my computer has not been connected to the internet yet, though i once intended to do so. it is said that there is reactionary stuff on the net as well as a flood of pornography, so i am scared. not long ago somebody suggested curbing the net，i fully agree with it. honestly speaking, free spreading of information should not be allowed absolutely. but if i knew something about it, i would say there is no other way to curb it unless you cut it off, because it is both too fast and sinister. information is exploding in a modern society so that it is too difficult to censor every piece of it, therefore prohibiting it would be a more convenient method. it would be a little more difficult without the net if i were a businessman or a scientist. but why should i care for businessmen or engineers? huge quantity of information is flowing on the high speed internet, but as a writer, i could do without knowing it. so please cut the internet off so that i would no longer be upset to hear about it.
internet is a tool for transmitting information. there are also tools for dealing with information and they are all kinds of personal computers. just think of it, you have no way to connect to the net without a computer. further more, pornography could also be delivered by magnetic and optical disks. computers must be banned, that’s the basic thing. but this time i feel somewhat grudging. i bought a pc about ten years ago and now i am using my fifth one. i have spent a lot of time and energy on pc. i even write my own software, not to mention the money spent. i use my pc writing, making scientific research, calculating and doing statistical works. by the way, it is happy to do statistical work by using a computer, without it, the work would become a great sorrow.
however computer learns no good and has sunk into a porn vendor, which is its own fault, no one could offer help. i would like to say a few words in favor of computer just for the sake of my 10 year’s relation to it. in early stages computers were harmless. these giant machines, which looked like air conditioners humming while operation, were unable to present porn. the latter products such as 486,586 with advanced hardware are guilty. they could do either good or bad. so please ban it. but it is not quite sure whether out-of-date computers are still available now. so we may ask ibm to reopen its production line to produce pcs of former models. the foreign devils must glare at us upon hearing of this and ask if we are sick. the answer should be like this: it’s not we but you who are sick. but we should prevent them from sending our business representatives into a lunatic asylum. even if all computers are banned i could survive. i may use pen for writing and use abacus for statistics. if i do not know how to use an abacus i may still count numbers by using sticks of ice suckers, though it may be ill-mannered to pick up ice sucker sticks all around. but fortunately i rarely do statistical works nowadays.
besides computers, film and tv also spread vicious information. in this aspect i hold a stout attitude and consent to a strict control. first of all, foreign cinema and tv products are not in accordance with the situation in china and should be shut off completely. secondly, the people in the profession in china are from elites to amateurs, and many of their products are not good enough. i am a novelist who earns less money and has nothing to do with cinema and tv industry. wang shuo, feng xiaogang and a great number of other film stars are with an inferior educational background than i am but they have all made big fortune. strict censor is necessary, but on the other hand, it is impossible to check every page of message on the net; it is neither easy to supervise a series of tv play with 120 episodes. so banning them all would be much better.
during the 10 years of the cultural revolution, we lived on with only watching 8 exemplary dramas. i am not the same with a young man who could not maneuver without audio and video. for me a book is enough. with so many words said i forget the pop music. such rubbish should be banned from the very beginning. if young guys have time they may do more exercises in order to improve their temperament and at the same time acquire better health. well, so many are banned that a day will come sooner or later when i myself would be banned. even though my novels are with healthy contents, it is hard for me to explain that every line of my stories contains good information. further more, at that time i might be so frightened that i reduce to an idiot and be not competent enough to defend myself. since film and tv could be prohibited, why not novels? we are fond of reading but there are still illiterates, they must be consent to banning the book. ok, i would give up writing and be a porter at the railway station. i am in good health and qualified to be a porter. other writers might not be strong enough to be a porter. i agree with the compression of life space only if mine remains untouched, but the result is beyond my imagination.
hemingway once expressed such an idea in his book《for whom the bell tolls》: all human beings are as one, somebody else’s grief is just your grief. so ask no “for whom the bell tolls”, the bell just tolls for you. but i feel strange with such an idea. i am longing for seeing other guy’s misfortune. more than 50 years ago, a protestant clergyman in germany said: “at first i kept silent when they arrested communist party members, for i was not a union member; then i kept silent again when they arrested jews, for i was an aryans; later on i kept silent a third time when they arrested catholics, for i was a protestant……, finally when they came to arrest me, no one could say a word for me.” as we all know, china is not nazi germany and i am not a protestant clergyman. so i am unwilling to remember these words.
我的电脑还没连网，也想过要和internet连上。据说，网上黄毒泛滥，还有些反动的东西在传播，这些说法把我吓住了。前些时候有人建议对网络加以限制，我很赞成。说实在的，哪能容许信息自由的传播。但假如我对这件事还有点了解，我要说：除了一剪子剪掉，没有什么限制的方法。那东西太快，太邪门了。现代社会信息爆炸，想要审查太困难，不如禁止方便。假如我作生意，或者搞科技，没有网络会有些困难。但我何必为商人、工程师们操心？在信息高速网上，海量的信息在流动。但是我，一个爬格子的，不知道它们也能行。所以，把internet剪掉罢，省得我听了心烦。
internet是传输信息的工具。还有处理信息的工具，就是各种个人电脑。你想想看，没有电脑，有网也接不上。再说，磁盘、光盘也足以贩黄。必须禁掉电脑，这才是治本。这回我可有点舍不得——大约十年前，我就买了一台个人电脑。到现在换到了第五台。花钱不说，还下了很多工夫，现在用的软件都是我自己写的。我用它写文章，做科学工作：算题，做统计——顺便说一句，用电脑来作统计是种幸福，没有电脑，统计工作是种巨大的痛苦。
但是它不学好，贩起黄毒来了，这可是它自己作死，别人救不了它。看在十年老交情上，我为它说几句好话：早期的电脑是无害的。那种空调机似的庞然大物算起题来嘎嘎做响，没有能力演示黄毒。后来的486、586才是有罪的：这些机器硬件能力突飞猛进，既能干好事，也能干坏事，把它禁了吧……但现在要买过时的电脑，不一定能买到。为此，可以要求ibm给我们重开生产线，制造早期的pc机。洋鬼子听了瞪眼，说：你们是不是有毛病？回答应该是：我们没毛病，你才有毛病——但要防止他把我们的商务代表送进疯人院。当然，如果决定了禁掉一切电脑，我也能对付。我可以用纸笔写作，要算统计时就打算盘。不会打算盘的可以拣冰棍棍儿计数——满地拣棍儿是有点难看，但是——谢天谢地，我现在很少作统计了。
除了电脑，电影电视也在散布不良信息。在这方面，我的态度是坚定的：我赞成严加管理。首先，外国的影视作品与国情不符，应该通通禁掉。其次，国内的影视从业人员良莠不齐，做出的作品也多有不好的……我是写小说的，与影视无缘，只不过是挣点小钱。王朔、冯小刚，还有大批的影星们，学历都不如我，搞出的东西我也看不入眼。但他们可都发大财了。应该严格审查——话又说回来，把internet上的通讯逐贞看过才放行，这是办不到的；一百二十集的连续剧从头看到尾也不大容易。倒不如通通禁掉算了。
文化大革命十年，只看八个样板戏不也活过来了嘛。我可不像年轻人，声、光、电、影一样都少不了。我有本书看看就行了。说来说去，我把流行音乐漏掉了。这种乌七八糟的东西，应该首先禁掉。年轻人没有事，可以多搞些体育锻炼，既陶冶了性情，又锻炼了身体……这样禁来禁去，总有一天禁到我身上。我的小说内容健康，但让我逐行说明每一句都是良好的信息，我也做不到。再说，到那时我已经吓傻了，哪有精神给自己辨护。电影电视都能禁，为什么不能禁小说？我们爱读书，还有不识字的人呢，他们准赞成禁书。好吧，我不写作了，到车站上去扛大包。我的身体很好，能当搬运工。别的作家未必扛得动大包……我赞成对生活空间加以压缩，只要压不到我；但压来压去，结果却出乎我的想像。
海明威在《丧钟为谁鸣》说过这个意思：所有的人是一个整体，别人的不幸就是你的不幸。所以，不要问丧钟是为谁而鸣——它就是为你而鸣。但这个想法我觉得陌生，我就盼着别人倒霉。五十多年前，有个德国的新教牧师说：起初，他们抓共产党员，我不说话，因为我不是工会会员；后来，他们抓犹太人，我不说话，因为我是亚利安人。后来他们抓天主教徒，我不说话，因为我是新教徒……最后他们来抓我，已经没人能为我说话了。众所周知，这里不是纳粹德国，我也不是新教牧师。所以，这些话我也不想记住。