Population aging is a common challenge faced by humanity in the 21st century. From the perspective of historical materialism, the overlap of the logic of capital and demographic transitions has generated an elderly population with relative surplus, exacerbating age discrimination and low productivity anxiety in aging societies. As a social demand to counter the risk of relative surplus of elderly population, the emergence of the discourse of productive aging is a result of the struggle between the expansion of capital power and the reverse social protection movement in the context of population aging. Productive aging is not only an important arena for the elderly to affirm themselves, but also a necessary path to eliminate the low productivity anxiety in aging societies. However, in the Western discourse, this strategy emphasizes economic priority and personal responsibility, which is actually a significant tool for the restructuring of the welfare state under the neoliberal system. It not only distorts the social value of the elderly, but also reproduces the inequality mechanism of aging societies. In China, it is necessary to take “the need for a better life” as the fundamental starting point for the governance of aging societies, affirming the needs of all citizens, including the elderly, and realizing their value in social life and historical development. In the process of localizing productive aging in China with Chinese characteristics, it is essential to transform the categories, structures, culture and systems of productive aging into Chinese advantages, and to make unique contributions to global aging governance.
党的十八大以来，加强基层治理、推动治理重心向基层下移成为推进国家治理现代化的重要举措。经过多年努力，基层治理体系得到完善，基层治理效能大幅提高。不过，基层治理中的权责失衡、形式主义、官僚主义、自治弱化、能动性不足等问题也逐渐凸显，尤其是面对突发应急状态，基层治理体系的表现还不尽如人意，暴露出不少结构性问题。为及时总结基层治理实践经验、反思其结构性困境，《探索与争鸣》编辑部于2022年10月8日召开了“基层治理的结构性困境与出路”圆桌论坛，探讨完善基层治理体系之道，本期刊发讨论成果，以飨读者。
如何寻求日常生活的逻辑与理性，在分歧中寻找共识，在实践中捍卫常识，成为我们日常交往与认知的重要内容。三年大疫给人们的生活带来太多改变，但日常生活积淀的那些恒久、坚实、朴素的道理，如尊重常识和科学、悍卫法治、守护良知、坚持理性、寻求共识等，它们在关键时刻守护着我们，也成了我们战胜疫情，度过至暗时刻的法宝，进而构成了现代文明的韧性又坚实的基座。
从本期起，本刊将在城市专题下新设“城与人：城市地理、百年文脉与城市精神”专栏（简称“城与人”），开栏之初主要聚焦上海，此后将逐渐扩展到其他城市。“城与人”专栏所要做的首先是回到城市历史现场。比如鲁迅之于北四川路，巴金之于武康路，王元化之于衡山路，施蛰存之于愚园路，比如李善兰之于墨海书馆，茅盾之于商务印书馆，再比如丰子恺的缘缘堂、丁悚的客厅，等等。
In November 2022, ChatGPT, the chatbot developed by OpenAI, quickly became a global sensation, reaching over 100 million monthly active users in just two months. Its popularity attracted attention and fans from all walks of life, sparking discussions about its potential impact. Will ChatGPT’s disruptive potential bring about significant changes, and what kind of impact will it have on existing social development? How should we view this innovative technology? As we navigate through the age of big data and artificial intelligence, it is crucial to consider how we can make new technologies work for us instead of replacing us. In February 2023, we held a roundtable conference titled “Is the ‘Machine’ Too Smart? ChatGPT and New Changes in Social Development”. The conference aims to present a comprehensive view of the impact and challenges of ChatGPT on journalism, professional development, economy, copyright protection, information governance, education ecology and other fields. Professor Xiong Hongkai summarized the scientific ideas and core technologies behind ChatGPT, and further answered essential questions such as how to view knowledge and truth, how to view one’s own life, and how to view the lives of others under the wave of new artificial intelligence technology. Professor Yu Guoming proposed that ChatGPT has ushered in the era of intelligent interconnection, bringing about a profound transformation in the fields of society and communication, including the “sinking” of communication power, the algorithmization of the core logic of communication, the transformation of the media industry, and the migration of mainstream media roles. Professor Qiu Zeqi summarized that ChatGPT currently lacks some of the unique human abilities and can only replace some of the work of human professions. Professor Wang Qian advocated that the content autonomously generated by ChatGPT does not belong to “human” works and should not receive the incentive and protection of copyright law. Professor Yi Xianrong pointed out that ChatGPT is essentially a significant transformation of human society’s knowledge and information production, which will form a new social and economic operating ecology and herald the opening of a more mature, fair and innovative big data era. Professor Wu Xiaokun believes that the application of ChatGPT in the news production process has eliminated the field effect of news production. However, since the issues of information authenticity and ethics cannot be resolved, ChatGPT cannot replace good journalism. Professor Gu Xiaoqing believes that we should examine the ecological relationship between technology, society and education, meanwhile focus on what education is in the intelligent era. Professor Tang Jingtai pointed out that the development and application of ChatGPT have brought about the intelligent production and dissemination of rumors. Coupled with the inevitable “illusions” and translation problems of ChatGPT, these have brought severe challenges to the governance of rumors in the intelligent era.
