What can we learn from rural development in China

I have no idea where and how I picked up “Blockchain Chicken Farm: And Other Stories of Tech in China’s Countryside”. The author Xiaowei Wang brings you on travels through rural China and makes some pertinent observations.

Rural living is not that bad

Starting with the standard idea that somehow rural culture and rural people are backward, conservative, and intolerant. We might be very wrong. It is not rural but industrial agricultural practices that is backward. We need to get back to some of the old lessons from our rural communities, such as stewardship and community. As the author says herself, “I hope this book reaffirms the power that you hold in being human and demonstrates ways certain technologies might actually serve open systems”.

A book that makes you think

The book introduces you to lots of fascinating concepts, starting with the Town and Village Enterprises (TVEs), the Hokou system, fragmented authoritarianism, patriarchal authoritarianism (citizens cannot be trusted), Pearl parties, Shehui Ren, Hukou, family, multilevel marketing and much more.

Such as combining AI with Chines medicine

A group of AI researchers at the Alibaba AI lab use traditional Chinese medicine, a five-thousand-year-old system of medical practices…