Now I'm not sure what to think I live in Kaohsiung (pronounced gow-shung), Taiwan, which is relatively unknown but is actually the second biggest city in Taiwan after Taipei. It's the site of a 1979 protest named the Kaohsiung or Formosa Incident [1] People were protesting martial law and seeking democracy. The other day I was talking to someone who was at that protest. He told me the feeling of the populace was that steps towards democracy must be made. Otherwise, people were going to start a revolution. 17 years later, in 1996, after a series of changes, Taiwan held its first direct election. Since then, a diverse cast of characters have been elected to the legislative body. Around 65-75% of the Taiwanese turn out to vote [2]. I feel Taiwan's warless entrance into democracy shows that governments can evolve without war. The BBC has a very succinct history of Taiwan that is pretty accurate if you're interested in learning more [3]. Taiwan is a very controversial subject, particularly to China, who claims ownership of it. Taiwan has its own government, holds elections, doesn't pay taxes to China, and you need a passport to go between TW and China. There are a lot of differences between China and Taiwan so it's hard to predict what will happen in China. I am optimistic. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaohsiung_Incident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaohsiung_Incident [2] http://www.idea.int/vt/countryview.cfm?CountryCode=TW http://www.idea.int/vt/countryview.cfm?CountryCode=TW [3] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/asia_pac/04/taiwan_flashpoint/html/history.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/asia_pac/04/taiwan_fla...

studentrob 10y ago

> Unfortunately, I think because this has its roots in China's culture (systemic), there is no quick fix as changing the culture of a billion people is nearly impossible. I think the entire thing needs to come down and be rebuilt from scratch. I agree with everything you wrote up to here. I'd have said the same thing until I moved to Taiwan. Now I'm not sure what to think I live in Kaohsiung (pronounced gow-shung), Taiwan, which is relatively unknown but is actually the second biggest city in Taiwan after Taipei. It's the site of a 1979 protest named the Kaohsiung or Formosa Incident [1] People were protesting martial law and seeking democracy. The other day I was talking to someone who was at that protest. He told me the feeling of the populace was that steps towards democracy must be made. Otherwise, people were going to start a revolution. 17 years later, in 1996, after a series of changes, Taiwan held its first direct election. Since then, a diverse cast of characters have been elected to the legislative body. Around 65-75% of the Taiwanese turn out to vote [2]. I feel Taiwan's warless entrance into democracy shows that governments can evolve without war. The BBC has a very succinct history of Taiwan that is pretty accurate if you're interested in learning more [3]. Taiwan is a very controversial subject, particularly to China, who claims ownership of it. Taiwan has its own government, holds elections, doesn't pay taxes to China, and you need a passport to go between TW and China. There are a lot of differences between China and Taiwan so it's hard to predict what will happen in China. I am optimistic. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaohsiung_Incident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaohsiung_Incident [2] http://www.idea.int/vt/countryview.cfm?CountryCode=TW http://www.idea.int/vt/countryview.cfm?CountryCode=TW [3] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/asia_pac/04/taiwan_flashpoint/html/history.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/asia_pac/04/taiwan_fla...