Physical Vs. Mental

It's so strange that it takes a person like me, who naturally doesn't enjoy much physical pleasure, to believe that the physical part of life is more essential, more decisive, thus more important than the mental part among our whole life existence. Most people don't realize this simply because they take their good physical health for granted.

Belief

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Faith/belief should only be the guide of our acts, not our understanding of universe.

From Ignorance To Stupidity

English: Bust of Socrates in the Vatican Museum (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We are all ignorant in some ways but not all stupid. So what's the "line" divides stupid and wise? Socrates put it quite brilliantly over 2 thousands ago, but let me add something to it so it can cover both ends: those who admit our ignorance are wise, those who don't stupid.

Defending Weakness

It seems (to me) that in most cases, to ignore the obvious only serves one purpose - to defend our weakness.

Apology & Evolvement

Those who do not apologize will not evolve.

Tess of the d'Urbervilles - A Tragedy Unavoidable?

(spoilers)

Just finished reading Tess of the d'Urbervilles, the first Thomas Hardy I've ever read, will not be the last for sure. I wonder what made me to neglect this literature classic for so long. I watched movie "Tess" when I was a teenager, it somehow didn't strike me as hard as "Jane Eyre" or some other films adapted from literature masterpieces. Recently, for some obscure reasons I picked up the original book, found myself immediately drawn into the story.

There's not much I could say about this book that is not been already said by others. Tess - an astonishingly beautiful peasant girl, a "fine creature", yet unbelievably selfless even downtrodden, tries relentlessly to make a better life for her family and herself, ends up being hanged. Not even that, none of the miserable happenings befall her is her fault, but she endures them all nonetheless. The tragedy is simply beyond anyone can bare. Her ultimate sacrifice seems avoidable, as I myself already "designed" a dozen of different endings, however, I have to admit, what she does at the end - murdering Alec d'Urbervilles is completely understandable under the context. Basically, Thomas Hardy just created a flawless tragedy, let his readers continue to moan for her heroine for centuries.

Science And Industry - Problems Or Solution?

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Those who think science and industry are culprits for humans' misery in modern time just because of pollution and deadly weapons, forgot how miserably humans lived prior to industrial revolution, forgot that it was due to science and industry we could afford today's overloaded population. Sure, pollution and deadly weapons are bad, but unfortunately by getting rid of science and industry will certainly not solve the problem, instead, better science and industry will do. And of course, as population and science grow, new problems will be created. So to keep creating problems and to keep solving them, this seems to be a vicious cycle in which we humans are doomed, unless we stop our desire to live life.

Is It Really All About Perspective?

We often hear people saying "It's all about perspective", as if we are all equally ignorant, equally in the dark. While there's a grain of truth in this notion, I found it's not 100% true, because beside "perspective", there is are something called "dimension".

In this illustration two shadows on the walls are two dimensional shaped shadows (square and circle) resulted from viewing this cylinder from two 2-dimensional perspectives. The real "idea" of actually object - cylinder - needs to be seen from 3 dimensional view point, that is, not only looking at it from left and right, but also from "up" - a view point that breaks 2 dimensional surface.

True Morality

New Morality (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

From certain perspectives, true morality comes from the quality of being able to resist cultural influences.

"Stranger Beside Me" - Ann Rule's Epic Tale Of America's Most Dangerous serial Killer

English: Ted Bundy in custody, Florida, July 1978. Florida Memory Project, Florida Photographic Collection, #N035653 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

(Some very light spoilers)

I had never heard of Ted Bundy's name until I saw part of his documentary on TV (20/20?) very recently. I was immediately drawn into the story and fascinated by his case for a conscious reason: his look. He didn't look like criminal, rather, he looked handsome, educated, sensitive and extremely charismatic. So I did some research and found a book to read: Ann Rule's Stranger Beside Me.

This is the first true crime book I've ever read and I found it extremely riveting. The most extraordinary part is the fact that Bundy was actually Rule's friend for many years. They both worked as partners in a suicide support center Crisis Clinic in Seattle, WA., and built a warm friendship since then. Rule had no slightest idea that at the time they worked together, Bundy already started his heinous killing. Rule always believed that her friend was a kind, friendly and intelligent young man whom she would want to marry if she was 10 years younger.

Overcome Weakness

The best way (or the first step) to overcome one's weakness is to accept - even embrace - it.

The Worst Misfortune

The worst misfortune one can get, other than natural disasters, wars, fatal diseases, is the misfortune created by the difference between what one wants and who he/she actually is - the greater the difference is, the more unfortunate one would be.

Two Things

There are two things that make one lost: lies and greed;
There are two things that make one intoxicated: alcohol and fame;
There are two things that make one chained: material possession and romantic love;
There are two things that make one awakened: truth and pain;
There are two things that make one change: time and hardship;
There are two things that make one free: wisdom and perspective.

(Translated from original Chinese text:http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_6058fd120102vx4k.html)

1、有两种东西会让人迷失：一是谎言，二是欲望。 
2、有两种东西会让人沉醉：一是酒精，二是名声。 
3、有两种东西会把人束缚：一是物质，二是爱情。 
4、有两种东西会让人觉醒：一是真理，二是苦痛。 
5、有两种东西会让人改变：一是时间，二是苦难。 
6、有两种东西会让人释怀：一是智慧，二是心态。

Personal vs. Impersonal

We'd better live our lives in personal ways, but understand life through impersonal means.

Mistakes

A sick culture mistakes happiness for selfishness, indifference for callousness;
a shallow culture mistakes sternness for meanness, profoundness for depression.

Sternness or Meanness?

Maybe, one sign of shallow culture is mistaking sternness for "meanness".

Who Would Say "God Is Just"?

Is it true that it's always those who live in comfort would assert "God is just"? I don't mean that all people living in comfort would believe this notion but I can hardly imagine those who live in misery would think this way.
Just wondering.

Ignorance And Wisdom

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The older we are, the harder we could admit our ignorance or stupidity, because we want to protect our "wisdom". Ironically, the true wisdom can befall us only when we admit and accept our ignorance.

What Is NOT True?

No Idea (band) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I suppose, that any concepts or ideas created to serve our subjective purposes, such as "justifying" our actions, validate our living conditions, even promote happiness or humanity, are NOT true. Based on this view, even humanism is NOT a truthful idea, but an idealism. The truth, pure objective truth, is neutral, even inhuman.

"Do You Still Love Me?" - Weakness And Selfishness

My Weakness Is None of Your Business (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I found there is a type of persons, who would always let others make choices for them. Or, if they know what to choose, they would "design" a complicated scenario to force others to choose for them. The "benefit" of acting like this is that when things don't go as they expected, they don't have to be responsible.

i.e., when they no longer love or like someone, instead of saying: "sorry I don't love you." or "I am sorry to say that I've been feeling very difficult to be your friend." they would say:" Do you still love me or not?" "Do you still want to be me friend or not?"