不思考之道 3

這段改篇自 2010 年 4 月 23 日的對話。

(CN:要得到這幾分真是困難。)

你之前沒有學過這部分,當然會覺得困難。

(CN:數學這東西,真的要很熟。否則,慢慢思考的話,考試時哪有時間?)

毋須擔心。剛才我已經將這部分相關的技巧,都全部教給你。

(CN:但是,我現在還要「思考」那些技巧。)

即是,你現在還要很有意識地把它們想出來,而不是它們自己彈出來?

(CN:無錯。上星期考物理卷時,有些題目我看到時就想:「一早知你會這樣問 … 」一寫就寫到步驟和答案,完全不需要思考。不需要思考,即是不需要花額外的時間。)

我中五會考時,也不知道這一點:考試的致勝之道是,你要對考試的相關內容,純熟到「不需要任何有意識思考」的境界。到我中七高考時知道這一點時,一切已經太遲了。

(CN:那又是。考試時的時間緊迫程度,根本已經令到你的腦袋沒有餘地去「思考」。)

— Me@2011.01.10

2011.01.10 Monday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK  

Type inference

While strong, static typing makes Haskell safe, type inference makes it concise. The result is potent: we end up with a language that’s both safer than popular statically typed languages, and often more expressive than dynamically typed languages. This is a strong claim to make, and we will back it up with evidence throughout the book.

— Real World Haskell

— by Bryan O’Sullivan, Don Stewart, and John Goerzen

2011.01.09 Sunday ACHK 

大富翁

戴得「勞力士」o既人,都唔會係靠勞力搵食o既人士。

(戴得起「勞力士」的人,都不會是靠勞力賺錢的人士。)

— 黃子華

玩得「大富翁」o既人,都唔會係大富翁。

(玩「大富翁」遊戲的人,都不會是大富翁。)

— Me@2011.01.09

2011.01.09 Sunday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK 

地球作業系統 1.3

但是,即使不是「完全挑戰」,只是「嘗試挑戰」,要把你可以挑戰的那一百樣東西都「嘗試挑戰」的話,就已經十分麻煩。

(安:這是一個很有趣的講法。根據你的意思,一般人的「思考作業系統」,會令人生存到,但不會是上佳的「作業系統」。)

一般人的「思考作業系統」,會令人生存到,但不會令人快樂。

(安:這就解釋了為何這個地球的一般人是這樣的 —— 即使所處的現狀十分荒唐,他們仍然會視之為理所當然。)

我剛才所講的,就是他們的「苦衷」。

所以,我們應該主動看一些超凡的書籍、聽一些超凡的說話。超凡的人和書會提點我們,生活現況中的哪些東西,是最值得挑戰的。

— Me@2011.01.09

2011.01.09 Sunday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK 

if-then-else

The ubiquitous if-then-else structure, now taken for granted as an essential element of any programming language, was invented by McCarthy for use in Lisp, where it saw its first appearance in a more general form (the cond structure). It was inherited by Algol, which popularized it.

— Wikipedia on Lisp (programming language)

2011.01.08 Saturday ACHK

When I Say No, I Feel Guilty

by Manuel J. Smith

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Habit 4: Think Win-Win or No-Deal

— The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

— Stephen R. Covey

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Being assertive is to be firm in protecting one’s own rights, but without violating those of others.

— Me@2011.01.08

— Me@2022-10-18

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2011.01.08 Saturday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK

Be water

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* Don’t get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.

o Bruce Lee: A Warrior’s Journey (2000); here, Lee was reciting lines he wrote for his short lived role on the TV series Longstreet.

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2011.01.08 Saturday ACHK

驗算校對 1.3

這段改篇自 2010 年 4 月 23 日的對話。

要留意,「每題立刻驗算」並不如想像中那麼花時間。一題數要運算三分鐘,不代表要驗算三分鐘。例如,解一題方程用了三分鐘,才得到答案。驗算時,你只需把你計到的答案,代落原本方程的左手邊,看看數值是否和右手邊的相等。這個過程,一定會在三十秒以內。

另外,「每題立刻驗算」還會為你帶來心理上的優勢。每題立刻驗算的話,每題驗算之後,你就不需要再理會它。那樣,你的心理就少了一個負擔。你就可以全心去投入思考下一題。不每題立刻驗算的話,考試中途無論做了多少題目,你也不知道自己可以拿到多少分。那樣,你會很不安。而「不安」的心理會影響你的思考清晰程度,從而減低你想通往後題目的機會,構成實質的分數損失。

— Me@2011.01.08

2011.01.08 Saturday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK  

Uncertainty principle 3

The third way in which the explanation can be misleading is due to the nonlocal nature of a quantum state. Sometimes, two particles can be entangled, and then a distant measurement can be performed on one of the two. This measurement should not disturb the other particle in any classical sense, but it can sometimes reveal information about the distant particle. This restricts the possible values of position or momentum in strange ways.

— Wikipedia on Uncertainty principle

2011.01.07 Friday ACHK 

Good design

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Good design is timeless. Strangely enough, if you want to make something that will appeal to future generations, one way to do it is to try to appeal to past generations. It’s hard to guess what the future will be like, but we can be sure it will be like the past in caring nothing for present fashions. So if you can make something that appeals to people today and would also have appealed to people in 1500, there is a good chance it will appeal to people in 2500.

— Paul Graham

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2011.01.07 Friday ACHK

地球作業系統 1.2

「凡事思考」的話,腦部會太繁忙,不能過正常的生活,所以,沒有必要想的東西,人腦就自動不去想。但是,怎樣可以知道生活現狀中,哪些東西有必要思考,哪些東西最值得挑戰呢?

通常,一般人不會理會這個問題,而選擇完全不思考,因為要知道自己需要思考什麼,就變相要思考自己所有可能需要思考的東西。

例如,生活現狀之中,你可以思考的東西有一百樣,或者說,你可以挑戰的東西有一百樣。那樣,哪一些東西最值得你挑戰呢?有時,最值得挑戰的東西,會在腦海中自動彈出來。那就最理想。如果不是自動彈出來的話,你就要把那一百樣東西全部考慮,才可以判斷,哪一些東西最值得挑戰。但是,「考慮一樣東西值不值得挑戰」本身,就已經是「挑戰」。

(安:「考慮一樣東西值不值得挑戰」本身,就已經是「挑戰」?)

「考慮一樣東西值不值得挑戰」的(幾乎)唯一方法是,你嘗試挑戰。你嘗試挑戰那樣東西一點,看看效果如何 —— 值不值得你再花時間挑戰下去。

但是,即使不是「完全挑戰」,只是「嘗試挑戰」,要把你可以挑戰的那一百樣東西都「嘗試挑戰」的話,就已經十分麻煩。

(安:這是一個很有趣的講法。根據你的意思,一般人的「思考作業系統」,會令人生存到,但不會是上佳的「作業系統」。)

一般人的「思考作業系統」,會令人生存到,但不會令人快樂。

— Me@2011.01.07

2011.01.07 Friday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK

Uncertainty principle 2

Uncertainty principle and observer effect

Today, logical positivism has become unfashionable in many cases, so the explanation of the uncertainty principle in terms of observer effect can be misleading. For one, this explanation makes it seem to the non-positivist that the disturbances are not a property of the particle, but a property of the measurement process — the particle secretly does have a definite position and a definite momentum, but the experimental devices we have are not good enough to find out what these are. This interpretation is not compatible with standard quantum mechanics. In quantum mechanics, states which have both definite position and definite momentum at the same time just don’t exist.

This explanation is misleading in another way, because sometimes it is a failure to measure the particle that produces the disturbance. For example, if a perfect photographic film contains a small hole, and an incident photon is not observed, then its momentum becomes uncertain by a large amount. By not observing the photon, we discover indirectly that it went through the hole, revealing the photon’s position.

— Wikipedia on Uncertainty principle

2011.01.06 Thursday ACHK

驗算校對 1.2

這段改篇自 2010 年 4 月 23 日的對話。

每題立刻驗算的話,可能令你只能完成八成的題目,但是,那八成都是運算準確的。不每題立刻驗算的話,可能令你可以完成十成的題目,但是,那十成之中,有多少成是運算準確的,你也不敢估計。

其實,哪一個「害」比較大,要有上文下理:視乎是哪一個考生、哪一份試卷。所以,我並沒有說定,哪一個方法,比較適合你。要知道哪一個方法,在什麼時候,比較適合你的話,你要在平時練習,做 past papers(歷屆試題)時,事先測試好。例如,你剛才說你會在真正考試前,「限時間」和「計分數」做三份 past papers。你應該在第一份試用「每題立刻驗算」的方法;在第二份試用「做完整份才驗算」的方法。然後,看看哪一個方法令你得到高些分數。那樣,你就可以根據這個客觀數據,決定在真正考試時,用兩個方法中的哪一個。

要留意,「每題立刻驗算」並不如想像中那麼花時間。一題數要運算三分鐘,不代表要驗算三分鐘。例如,解一題方程用了三分鐘,才得到答案。驗算時,你只需把你計到的答案,代落原本方程的左手邊,看看數值是否和右手邊的相等。這個過程,一定會在三十秒以內。

— Me@2011.01.06

2011.01.06 Thursday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK  

Six particles

Today, centuries after the search began for the fundamental constituents that make up all the complexity and beauty of the everyday world, we have an astonishingly simple answer — it takes just six particles: the electron, the up and the down quarks, the gluon, the photon and the Higgs boson.

— Gordon L. Kane, The Dawn of Physics Beyond the Standard Model

2011.01.05 Wednesday ACHK 

4.12 Dyson

1. Always make new mistakes. — Esther Dyson

2. Always make new mistakes. — Esther Dyson

3. There is no way to find the best design except to try out as many designs as possible and discard the failures. — Freeman Dyson

4. If you want to have good ideas you must have many ideas. Most of them will be wrong, and what you have to learn is which ones to throw away. — Linus Pauling

5. Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. — Scott Adams, The Dilbert Principle

— Me@2008.09.06

2011.01.05 Wednesday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK 

天嬰

【斷片一 天嬰】

透思生死
棲無敗域

仰首繁星
神馳於榮光之間
俯視紅塵
隨順於無常之際

夜無痕
雪無跡
花無憾

— Mr Lee

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2011.01.05 Wednesday ACHK