The Wubi Effect
The episode traces how China grappled with the challenge of fitting its logographic writing system into Western-designed computers and keyboards, focusing on Professor Wang Yongmin's Wubi input method that decomposed characters into components for fast typing. It connects earlier debates over abandoning Chinese characters, the proliferation of competing input methods, and the later shift to pinyin-based phonetic typing with broader political and cultural consequences. The story then explores how predictive and cloud-based input, as well as the QWERTY effect, show that our writing tools now subtly shape our language, behavior, and even thought.
Nov 7, 2025
Science