20120312

井和天

很多年前,那時我還是個目空一切的狂妄少年,有幾個朋友合送一份生日禮物給我,是一個瓷器青蛙擺件,我保存至今:


青蛙昂首向天,表情是略帶不屑的傲岸,不難令人認定那是隻井底之蛙。我當時隱約覺得禮物有玄機,不過,朋友沒說甚麼,我亦沒有問他們,高高興興收下禮物就是了。現在回想,無論朋友是否暗有所指,當年的我確是隻坐井觀天的牛蛙 --- 不但是曰天小者,實其見者小也,還經常「聲大大」發表高論。

這麼多年後,我書讀多了,閱歷豐富了,見識增長了,卻仍然是坐井觀天,不同的是,我的井大了一點,見到的天也較大片,而最重要的是,我現在知道天比我看到的大很多很多,大到我不能想像;我還知道,就算走出了井後看到的便不限於井口的闊度,我仍然不會看到整個的天空。

每一個人所知的都有限,那界限就形成了一個井,可以說每個人都是坐井觀天;坐井觀天不是問題,只要意識到自己是在井裏,知道井小、天大,並默默努力擴闊自己的井,便不會做一隻井底的牛蛙。

19 則留言:

  1. 卻仍然是坐井觀天,不同的是,我的井大了一點,見到的天也較大片<-----我同意, 這個都是我意識到的. 所以每天都學習, 看書, 同唔同朋友交流. 唯一未能做的, 就是出外走走看看世界.

    我意識到, 人對於他們不認識的, 第一反應是 "反對, 發脾氣.." 可能他們想掩飾? 我是明白的並不反對他們的反應.

    這篇就正正我這一年學到的!

    =)

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    1. //唯一未能做的, 就是出外走走看看世界. //

      - 相信你還年青,仍有很多機會。

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  2. 隻青蛙個樣真係有啲寸。

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  3. I don't really care about 水井, but I'm interested in 油井. One needs to drill way, way past the water table before hitting the oil. 鑽(研) deeper! Let's invest in an oil well or two. A barrel of oil is over US$100. Ka Ching. --zpdrmn

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  4. “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” Oscar Wilde

    大家都係苦中作樂,不要那麼串便好了。

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  5. This comment is on the link "Defending Science: An Exchange."
    I think that most scientists don't really care about
    epistemic principles like how philosophers or some others do. After all, science is a practical subject. (Experiments are done. Evidence are pursued. Theories are checked by experiments or evidence. A lot of engineering applications are built on science.) I am not saying whether epistemic principles are important or whether certain people should delve into them. However, if philosophers think that scientists should care more about them, it may be their wishful thinking. Scientists just have a different mindset. If logic has to be circular at a fundamental level and there's nothing one can do about it, scientists aren't going to spend much time on it. (I don't want to get into what religious people think about science.) Lynch and Sokal are talking on different pages. --zpdrmn

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    1. It's interesting how philosophers nowadays crave for the attention of natural scientists~ a professor once made fun of himself saying that naturalistic philosophers (including himself) are like fan boys on the stands; they don't compete in the stadium, but they yell and scream to cheer the players on the field so hard and loud, as if they are part of the team; but in fact, they are nobody in the game.

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    2. So what is the point for philosophers to participate in 'interdisciplinary' discussions, when others do not really care what they assert?

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    3. //It's interesting how philosophers nowadays crave for the attention of natural scientists//

      - I am not sure this is true of most contemporary philosophers, particularly if you include philosophers who work in the continental tradition.

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    4. //philosophers nowadays crave for the attention of natural scientists//
      I don't know about this one, and that's not what I hinted at. I just feel that for any dialogues (esp. interdisciplinary) to be productive, an understanding of where each other stands may help.
      Some science professors (say, of discipline A) I knew didn't say much about philosophy or philosophers, but they complained that some people in some related science or engineering discipline (say, discipline B) misunderstood or didn't have certain basic knowledge in discipline A, did calculations that required some expertise in discipline A wrong, and published them in journals of discipline B. I would say that's a crime. I can assure you that in discipline B there were (still are) few people who knew much about discipline A. How could the journal people in discipline B judge if there were any merits in those papers? --zpdrmn

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  6. reminds me of Rumsfeld's words "there are known knowns..., known unknown..., but also unknown unknowns..."

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  7. This looks like a frog who is determined to escape from the well.

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