I had a recent post about how challenging your mind can keep your brain healthy as you age. Well, I’ve taken it to heart, and I’ve started a brain exercise category to this website which will feature non-medical topics that are fascinating to read. For my first piece, I wanted to share a post on the highly literate China Beat blog, discussing a philosophical exchange about  Reconciling Confucianism and Socialism.

The gist is that there are some Chinese intellectual schools which believe that society in China today, while economically successful, has lost a bit of its moral and social core along the way, and that perhaps Confucianism can be “reborn” to fit a new model of China where people will find more solace and strength. The article, and rebuttal, attempt to answer the author’s question, “communism has lost its capacity to inspire the Chinese, but what will replace it? And what should replace it?”

It’s a very interesting read and a great brain-stretching exercise. Interested readers can also read a Global Times article this week on one of the above’s authors, Daniel Bell.