小松鼠嚇了一跳,有了魔法眼鏡後,這世界看起來完全不一樣了

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2013年12月27日 星期五

The Time of The Doctor 語錄


蒐集一些 Doctor who 2013 聖誕特輯的對白
Everybody's naked underneath.

Works two out of three times, guaranteed
Number ten once regenerated and kept the same face - I had vanity issues at the time.   
講實話的時候,總是比較好笑一點。
Boss of the psycho space nuns. So you!   
不曉得,總是覺得上面這句好像該收進來。
Oh, Doctor, fixing toys and fighting monsters.
如果不常常修理玩具,那怎麼打怪呢? 因為根本分不清誰才是怪物啊。
We all change... when you think about it. We're all different people all through our lives.
And that's OK, that's good, you've got to keep moving, so long as you remember all the people that you used to be.
沙烏地阿拉伯諺語說, 「若是在沙漠中迷路 就只能尋原路折返」。我們會不斷改變。像是學了很多魔術之後,往往會忘了當初還不了解魔術時的那種感覺,甚至會感覺過去的自己很陌生。當然不只魔術,學其他很多東西到了一個程度之後,都會有種重生(regenerated )成不一樣的人的感覺。但不要忘了最初的感動。
I saw him on a pier on a rainy day.
I'd seen him before, lots of times. But he just looked so beautiful standing there.
I wanted everything to stop. I wanted nothing to change ever again.
If he could just keep standing there, so beautiful...
每個人都有希望時間靜止的時候(......不是那一種),有那種希望感動的剎那能夠變成永恆的經驗(或者將會有這種經驗),有時在那個當下,有失去時間感的錯覺。這也就是很多人不知怎麼,就是喜歡拍照的原因。

I will not forget one line of this. Not one day. I swear. I will always remember when the Doctor was me.
Better than "I don't want to go".
對於 11th 的結局,不管是遺憾、不捨還是滿足,套句沙烏地阿拉伯的諺語總結:「無論如何旅行仍有得不到的財富」

2013年8月5日 星期一

真相の方程式

圖為真夏方程式劇照
這是事故,還是殺人? 真相究竟是——
被當成意外死亡的屍體,以他殺重啟偵查。與政府對抗的群眾,與過往案件的牽連,充滿悲傷的疑團。交錯著殺意、親情、守護、罪惡感……各種人性掙扎,最後,又該由誰付出代價? 在這個炎熱的夏天像煙火一樣的記憶
 前幾天在 COSCUP 結束後,集結前往凱道時,有年輕的朋友問我說,像我這樣的六年級這個世代,對於洪仲丘這個事件的看法。
 身為一個專業級的 outlier,我不太有自信能代表其他人的想法,所以我反問他原因。 原來是因為他父母(六十多歲)有與他不同的看法。
社會上的確有一些與泛二十五萬人不同的聲音,比方像是這隻烏鴉銀正雄的言論等等。這些想法讓多數年輕朋友覺得不可思議、甚至以為是反串。


 前一陣子看了真夏方程式 小說,其中有一句話
「你討厭理科沒關係。不過我希望你記住這件事,『不知道就沒辦法』這種態度,有一天會害你犯下大錯。」
這句話是湯川學跟小朋友說的話(圖中兩人)。
哪個地方不死人?
起訴太陽好了。 
這些態度其實就是所謂的「不知道就沒有辦法 」,或者說長期以來這種態度養成的結果。

因為調查真相太複雜了,就當成是意外好了。
因為怕得罪人,不想知道真相,就當成是事故好了。
因為怕負責、就當成沒這件事好了。
因為不知道不然要怎麼訓練,就當成是沒辦法的事情好了。

類似這樣的態度你一定也有過。
回想一下這樣的經驗,然後想像一下,假如你毫無自覺,然後把這種態度當成理所當然,二十年後,你會變成怎麼樣的人?
電影預告
你會覺得太陽底下無新鮮事,這種東西以前就有過了啊!
也許不是毫無同情心,但你更害怕「改變」。
沒有探究原因、真相的習慣,你已經盲目耳聾了幾十年了,生活在充滿迷霧的世界中,每天沿著固定的路線活動。
一旦知道有人要改變這個世界的樣貌、吹散迷霧,已經看不到、聽不清楚的你,會不會感到驚慌害怕,找不到路?

甚至, 你會害怕你過去的人生都被否定掉?
我的意思是,過去這種事情一直在發生,你沒有作為、默許,
甚至可以說是某種程度的共犯,今天有人跳出來,不就顯得你過去很沒用嗎? (推薦參考東野圭吾的惡意 。不好意思,剛好這兩年東野圭吾讀比較多本。)







希望這樣解釋,可以讓年輕人了解一些老人的思路(雖然他們不見得意識到自己意識形成的過程)。

其實這樣的事件屢見不鮮,比方這也可以解釋陳為廷的禮貌問題(「太複雜的事情不懂,所以也沒辦法,但禮貌這個東西我可是小有研究喔」這樣的心態)


電影預告截圖
 一開始的文字,描述的是真夏方程式的故事,也是描述台灣這個夏天的故事。
在小說中,湯川學為了防止「某人的人生被扭曲」,決意揭開真相。
「任何問題一定會有答案。」
「但答案不見得能立刻導得出來。換成人生也是一樣。今後你會碰到很多無法立刻提出答案的問題。每一次煩惱都有價值,但沒有必要焦急想要找出答案,很多時候自己必須成長才找得到。所以人一定要學習要努力要不斷磨練自己。」
當你決定要開始追求答案時,答案不會自己跑出來找你。只有自己動手驗證、了解,答案才會是你的。
所以湯川學帶著小孩一起動手做實驗。
但科學有極限,人也有極限。找到答案的過程也許很難,也許辦不到,但像是湯川學這樣的科學家會告訴你,你不是孤單一個人,有很多人都跟你抱著同樣的問題,一起煩惱下去,直到找到答案為止。


 (鄉民關心你)

2013年7月2日 星期二

追求卓越 成功就會隨之而來


標題這句話來自電影三個傻瓜,是該片主角的名言。
在 PTT 電影板看了一些討論,意外發現,不管喜歡或討厭這部電影,幾乎沒有人真的懂這句話在講什麼,有一些人大致上模模糊糊了解,但一些關鍵點說得不是很精確。
比方下面引用某討論
: 看一部電影我通常都會想一下他想表達的是什麼  
: 三個傻瓜很明顯就是在諷刺教育體制的問題  
: 諷刺社會刻板印象與填鴨式教育中所培養出來的人 
  再說一次,導演想表達什麼大家都知道
  問題在於他的表現手法相當糟糕
: 為了考試而讀書(無聲屁)
  讀書是手段,考試是中間過程,功成名就賺大錢是 他的目的 當他的志向是如此,又怎麼能說他的方向是錯的呢?
  到頭來只是回到表面高尚的問題而已
不管正反兩方都沒有搞清楚那句話的意思,甚至還有人記成類似「追求自己想要的,成功就會隨之而來」。
先不論這句話是否正確,電影是否過於浮面膚淺,總要先了解這句話在說什麼吧!
我用下面這個實驗來說明(很遺憾,我找不到資料來源,就當成是個故事好了)。

有心理學家找一些人來做實驗,讓受試者做一些測驗,讓受試者們來比賽。想當然爾,名次好的會有獎品。

這些受試者被分成兩種狀況。
第一種是完全不讓他們知道其他受試者的目前成績或者任何資訊,只讓他們埋頭苦幹。
第二種,則是給他們即時的敵手資訊,包含做了幾題,得到幾分等等。

顯然有了競爭對手的得分、排名資訊,可以幫忙調整策略。 比方如果時間快到了,分數還差很多,顯然就需要冒險挑戰分數較多的題目,才能擠進得獎圈。
現實生活中,有大型比賽經驗的人,多少都會看一下別人積分,然後調整自己的策略吧。

所以第二種的受試者,明顯有利,看來實驗結果只告訴我們這些資訊的幫助有多大而已。
結果很意外,第一種的受試者反而表現的比第二種要好。
最簡單的解釋就是,這些額外的資訊反而會干擾受試者的表現。專心提昇自己的分數,反而更有效果。

當你的目標是世俗所謂成功的時候,就像老梗笑話講的一樣,「我不需要跑得比老虎快,只要比你快就好了」。你自然會想卡位、攻擊對手。因為你的焦點本來就是擊敗對手。
但是反過來,你的目標是提昇自我,成就偉大結果,那你的焦點會放在遠方的目標上,會放在自己身上,而不是對手身上。也只有這樣,你才有可能跑得比老虎快。

所以電影中無聲屁為了追求第一名,不只是自己唸書,而且還想辦法讓別人考不好。最後還千方百計的想要證明自己過得比藍丘好。

不過,以上只是單純解釋一下這句話。
不要忘了,電影中的所有學生都是有天份又努力的人,現實生活跟實驗條件也不完全一樣。

2011年4月21日 星期四

語錄 2011-4-21

 "Any sufficiently advanced financial instrument is indistinguishable from fraud." ---(來源
「高興就又跑又跳,悲傷就又哭又喊,那是上野動物園猴子幹的事。流行歌詞,笑在臉上,哭在心裡。說出心裡相反的言語,做出心裡相反的臉色,這才叫人哪。」--- 小津安二郎
"The use of condoms is acceptable in exceptional circumstances" --- 教宗 Benedict XVI
比方說想要用水球攻擊異教徒,但手邊剛好沒有氣球時,在這種情形下,因為情況緊急且特殊,可以特別通融,允許用保險套來代替氣球。
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."  --- Edmund Burke
Or when good men start doing evil things.
"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."  ---愛因斯坦
怪不得現在的新聞都好像連續劇一樣。
"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."   --- 甘地
也許全世界都沒有眼睛反而好,小混混(或者狗)會因為你用眼睛看他, 就覺得你不尊重他、挑釁他,暴力爭端因此而產生。
"Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it."  --- 甘地
 "Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep." --- Scott Adam
"Decisions are made by people who have time, not people who have talent."   --- Scott Adam

「人之所以不幸,是因為他不知道他是幸福的;僅僅是這個原因。這就是一切,一切!誰要是明白了這一點,他此時此刻馬上就會變得幸福起來。 」 ---  費奧多爾·米哈伊洛維奇·杜斯妥也夫斯基

「我有一個計畫,就是做一個瘋子。讓人們去狂怒,讓他們來醫治。」 ---  費奧多爾·米哈伊洛維奇·杜斯妥也夫斯基
「人人需求同一,人人都是一個樣,誰若感覺不同,誰就進瘋人院。」  ---尼采
「抗議和無理取鬧的猜疑,或有嘲弄癖好的人是健康的。那些無聊件接受所有事物的人,是有病的。」  --- 尼采
“The true man wants two things: danger and play. For that reason he wants woman, as the most dangerous plaything.” --- 尼采
「在這個世界上,總有一條除了你以外,別人無法走的路。途中千萬別詢問路究竟通向何方,只顧走下去吧!  」  --- 尼采
「最後的旅程,也許很苦,也許孤單,但那是你自己的選擇,你必須自己一個人,獨自把它走完……你必須把自己選擇的路走完,你才能找出自己的道」  --- 孫曉,英雄志 論述正道
「一些人統治是由於他們願意統治;另一些人統治是因為他們不願意被人統治---對於他們來說,統治不過是兩害中之輕者」 --- 尼采
「我秦仲海只要想到一件事,夜里便會偷偷地笑,哪怕多刺十個字,再斷一條腿,我也感到值得!那便是秦仲海此生不必跪人!好好想吧!你們這幫人書讀得再多、武功練得再高,這輩子還是得跪人!不過求一口飯吃,頭便要按得那麼低,你們甘心麼?大家一樣是人,那幫賊只不過投胎投得​​好了,便能高高在上,頤指氣使,你滿腹經綸,一身武功,卻要日也怕、夜也怕,忍氣吞聲,這種人生便如在豬堆裡打滾,縱使富貴滿門,卻又有何滋味!來!學我吧,志氣點,將那一把怒火燒起來,打打殺殺一樣可以度日,誰能奈何你呢?」 --- 孫曉, 英雄志中論述造反的理由

2010年11月19日 星期五

哲學猛龍 Philosoraptor



2008年6月12日 星期四

程式設計語錄

圖片來源: wikipedia
(選自 DevTopics 整理的語錄)
(用來讓自己看起有學問的)
  • "Simplicity, carried to the extreme, becomes elegance."  簡單到極致即為優雅。
    – Jon Franklin
  • "The best way to predict the future is to implement it."  預測未來的最佳方式就是實做它。
    – David Heinemeier Hansson
  • "Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler."   儘量讓事情簡化,但別太簡化。
    – Albert Einstein
  • "The difference between theory and practice is that in theory, there is no difference between theory and practice."  理論和實務的差別在於,理論上,理論和實務沒有分別。
    – Richard Moore
  • "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."  知識的的敵人不是無知,而是知識的假象。
    – Stephen Hawking
  • "密碼就像內褲一樣: 不要讓別人看到,要常常更換,而且,別和陌生人共用."
    – Chris Pirillo
  • "Computers are like bikinis. They save people a lot of guesswork." 電腦就像比基尼,幫我們省下許多猜測的麻煩。
    (Sam Ewing)
  • "Come to think of it, there are already a million monkeys on a million typewriters, and Usenet is nothing like Shakespeare."  其實想想,現在已經有上百萬隻猴子坐在上百萬台打字機前了,但網路論壇一點也不像莎士比亞。(現在可用來描寫部落格)
    (Blair Houghton)
  • "Hardware: The parts of a computer system that can be kicked." 
    (Jeff Pesis)
  • "Web Services are like teenage sex. Everyone is talking about doing it, and those who are actually doing it are doing it badly." (網路服務) 
    – Michelle Bustamante
  • "The best way to get accurate information on Usenet is to post something wrong and wait for corrections."
    – Matthew Austern
程式師的幽默
  • 問:為什麼程式設計師是分不清萬聖節和聖誕節?
    答:因為 Oct 31 = Dec 25.
  • 一個男人在吸煙,他的女朋友很生氣的說:"Can't you see the warning on the cigarette pack? Smoking is hazardous to your health!" 男人回答說: "I am a programmer. We don't worry about warnings; we only worry about errors."
  • "I think Microsoft named .Net so it wouldn't show up in a Unix directory listing."
    (Oktal)
  • "C++ : Where friends have access to your private members."
    (Gavin Russell Baker)
  • "Computers are getting smarter all the time. Scientists tell us that soon they will be able to talk to us. (And by 'they', I mean 'computers'. I doubt scientists will ever be able to talk to us.)"
    (Dave Barry)
  • "I've noticed lately that the paranoid fear of computers becoming intelligent and taking over the world has almost entirely disappeared from the common culture. Near as I can tell, this coincides with the release of MS-DOS."
    (Larry DeLuca)
  • "It was a joke, okay? If we thought it would actually be used, we wouldn't have written it!"
    – Mark Andreesen, 談 HTML 的 BLINK 標籤

程式師與使用者
  • The three most dangerous things in the world are a programmer with a soldering iron, a hardware engineer with a software patch, and a user with an idea. - The Wizardry Compiled by Rick Cook
  • "If you think your users are idiots, only idiots will use it."
    – Linus Torvalds
  • "From a programmer's point of view, the user is a peripheral that types when you issue a read request."
    – P. Williams
  • "Computers are good at following instructions, but not at reading your mind."
    – Donald Knuth
  • "There is only one problem with common sense; it's not very common."
    – Milt Bryce
  • "Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning."
    – Bill Gates
  • "There are only two industries that refer to their customers as 'users'."(販毒業與軟體業)
    (Edward Tufte)

  • "Any fool can use a computer. Many do."
    (Ted Nelson)
  • "That's the thing about people who think they hate computers. What they really hate is lousy programmers."
    (Larry Niven)
  • "Just remember: you're not a 'dummy,' no matter what those computer books claim. The real dummies are the people who–though technically expert–couldn't design hardware and software that's usable by normal consumers if their lives depended upon it."
    (Walter Mossberg)
  • "Software suppliers are trying to make their software packages more 'user-friendly'… Their best approach so far has been to take all the old brochures and stamp the words 'user-friendly' on the cover."
    (Bill Gates)
  • "There's an old story about the person who wished his computer were as easy to use as his telephone. That wish has come true, since I no longer know how to use my telephone."
    (Bjarne Stroustrup)
程式設計
  • (程式註解)"Commenting your code is like cleaning your bathroom — you never want to do it, but it really does create a more pleasant experience for you and your guests."
    – Ryan Campbell
  • "Low-level programming is good for the programmer's soul."
    – John Carmack
  • "A program is never less than 90% complete, and never more than 95% complete."
    – Terry Baker
  • "Manually managing blocks of memory in C is like juggling bars of soap in a prison shower: It's all fun and games until you forget about one of them."
    – anonymous Usenet use"
  • "Standards are always out of date. That's what makes them standards."
    – Alan Bennett
  • "There's no obfuscated Perl contest because it's pointless."
    – Jeff Polk
  • "Some people, when confronted with a problem, think 'I know, I'll use regular expressions.' Now they have two problems."
    – Jamie Zawinski
  • "You can't have great software without a great team, and most software teams behave like dysfunctional families."
    (Jim McCarthy)
  • "There are only two kinds of programming languages: those people always bitch about and those nobody uses."
    (Bjarne Stroustrup)

2008年3月3日 星期一

James Dean 語錄

(照片來源: wikipedia)
James Dean,雖然過世很久,但是作為美國通俗文化的一個象徵,還是大家耳熟能詳的名字。
我當然也知道這位二十四歲早逝的電影明星,不過也只是模模糊糊的知道而已。
直到後來,發現了一些他的語錄,才驚訝到注意到一個不到二十四歲的人居然說過這麼深刻的話。
後來想想,大概很多是電影台詞吧?不過,還是不減這些名言的有趣性。

  • "Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today.” 這句是他的經典名句。
  • “Only the Gentle are truly strong.” 厲害的人,都很溫柔呢。James Dean 的名句比漫畫早得多。
  • “I want to be a Texan 24 hours a day”
  • “Rebel Without a Cause.” 應該是電影片名
  • “Eternity? ... That is one hell of a movie.”
  • "There is no way to be truly great in this world. We are all impaled on the crook of conditioning. A fish that is in the water has no choice that he is. Genius would have it that we swim in sand. We are fish and we drown."
  • "And my heart just did a flip-flop over that."

2008年1月13日 星期日

魔術、科學、心靈和兩則新聞


隨著科技的進步,相信魔法存在的人越來越少了。魔術帶給人的驚奇感也越來越少,人們看到魔術之後也許還有疑問或好奇,但已經不再是感嘆宇宙的神奇或者懷著對於未知世界的驚嘆,而是「好厲害,怎麼藏的?」「這樣的手法很難練吧,要練很久吧」。
許多過去只有魔法才能辦到的神奇的事情,現在使用科技輕易都能辦到。與遠在千里外的人溝通,看到遙遠地方的事物,讓物體飄浮在空中。
所以有人說,現代的魔術要朝兩個方向發展,不然就是朝向更大更難的部分跑,把自由女神變不見、把月亮變不見、把火星變不見。或者朝向更神秘的心靈部分走,因為科技對於心靈還是沒有太多的辦法。

著名的科幻小說家,Arthur Clarke 說過:
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
「任何足夠先進的科技與魔術無異」
而 Ashleigh Brilliant 則說:
"The difference between science and magic is that magicians usually know what they're doing."
「科學和魔術的唯一差別就是,魔術師通常知道自己在做什麼」
哲學家 Will Durant 說:
"Magic begins in superstition and ends in science."
「魔術始於迷信,終於科學」

兩則科學新聞
Mind Reading Is Now Possible - 電腦能夠以 78% 的精確度分辨人類腦中想的是榔頭還是鉗子。這個還沒有完全公認,但根據新聞,是第一個有關腦中想法「內容」的實驗結果。主要是依據 fMRI 來做的。
Hypnotism changes the brain: Study這個新聞應該有點久,主要是說,催眠確實能夠讓人忘掉事物。雖然也許對於催眠師來說,這不是新聞,但的確是最近科學上才能確認這件事情,而且確認說某種程度上,是真的忘掉,而不是假性忘掉。
回到一,也許就連心靈魔術,也要往更高更遠更強的部分發展吧!


Keith Barry 讓一個人忘記自己名字

Keith Barry 的 Black Ops Hypnosis

Derren Brown 地鐵催眠



2007年11月15日 星期四

日巡者

最近看了巡者系列的夜巡者、日巡者和幽巡者。結果發現,照書的說法看起來,我應該是屬於黑暗界的。
光明與黑暗
巡者系列的基本架構是象徵人類性善的光明界、夜巡者對抗象徵性惡的黑暗界、日巡者。另外還有幽界、大審判法庭等中立制衡的設定。
這樣看起來好像黑暗界很糟糕,不過呢,什麼是黑暗借的立場呢?黑暗界主張自由,套句日巡隊女巫阿莉莎的話:
「..每個人都想自由地生活,做他想做的事。...雖然世事無法盡如人願,但大家的企圖都一樣。自由只有在對立中才能產生...」
從黑暗界的觀點來看,光明界只是硬要把自己的價值觀強套在整個世界上,更加霸道。
書中對於善與惡有一個操作型定義:「善就是排除私慾,為了別人著想,惡就是只為自己著想」。光明超凡人的超凡能力是捨棄身上「為惡的能力」換來的。反之,黑暗超凡人則是事事為己,因為他們的能力是用「為善的能力」交換來的。是故,夜巡者言必稱「我們」,而日巡者則用「我」。
不過光明界的定義有個很大的問題存在,如果每個人都沒有私慾,那麼,你怎麼為了別人著想?
所以人們為了這個創造出虛幻的整體利益,比方國家利益、民族利益、社會道德、善良風俗。
如果你真的想要為別人好,但因為你是別人的別人,別人也會想要為了你好,所以繞了一圈,不是應該自己好才對嗎?這樣當然是誤謬的,因為別人的別不是只有你。好吧,那我們順著別人的別人的別人一直追下去,什麼時候才會停呢?一定停在惡人身上,因為善人都是為了別人,所以這個鍊子一定會停在惡人身上。
所以連的起來了嗎?為什麼國家利益、民族利益、社會道德、善良風俗最後總是變成保護少數既得利益者。竊國者侯呢。
反之黑暗界就自由坦蕩的多了,也比較像真正的人。哪個正常人講話會老是自稱我們?也許除了共產黨之外吧。事實上,光明界也是共產主義背後的推手。
不過不管是光明界還是黑暗界的超凡人,都捨棄了一部分的本性。我相信我們的本性中還是內建有群體意識的。

好不好看?
小說還挺好看的,其實有一點像是基地系列,不但超凡人的能力設定,基地系列也是從第一基地、第二基地的不同角度來看世界。裡面也都是從個人角色的觀點來參與各懷鬼胎的各派陰謀鬥爭。
但巡者系列的色調稍微灰暗一點,陰謀詭計也有自己的味道。
兩方的勢力,依照設定必然是勢均力敵的。當然由上面所說,黑暗界應該佔盡便宜才對。由於作者也不是笨蛋,他依照這個設定推下去,的確也提到黑暗界比光明界容易獲得能量和能力。
但事實上卻是黑暗界雖然理論上絕對勝過光明界,但是卻總是吃鱉。因為黑暗界的人無法為別人犧牲,所以依照定義無法有真愛,而我們絕對不要小看「愛」這個東西在幻想故事裡面的力量。

語錄
書裡面的一大特色是引用搖滾樂的歌詞,我引用其中一段黑暗界觀點的歌詞:
喂,天堂居民!
誰沒到過地獄?
未曾歷覽陰間,
怎能建構天堂!


還有黑暗國歌
我自由了!像天空的飛鳥。
我自由了!忘了為何恐懼。
我自由了!迎風而行。
我自由了!


以下是光明界對愛情的觀點:
「黑暗一方就是想從你人性的一面陷害你,從你的弱點和各種情緒中.....」
「莫非愛情也是弱點?」
「如果愛情是你的一部分,就會是能量;但如果你是愛情的一部分,這就是弱點了。」

2007年10月13日 星期六

有學問語錄

關於數學、科學、研究的語錄

As far as the properties of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain: and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.
Albert Einstein

"Obvious" is the most dangerous word in mathematics.
Eric Temple Bell

A talk in mathematics should be one of four things: beautiful, deep, surprising... or short.
Michel Mendès France, remark, c. 1986

There are only two kinds of modern mathematics books — those you cannot read beyond the first page and those you cannot read beyond the first sentence.
C. N. Yang

Factorials were someone's attempt to make math look exciting.
Steven Wright

A circle is the longest distance to the same point.
Tom Stoppard

There is very little flexibility in the behavior of the Universe. What it does once, it does again.
Isaac Asimov

What makes the Universe so hard to comprehend is that there's nothing to compare it with.
Ashleigh Brilliant

If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.
Carl Sagan, Cosmos (1980)

The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking.
Albert Einstein, Out of My Later Years (1950)

Science is a long history of learning how not to fool ourselves.
Richard Feynman, quoted in K. C. Cole, The Universe and the Teacup: The Mathematics of Truth and Beauty (1998)

The main object of all science is the freedom and happiness of man.
Thomas Jefferson

Science is always simple and always profound. It is only the half-truths that are dangerous.
George Bernard Shaw, The Doctor's Dilemma (1913)

The experimenter who does not know what he is looking for will never understand what he finds.
Claude Bernard

I have little patience with scientists who take a board of wood, look for its thinnest part, and drill a great number of holes where drilling is easy.
Albert Einstein

Every hour a scientist spends trying to raise funds is an hour lost from important thought and research.
Isaac Asimov

"Research" means "to search again." Why not? Sometimes, a new interpretation emerges that is of vast importance.
Isaac Asimov

Basic research is what I am doing when I don't know what I am doing.
Wernher von Braun

In research the front line is almost always in a fog.
Francis Crick, What Mad Pursuit: A Personal View of Scientific Discovery (1988)

Results! Why, man, I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand things that won't work.
Thomas Edison

If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?
Albert Einstein

The final results [of his work on the theory of relativity] appear almost simple; any intelligent undergraduate can understand them without much trouble. But the years of searching in the dark for a truth that one feels, but cannot express; the intense effort and the alternations of confidence and misgiving, until one breaks through to clarity and understanding, are only known to him who has himself experienced them.
Albert Einstein

The mere formulation of a problem is far more often essential than its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skill. To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle requires creative imagination and marks real advances in science.
Albert Einstein

If we want an answer from nature, we must put our questions in acts, not words, and the acts may take us to curious places. Some questions were answered in the laboratory, others in mines, others in a hospital where a surgeon pushed tubes in my arteries to get blood samples, others on top of Pike's Peak in the Rocky Mountains, or in a diving dress on the bottom of the sea. That is one of the things I like about scientific research. You never know where it will take you next.
J. B. S. [John Burdon Sanderson] Haldane

Why think? Why not try the experiment?
John Hunter, letter to Edward Jenner

Copy from one, it's plagiarism; copy from two, it's research.
Wilson Mizner

For God's sake, stop researching for a while and begin to think.
Sir Walter Hamilton Moberly, The Crisis in the University (1949)

I didn't think; I experimented.
Wilhelm Roentgen

We haven't the money, so we've got to think.
Ernest Rutherford, in R. V. Jones, Bulletin of the Institute of Physics 1962, 13, 102

The joy of research must be found in doing, since every other harvest is uncertain.
Theobald Smith

Research means going out into the unknown with the hope of finding something new to bring home. If you know in advance what you are going to do, or even to find there, then it is not research at all: then it is only a kind of honourable occupation.
Albert Szent-Györgi, Perspectives in Biology and Medicine (1971)

If a research project is not worth doing at all, it is not worth doing properly.
Unknown, Journal of Irreproducible Results 1961, 9, 43

The difference between science and magic is that magicians usually know what they're doing.
Ashleigh Brilliant

There are two kinds of truth; the truth that lights the way and the truth that warms the heart. The first of these is science, and the second is art. . . . Without art science would be as useless as a pair of high forceps in the hands of a plumber. Without science art would become a crude mess of folklore and emotional quackery.
Raymond Chandler, The Notebooks of Raymond Chandler (1976)

Everything should be as simple as possible — but not simpler.
Albert Einstein

Most of the fundamental ideas of science are essentially simple, and may, as a rule, be expressed in a language comprehensible to everyone.
Albert Einstein

The only source of knowledge is experience.
Albert Einstein

There is no logical way to the discovery of these elemental laws. There is only the way of intuition, which is helped by a feeling for the order lying behind the appearance.
Albert Einstein

You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother.
Albert Einstein

The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is incomprehensible.
Albert Einstein, quoted in his obituary (April 19, 1955)

I think and think for months, for years; 99 times the conclusion is false, but the hundredth time I am right.
Albert Einstein, quoted in Banesh Hoffman, Albert Einstein, Creator and Rebel (1972)

Nothing is too wonderful to be true if it be consistent with the laws of nature.
Michael Faraday

This is common to all our laws; they all turn out to be simple things, although complex in their actual actions.
Richard Feynman, The Character of Physical Law (1965)

Being a language, mathematics may be used not only to inform but also, among other things, to seduce.
Benoit Mandelbrot

The aim of science is not to open the door to infinite wisdom, but to set a limit to infinite error.
Bertolt Brecht

Science is everything we understand well enough to explain to a computer. Art is everything else.
David Knuth

There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.
Douglas Adams

A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
Douglas Adams. Mostly Harmless

All of physics is either impossible or trivial. It is impossible until you understand it, and then it becomes trivial.
Ernest Rutherford

If we are to achieve results never before accomplished, we must employ methods never before attempted.
Francis Bacon

You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself.
Galileo Galilei

he most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the most discoveries, is not "Eureka!" but "That′s funny..."
Isaac Asimov

If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.
Isaac Newton

If the brain were simple enough for us to understand it, we would be too simple to understand it.
Ken Hill


2006年5月2日 星期二

Poker 語錄

"Nobody is always a winner, and anybody who says he is, is either a liar or doesn't play poker." -Amarillo Slim


"Son, we are sorry about the tuition funds...your mother and I did not know you are not supposed to split tens..." -Letters home from people visiting Reno.

"The typical gambler might not really understand the probabilistic nuances of the wheel or the dice, but such things seem a bit more tractable than, say, trying to raise a child in this lunatic society of ours." -Arthur S. Reber, The New Gambler 's Bible

"Gambling is the future on the internet. You can only look at so many dirty pictures." -Simon Noble, an Austrian-based internet bookmaker

"Your best chance to get a Royal Flush in a casino is in the bathroom." -VP Pappy (A crusty old sage that still roams the Green Felt Jungles in Detroit)

"If a man who cannot count finds a four-leaf clover, is he lucky?" -Stanislaw J. Lec

Poker is generally reckoned to be America's second most popular after-dark activity. Sex is good, they say, but poker lasts longer.

-- Alfred Alvarez (2001)


If you reraise a raiser, and he doesn't raise you back, you know he has kicker problems.

-- Crandall Addington, Texas oil millionaire (2001)


Dear Lord, help me to break even. I need the money.

-- Anonymous


A king can do no wrong … unless it runs into an ace.

-- Anonymous


Money isn't everything … unless you're playing in a rebuy tournament.

-- Anonymous


Besides lovemaking and singing in the shower, there aren’t many human activities where there is a greater difference between a person’s self-delusional ability and actual ability than in poker.

-- Steve Badget

Once you start thinking you have nothing left to learn, you have everything to learn.

-- Steve Badget


In the long run there's no luck in poker, but the short run is longer than most people know.

-- Rick Bennet

Trust everyone, but always cut the cards.

-- Benny Binion

The only bad luck for a good gambler is bad health. Any other setbacks are temporary aggravation.

-- Benny Binion


If you’re a competitive person and you commit yourself to something, you have no choice but to endure.

-- Vince Burgio

If it were easy, everyone would do it.

-- Bonnie Damiano

The next best thing to gambling and winning is gambling and losing.

-- Nick "The Greek" Dandalos

Life is too long to play bad cards.

-- Frank Di Elsi

It's unlucky to be superstitious.

-- Dave Enteles, Card Player

The single greatest key to winning is knowing thy enemy — yourself.

-- Andy Glazer


To be a poker champion, you must have a strong bladder.

-- Jack McClelland


Gambling, the sure way of getting nothing for something.

-- Wilson Mizner, Con man and promoter

No wife can endure a gambling husband, unless he is a steady winner. -Thomas Robert Dewar


"Perception is reality." -- Immanuel Kant

"In order to live, you must be willing to die." -- Amir Vahedi

"Poker is a strange occupation. You never know how it's going to bend your personality. But likely as not, it will bend it."
-Doyle Brunson Poker Wisdom of a Champion, 2003


2004年11月2日 星期二

The Ferengi Rules of Acquisition

Ferengi 是 Star trek 世界中的一個外星種族,在 TNG 中首度出場,但是在DS9 中才得以發揮。

Ferengi 在 Star trek中給人的印象通常是貪婪、沒有道德觀,實際上呢,相較於該劇中過於理想化的「人類」,Ferengi 只是象徵著人性的另一面、另一種可能。

Ferengi 人善於經商,也善於賭博,他們的傳統遊戲 Tongo 就是類似於撲克、或者說是比撲克更佳先進的遊戲。劇中曾經有說過當時 Tongo 仍然是電腦無法解決的遊戲。撲克也是現在電腦還沒有解決的遊戲。

Ferengi 人有一本聖經叫做 The Ferengi Rules of Acquisition,對於玩撲克的人來說,裡面有許多條文頗值得玩味。
下面列出一些:
Rule 001 »

Once you have their money, you never give it back.

這個基本上就是這個遊戲的精神。

Rule 002 » The best deal is the one that brings the most profit.

基本,但是很容易忘記。

Rule 003 » Never spend more for an acquisition than you have to.
能夠用一個 bet bluff 成功,就不要用兩個。

Rule 007 » Keep your ears open.

Rule 009 » Opportunity plus instinct equals profit.
機會加上直覺等於獲利。

Rule 010 » Greed is eternal.
沒有賺太多錢的時候。

Rule 011 » Even if it's free, you can always buy it cheaper.
我沒有說我懂這句話在撲克上怎麼用,不過看起來很有意思。

Rule 012 » Anything worth doing is worth doing for money.
Rule 013 » Anything worth doing is worth doing twice.
這個告訴我們如果你相信你的牌夠贏了,就要大膽的投入資金。

Rule 018 » A Ferengi without profit is no Ferengi at all.

Rule 020 » Only give money to people you know you can steal from.

Rule 027 » There's nothing more dangerous than an honest businessman.
嗯,其實有,一個誠實的撲克玩家。


Rule 034 » War is good for business.
Rule 035 » Peace is good for business.
一個太激烈或者太平淡的牌局都有利可圖。


Rule 037 » If it's free, take it and worry about hidden costs later.
有的時候後這點很重要。

Rule 039 » Friendship is temporary; profit is forever.
在牌桌上有時會有短暫的策略結盟。

Rule 040 » She can touch your lobes, but never your Latinum.
呵呵。

Rule 041 » Profit is its own reward.
要當一個受大家尊敬的玩家還是大贏家?
讓我選一百次我會選大贏家一百次。

Rule 042 » What's mine is mine, and what's yours is mine too.
這就是這個遊戲的運動家精神。

Rule 044 » Never confuse wisdom with luck.

Rule 051 » Reward anyone who adds to your profits so they will continue to do so.
你知道「nice hand」要怎麼用了吧!

Rule 052 » Never ask when you can take.
能夠現在就贏的,就現在贏。

Rule 057 » Good customers are as rare as Latinum, Treasure them.
我實在搞不懂為什麼有人會因為別人玩的很差、不正確而生氣?

Rule 058 » There is no substitute for success.
贏就是贏,輸就是輸。

Rule 059 » Free advice is seldom cheap.

Rule 060 » Keep your lies consistent.
Keep your bluffs consistent too.

Rule 062 » The riskier the road, the greater the profit.
有時要冒必要的險。

Rule 085 » Never let the competition know what you're thinking.
是的。

Rule 095 » Expand or die.
比賽時的心態。

Rule 100 » If they take your first offer, you either asked too little or offered too much.

Rule 125 » You can't make a deal if you're dead.
只要還有籌碼,都有機會翻本。

Rule 143 » Risk is part of the game... play it for all it's worth.
Rule 152 » A lie is a way to tell the truth to someone who doesn't know.
你總是可以把 lie 當成 bluff 或其它的欺敵戰術。

Rule 189 »

Let others keep their reputation. You keep their money.

Rule 190 »

Hear all, trust nothing.

Rule 192 »

Never cheat a Klingon... unless you're sure you can get away with it.
Never bluff a miniac

Rule 202 »

The justification of profit is profit.
撲克策略的好壞與否從實戰決定。

Rule 208 »

Sometimes the only thing more dangerous than a question is an answer.
好奇心殺死貓。

Rule 214 »

Never begin a business negotiation on an empty stomach.

也不要空著肚子玩牌。

Rule 216 »

Never gamble with an empath.


Rule 218 »

Always know what you're buying

每一個下注的籌碼都要有價值。

Rule 231 »

There's a sucker born every minute; be sure you're the first to find each one.


Rule 236 »

You can't buy fate.


Rule 239 »

Never be afraid to mislabel a product.

把 72o 當成 AA 來賣。

Rule 242 »

More is good... all is better.

所以大家喜歡 all-in

Rule 260 »

Life's not fair. How else would you turn a profit?


Rule 267 »

If you believe it, they believe it.

欺敵的心法。

Rule 277 »

Anything worth fighting for is worth hiding from.

Slow play 的原理。

Rule 285 »

No good deed ever goes unpunished.


The Unwritten Rule

»

When no appropriate Rule applies, make one up!
以無法為有法,以無限為有限。

2003年9月6日 星期六

Michael Ammar 語錄

  • 要怎麼胖才不會被人看到?在他們沒看你的時候胖,就是那麼簡單。
  • 你不要模仿別人的風格,也不是要創造一種你的個人風格,因為每個人本來就已經有自己的風格了,你只是要把他釋放出來。
  • 你甚至領先到需要停下來等觀眾的地步。
  • 重要的不在於你做了什麼,而在於觀眾看到了什麼。甚至也不是觀眾看到了什麼,而是觀眾認為他們看到了什麼。
  • 有時候觀眾會問你「你是怎麼變的?」「秘密在哪裡?」「可不可以再變一次?」等等。這些只是像是醫生做膝反射測試時,拿小搥敲向病人的膝蓋,病人的小腿自然會反應一樣。你不需要回應他們的要求,也不要為了這些問題而困擾,他們其實不是真的想知道,這只是人類看到神奇事物後的自然反應,就像是膝反射一樣,要不然他們要說些什麼呢?也不要埋怨他們,因為這些是人類天性的自然反應,我們魔術不就是要靠這些人類天性才能成功的嗎?你只要回答他們任何一些話就可以了,甚麼話都行,可以是「告訴你秘密的話我會被魔術師工會取消執照」、「醫生告訴我一天只能變一次」,我最喜歡的說法是「我告訴你之後必須要殺你滅口喔」。大部分的魔術師簡單的以展示另一個更神奇的效果來處裡這個問題。
  • 如果你因為你自己的失誤而表現出尷尬,那你將會讓你的觀眾也感到尷尬。

2003年8月12日 星期二

[日劇] 圈套

有趣,但是魔術師主角的魔術常識太過於貧乏了。

這只是個單純的小把戲罷了!
但是各位即使看了一兩百次,可能也無法破解這種小把戲吧?
不是因為你們愚昧,而是這手法出乎你們意料之外的十分單純簡單。
那就是......

[日劇] 愛的力量

會後悔的人,不管怎麼選都會後悔的。
不管賺多少錢,不管別人是否肯定,自己不快樂的話一點意義都沒有了。
我只是想熱愛自己的作品,然後驕傲的跟別人說這個很棒,就這麼簡單。


真是太天真了一點,簡直要比我還天真了。

Ender's Game

除了基本的想的速度快、知識豐富外,像Ender在智慧方面和一般人最大的差異在於他能從不同角度看事情。也因此他能夠從對手的觀點來看問題。
故事裡面,上述概念巧妙地與科幻點結合。在無重力的太空中戰鬥,一般人限於對於地心引力的概念,有固有的上下概念,而Ender則可以用各種不同的方式來檢討自己,用新的方式來定義方向。
同樣的,在模擬太空戰鬥的"battle room"遊戲中,他也可以用不同的觀點來看規則。
天才的創意是遵守規則,但不受限於規則。
凡人的創意是不遵守規則,而受限於規則。
另一個科幻道具則是外星人,自然,也巧妙的利用了這個道具然闡述從不同觀點看問題的主題。上述只是這本書許多有趣主題中的一個。

後來補充:

上面是寫給自己看的心得之一,其中關規則與創意的想法,是我國中時候領悟到的,而且那段時間還挺相信而且看重這個想法。後來看到書裡面的故事和這個想法呼應,所以把他寫成了這兩句句子。

後來看到東大特訓班,也看到類似的句子:「遵守規定的人才是有獨創性有個性的人。」,「能遵守規則的不一定是笨的、沒創意的人,相反的世界上的新學理、新學問還得熟知過往的知識基礎,深知過往前人所得出的規則而予以突破之的大師,恰好就是最熟知規則的人。」

這句話,用我小時候喜歡玩的象棋來解釋就很簡單了,我們常常會看到一有人神妙的一手殺棋,吃掉對方的老將,這幾手棋之所以神妙,創意無限,先決條件就在於他們遵守規定,要不然,不照棋規飛象過河什麼的,想吃王還不容易嗎?

Good Luck 語錄

你果然就如同傳聞所說的一樣。
傳聞?
怎麼說?
很笨、又容易衝動又頑固。
對不起。
笨的話是很傷腦筋。不過衝動跟頑固是在天空飛的男人的傳統,你要好好保持。


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