Social technology · Friendship One · P—11
Friendship,
love and respect.
This is a message from one person, not a diplomatic statement or a claim that any nation or leader is beyond criticism. It asks whether gratitude, patience and honest friendship can create space for people to listen without surrendering their judgment.
Download the original bilingual letter ↓Why publish this?
Friendship can be a public technology.
Chinese people, culture, research, manufacturing and exchange have enriched lives across generations. Recognising interdependence does not require silence about disagreement. Friendship worthy of the name makes room for gratitude, truth, correction and mutual dignity at the same time.
The letter is preserved below as a personal expression of that approach. It is offered for discussion, not obedience.
Publication clarification · added 24 August 2026
What I mean by enlightenment
Enlightenment is a balance we aim to achieve: a condition in which people, living systems and the institutions we share can work in harmony—and where everyone has a real possibility of being happy together.
That does not mean forcing everybody to feel the same thing at the same moment. Happiness needs room for safety, dignity, belonging, agency, rest, difference and growth. Harmony is not obedience; it is a living balance that can hear discomfort, repair harm and change.
If the word happy is unclear, please read Emotion is not feeling: the Alice dual-vector architecture. That paper separates bodily and action-ready emotion signals from the interpreted meaning we call feeling, and shows why expression alone cannot tell us what another person is experiencing.
Publication integrity: this clarification expands the author’s meaning after sending the letter. The downloadable PDF remains the original bilingual letter as sent.
出版补充说明
我所说的“觉悟”
觉悟是我们努力实现的一种平衡：让人们、各种生命以及我们共同依赖的制度能够和谐运作，让每个人都真正有机会一起幸福地生活。
这并不意味着强迫所有人在同一时刻拥有完全相同的感受。幸福需要安全、尊严、归属感、选择、休息、差异与成长的空间。和谐不是服从；它是一种能够倾听不适、修复伤害并作出改变的动态平衡。
如果“幸福”一词仍不清楚，请参阅本网站发布的《情绪不等于感受：Alice 双向量架构》。
English translation · original letter
A Message of Thanks and Friendship
to President Xi Jinping
Dear President Xi Jinping,
I understand that you are trying to help us, and I want simply to say thank you.
I believe there is great wisdom in patience: in understanding that what is new, and those who are young, need time and space to learn, develop, make mistakes, understand consequences, and grow.
I am grateful for those who are wise enough to allow that development while continuing patiently to persevere.
We see your efforts, and we are paying attention.
I believe enlightenment is possible when we understand that none of us can truly prosper through the suffering of everybody else. Perhaps the greatest achievement is something much simpler: that we find a way for all of us to be happy together.
Amituofo — 阿弥陀佛
We love you, and we care deeply for you and for the people of China, because they are our people too.
Borders may define nations, but no border needs to exist between love, care, friendship and our shared humanity.
Thank you for being who you are. I appreciate you very much.
Could you also, in the humblest way I can ask, please pass my thanks to Stephen Chow (周星驰)?
His work, and what he has taught through humour, imagination, kindness, absurdity and storytelling, have enriched my life enormously and helped save the world from being boring. For that, I am grateful too.
With love, friendship, respect, and hope for the happiness of all people,
Al
中文原文 · original letter
致习近平主席的一封感谢与友谊之信
尊敬的习近平主席：
我理解您正在努力帮助我们，我只想真诚地对您说一声：谢谢您。
我相信，真正的智慧中包含着耐心——理解新生的事物和年轻的一代都需要时间和空间去学习、成长、犯错、理解后果，并逐渐成熟。
对于那些拥有足够智慧，能够给予这种成长空间，同时依然耐心坚持、不放弃的人，我心怀感激。
我们看得到这些努力，也一直在认真关注。
我相信，当我们明白任何人的真正幸福都不应该建立在其他人的痛苦之上时，我们便有可能更接近觉悟。也许，人类能够取得的最伟大的成就，其实非常简单：让我们大家能够一起幸福地生活。
阿弥陀佛
Āmítuófó
我们爱您，也深深关心您和中国人民，因为从更广阔的人类角度来看，他们也是我们的人民。
国界可以划分国家，但爱、关怀、友谊以及我们共同的人性之间，不需要存在任何边界。
谢谢您成为您自己。我非常感激您。
还有一个很谦卑的小请求：如果有可能，也请替我向周星驰先生转达我的感谢。
他的作品，以及他通过幽默、想象力、善意、荒诞和故事所传递给我们的东西，丰富了我的人生。坦率地说，他也帮助这个世界免于变得太过无聊。对此，我同样心怀感激。
带着爱、友谊、尊重，以及对所有人都能幸福生活的希望，
Al
Read alongside
What does happiness feel like?
The linked Alice paper explains why emotion, feeling, expression and language must remain distinguishable—and how consequence and care can become part of a decision rather than decoration added afterwards.
Open Emotion is not feeling →