Random Thoughts (隨心所欲--思想起...)

從不了解為何這麼多人喜歡用部落格？大多時候，那只是一個人透過一部機器對著自己喃喃囈語。現在我自己竟也成了部落格族類之一了。

I never understood why so many people like to have their own blogs. Most of the time, you are talking to yourself through a machine. And now I am one of them.


當亞里士多德說“人類之異於禽獸在於其語言之能力”時，顯示了他對一切有情眾生的無知，也顯示了這個哲學家或許是個善於思考者，但絕非是一個好的觀察者。他難道未曾看見天上的群鳥、水中的魚群如何在一瞬間集體同時轉向繼續前進? 而林間的松鼠又如何為了搶食互相謾罵追趕？他難道未曾聽過群雁滑落草場湖面之前以及飛離之前的聒叫？

亞里士多德一定未曾在清晨或傍晚時分散步於林間；他也一定沒養過小鳥。如果我能遇見亞里士多德先生，我一定邀請他來寒舍，聽聽鳥籠內那三隻鳥的對話—

（個性像個野男孩的）小白﹕“Skye，你不要睡覺，陪我玩嘛！”
（個性略帶侵略性的）Oceana﹕“Skye，你走開，鞦韆是我的！”
（和兩個女人處於同一個屋簷下的）Skye﹕“妳們兩個真煩！”

接下來的三十分鐘，三隻小鳥吵成一團。亞里士多德先生可利用這時好好想一想該如何修改他這句名言。

When Aristotle said human beings are extinguished from other species by our ability to use language, he was ignorant of the intelligence of other living things. Aristotle might have been a sharp thinker, but he was definitely not a good observer. Hadn't he seen flocks of birds in the air and schools of fish in the water changing direction unanimously? Hadn't he heard squirrels growling at each other when they were fighting for food? Hadn't he heard the caws from the geese right before they landed in the pond or the field, or right before they took off from the pond?


I am sure Mr. Aristotle had never taken a walk in the woods in the early morning or at twilight; nor had he ever had pet birds in his house. If I see Mr. Aristotle on the street, I'll invite him to my house so that he can listen to the conversation of my 3 pet birds--


Little Bai (who is a tomboy): "Hey, Skye, don't sleep. Play with me!"
Oceana (who is a little aggressive) said to Skye: "Dude, go away! The swing is MINE!"
Skye (who has to live with these 2 women): "You both are so ANNOYING!!!"


The trio continue to nag each other for the following 30 minutes. This is a good time for Mr. Aristotle to ponder how to modify his famous statement.


人類的各種情緒，追根究底最後只能歸於一種唯一的情緒，那就是“害怕”。我們憤怒，因為我們害怕受措；我們哀傷，因為我們害怕失去；我們小心謹慎，因為我們害怕做錯事；我們追求快樂，因為我們害怕孤寂。


愛的反面不是恨，而是冷漠。
The opposite of love is not hate; it's indifference and apathy.

Thoughts During the Teaching Years (教師手札)