Comments by "cdl0" (@cdl0) on "Lei's Real Talk" channel.

  1. Technically, only English or French may be used in Parliament. Boris Johnson was plainly employing irony to respond to the question from the opposition.
    1
  2. China Update is also good.
    1
  3. This video is so good that even DUMPF Don has not (yet) found anything to complain about! :-)
    1
  4. These are wise words indeed from Auntie Lei. Let's hope a few leaders of the free world are paying attention to this.
    1
  5. The natural sex ratio for adults of reproductive age is nearly equal, because more boys die than girls; nevertheless, the figure of 2.1 is about right.
    1
  6. This is an interesting video; the first I found in the series. I like it! My mother always said never go to bed with wet hair, and we are European! Another advice is, never let the Sun go down on your anger.
    1
  7.  @drumpfdon760  Incorrect: the Neanderthals died out over 40k years ago. They also lived in parts of Asia.
    1
  8. Magdalena Andersson and Sauli Niinistö.
    1
  9. Their first was Ukrainian, I believe.
    1
  10. Good video, except it should be noted that The Washington Times is a controversial publication, and thus needs to be treated with this in mind. Details are available both via the publisher's website and Wikipedia.
    1
  11. Yes: there is a video on this subject that was published some time ago. One of the main observations is lighting at night, which strongly suggests that the true population of China, and its GDP, is likely significantly smaller than the official figures. Another indication is official electricity consumption figures, which are also inconsistent with the official size of the economy and the population, in accord with this video.
    1
  12. What would you call the activity where a man pays for a woman, and then what do call the people who are selling her? This seems to me to be an abnormal relationship between a daughter and her parents.
    1
  13. Great comment! This is completely correct, and absolutely spot-on. I have also written a long comment from my perspective as a senior, experienced scientist that may be of interest to you.
    1
  14.  @sb5580  Yes, MC is clearly a special individual.
    1
  15. Prof. Di is totally deluded: Renminbi can never become a reserve currency for the simple reason that the amount in circulation is a CCP state secret, making it impossible to determine its true value. The amount of other currencies such as the US Dollar and Euros is published, public information. There are also secondary reasons such as the huge debt to GDP ratio for China relative to other countries, and its general lack of transparency and accountability. The lack of an independent judiciary and legal system where disputes may be settled is another huge 'no' to this idea. Finally, the currency cannot be freely traded by anybody, particularly its own citizens.
    1
  16.  @drumpfdon760  So, you point is exactly what in reply to mine? Your response does not answer @MrMigido's question at all. Patrick Boyle is certainly not anti-China, he is purely a financial analyst, and the other channels, are critical of the CCP, rather than being anti-China. Calling the CCP 'China' is misuse of a metonym.
    1
  17. Yes, I heard that also, and yes, Margaret Goh, I agree it is an excellent video.
    1
  18.  @jennylee1802  Taiwan is the obvious example of what China could be without the CCP. People in the free world do not hate Chinese people per se; instead, their dislike is for the CCP, and particularly its aggressive, corrupt, dishonest, authoritarian leadership, which is completely contrary to all true humanitarian principles, and thus also contrary to the true principles of traditional, non-CCP society.
    1
  19.  @DreBars  Yes, agreed.
    1
  20. Hear, hear! Pictures are essential. It is also very helpful to have maps when places are discussed.
    1
  21.  @susank4878  Yes, thius is correct. Rare earths are not particularly rare; instead they are dilute, and being chemically similar, they can be difficult to separate.
    1
  22.  @drumpfdon760  Incorrect: some serious research has been published on the effectiveness of the CCP's One Child Policy, and found that it made nearly no difference to the population of China now. The dominant reasons for the reduction in birth rate is education (especially for girls) improved healthcare, and rising prosperity. Other countries provide the benchmark. It is really a tragedy that such a misguided policy, caused so much pain and anguish, yet had barely any effect at all. Moreover, now that it has effectively been abolished, the birth rate continues to fall. IIRC, the late, great Hans Rosling was one of the people associated with this research, in case you are interested.
    1
  23.  @drumpfdon760  If your suggestion to ignore Lei is good advice, then why do you not follow it yourself?
    1
  24.  @drumpfdon760  Got you there, and what you may mean is not what you wrote.
    1
  25. lol!
    1
  26. This is another excellent thought-provoking video from Lei's Real Talk, most of which is right. However, Lei is incorrect about the need for religion in innovation. As a scientist, it is my observation that the great majority of people engaged in the mathematical sciences and engineering are strongly atheist, myself included. Religion plays absolutely no role in the fundamental sciences. Lei's view is also coloured by her American viewpoint. Science is a global activity. Most of the rest of the free world has a much more secular culture. Nevertheless, Lei does correctly identify the repression of free-thinking and imagination by the authoritarian CCP as a factor leading to lack of innovation. Moreover, one critical point missed here by Lei, but implicit in what she said, is the lack of diversity in China: The CCP has not only crushed free-thinking, it has also created an ecologically dead monoculture, where new ideas cannot evolve.
    1
  27.  @LeisRealTalk  Definitely, yes please. You presented the earlier video so beautifully that it gets a ❤️ from me.
    1
  28. Over 12 hours has passed since this video was posted and, after reading all the comments and replies, I see no complaints from DUMPF Don, so this one is plainly one of the best ever. Maybe he will start providing praise next, because Lei certainly deserves plenty for all her hard work and great videos.
    1
  29. The opposite end of the scale from China in terms of fairness and honesty is probably the Nordic countries. In some sense, they represent what a true 'socialist' society should be. The list of good things which describes them is long, but I think one which stands out as a symbol of how they are is the baby-box given to all new citizens at birth in Finland, which is a kind of welcome statement that says how you will be treated for your whole life.
    1
  30.  @lassepeterson2740  Indeed, this is correct, and is why I qualified my statement with the words 'in some sense' and by putting the word 'socialist' in quotes. It is hard to pick one thing to illustrate how society works in Nordic countries; you could chose something different for each of them, but I only chose the Finnish baby-box because it is such a tangible icon which illustrates the attitude of people, which is harder to describe on its own. They are all certainly very far from Chinese attitudes and society, which are certainly not socialist in the original spirit of the idea.
    1
  31.  @lassepeterson2740  To borrow a phrase from the Chinese, you could call the situation here 'socialism with Nordic characteristics.' 🙂
    1
  32.  @inotaishu1  Yes; however, the On Child Policy has exacerbated the situation, because if you are only allowed one child, then it needs to be a boy to continue the male family name.
    1
  33.  @inotaishu1  Your point demonstrates perfectly the bizarre madness of the selfish society constructed by the CCP. You may be amazed to know that there is even a name for it: They call these policies 'one cut'.
    1
  34.  @inotaishu1  Yes, this is broadly correct. I did not write anywhere that the CCP started it; only that the One Child Policy exacerbated it, with all sorts of unwanted side-effects, as we have already discussed.
    1
  35.  @canicetang8837  Killing girls is absolutely not okay; nowhere have I written or implied that. Unfortunately, many still cling to some stupid old habits, and as if this were not bad enough, it is plain to see that the CCP made this even worse with their foolish One Child Policy, with all its terrible consequences that we have witnessed. I know the history very well.
    1
  36.  @drumpfdon760  Sorry, if I include a link in my comment, it is automatically rejected by YouTube, so you will have to search for the information yourself, but is plentiful and easy to find. The widely touted figure of saving 400m births is now believed to be wrong. For example, you will find Thailand and South Korea cited as two of the benchmarks: they never had a One Child Policy, yet their birthrates are nearly the same as in China (see previous comments for the reasons). The Chinese authorities also did a long-term experiment in Shanxi, where the policy was suspended, yet no increase in birthrate was observed. There is plenty more if you care to look. This terrible policy caused so much pain and anguish, and the CCP clung to it for so long, yet in the end it proved utterly pointless, and completely ineffective.
    1
  37.  @canicetang8837  Yes, it seems that all the CCP's actions only make things worse. They are, in fact, their own worst enemy.
    1
  38. The poll is in Lei's community section: https://www.youtube.com/c/LeisRealTalk/community.
    1
  39. Sources are in the video description after 'show more'.
    1
  40. Xi can speak English; he studied in America in his youth.
    1
  41. Seen it and commented. Definitely worth seeing.
    1
  42. GNU Octave is good. Also note the role of open source mathematical and parallel libraries for developers, e.g. BLAS FFTW, BLACS OpenMPI, etc., etc.
    1
  43.  @genepozniak  From a Chinese person I know, apparently the economic situation really is dire; however, since Xi tightened his grip on power, everybody is now absolutely terrified of him, and do not even dare say his name!
    1
  44. See also some of Lei's earlier videos and her website in the video description.
    1
  45.  @dondrumpf5422  I have attended and participated in many scientific conferences, including the organisation of conferences, and have given many presentations.
    1
  46.  @dondrumpf5422  Mind your own business!
    1
  47. United States, according to the About section for the channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LeisRealTalk
    1
  48. The killer joke is perfect! It is the way you tell them, Lei! :-)
    1
  49.  @nopoohfan7112  Maybe true if young enough. They know everything, but can't do anything with their knowledge on their own.
    1
  50.  @drumpfdon760  In summary, the 737 Max fiasco is what happens when there is interference from management bean-counters who don't appreciate engineering, and collusion between regulators and manufacturers. Nevertheless, these malpractices have been detected and exposed publicly; thus, they may be rectified. Unfortunately, such openness to public scrutiny is not remotely possible under the present regimes in China and Russia.
    1