Thoughts on Chance Jiajie Li | MIT

Human simulation is a representation problem

Thu, 08 Oct 2026 10:00:00 -0400

I believe social and human simulation is fundamentally a representation problem. The fundamental question is how little we need to know about a person to predict them reliably, and how cheaply we can keep that knowledge up to date.

Interviews, personas, demographics, and user modeling are all different attempts at acquiring information about people. But most approaches are still quite naive when it comes to representation itself. There has been surprisingly little thought in social simulation about what a good representation of a person should actually look like (a question cognitive science has studied for decades, and where I suspect many of the answers may already lie). Until that question is answered, running more surveys and more interviews may just be a slow and expensive way of piling up information.

Fuwang Archipelago (浮望洲): A Manifesto for a Parallel Civilization

Mon, 31 Mar 2025 11:20:38 -0500

1. Opening Vision

Trust is fractured. Institutions are tired. Technology is moving faster than anyone can explain it. I want to ask a different question: if we could start over, what would we build?

The Fuwang Archipelago (浮望洲) is a proposal for a parallel civilization: a simulated yet sovereign realm where identities are plural, relationships are intentional, and governance grows out of collective inner life.

Fuwang is a civilization seeded in simulation. It grows from needs the real world has failed to meet. It is neither a game nor a digital nation.

Reimagining Housing: Commons and Decentralization

Thu, 12 Dec 2024 14:36:38 -0500

Introduction

Housing is not merely a commodity or a speculative asset; it is a fundamental social good and a crucial determinant of health, community stability, and intergenerational well-being. In the United States, severe affordability crisis, persistent racial disparities, and the financialization of housing underscore the limitations of market-driven solutions and piecemeal policymaking. Although incremental reforms (such as inclusionary zoning, tenant protections, and housing vouchers) exist, their impact is often undermined by entrenched power imbalances, fragmented governance, and cultural narratives that prioritize private property rights over communal well-being. The scale and persistence of these challenges suggest the need for more comprehensive, systemic re-envisioning.

How to Make (Almost) Anything: Building a Page-Turning Machine

Fri, 22 Dec 2023 15:35:27 -0500

In Fall 2023, I took How to Make (Almost) Anything at MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms. Founded by Prof. Neil Gershenfeld in 1998, this legendary course teaches students to rapidly prototype using digital fabrication technologies. The philosophy: make things you cannot buy in stores. Each week covers a different process, from electronics design and 3D printing to molding, casting, and machine building.

For my final project, I built a robotic arm that turns book pages. The Electro-Mech-Hydraulic (EMH) Reader uses syringes as hydraulic actuators controlled by stepper motors, a low-cost approach to hydraulic systems (under $100).