Category Archives: Books

Twelve Monkeys

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Themes

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Memory, time, and technology

“Cole has been thrust from another world into ours and he’s confronted by the confusion we live in, which most people somehow accept as normal. So he appears abnormal, and what’s happening around him seems random and weird. Is he mad or are we?”

— Director Terry Gilliam

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12 Monkeys studies the subjective nature of memories and their effect upon perceptions of reality. Examples of false memories include:

* Cole’s recollection of the airport shooting which is altered each time he has a dream.
* A “mentally divergent” man at the asylum who has false memories.
* Railly telling Cole “I remember you like this” when a barely recognizable Cole and Railly are seen in disguise for the first time.

References to time, time travel, and monkeys are scattered throughout the film, including the Woody Woodpecker “Time Tunnel” cartoon playing on the TV in a hotel room, The Marx Brothers movie Monkey Business (1931) on TV in the asylum and the subplots of monkeys (drug testing, news stories and animal rights). The film is also a study of modern civilization’s declining efforts to communicate with each other due to the interference of technology.

– Wikipedia on 12 Monkeys

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2011.01.23 Sunday ACHK

Painting 2

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神來之筆 1

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…, knowing it is the light that is driving me. I used to think I was the artist when I was painting. I now see, since my NDE, that I am only the brush, my life experiences are the paint, my life is the painting, and the world is the studio with love as the subject.

— Lessons from the Light, p.48

— Kenneth Ring

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2008.12.19 Friday ACHK

知行習覺

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掌上電腦 4 | 人格修正系統 2

Knowing –> Action –> Habit –> Instinct

學習道理，首先要「知」，然後要「行」。那樣還未夠。你再要將「行」化成「習慣」，令到你執行道理時毋須思考。

無論是一塊知識，還是一個道理，一日未化成你的「習慣」，一日都不是真正屬於你的。那就是為什麼 Stephen R. Covey 在他的名著《The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People》中，再三強調「習慣」的重要性。

— Me@2011.07.22

2011.07.22 Friday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK

On Lisp

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I hope reading this book will be fun. Of all the languages I know, I like Lisp the best, simply because it’s the most beautiful. This book is about Lisp at its lispiest. I had fun writing it, and I hope that comes through in the text.

— Paul Graham

2011.07.01 Friday ACHK

超時空接觸

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The Machine 3

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David Drumlin: I know you must think this is all very unfair. Maybe that’s an understatement. What you don’t know is I agree. I wish the world was a place where fair was the bottom line, where the kind of idealism you showed at the hearing was rewarded, not taken advantage of. Unfortunately, we don’t live in that world.

Ellie Arroway: Funny, I’ve always believed that the world is what we make of it.

– Contact (1997 film)

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2010.01.11 Monday ACHK

I am a Strange Loop, 2.2

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自我委員會 2.2

（安：等一等 … ）

簡化地講，假設你只有兩個人格。「左腦」為之一個人格；「右腦」為之另一個。

你的思考，有時是左腦的意見，有時是右腦的意見。同不同意？

（安：同意。）

但是，在絕大部分情況之下，無論是左腦的意見，還是右腦的意見，你都會覺得：「我就是我。」你都會覺得，你是一個人格，而不是兩個。不知何故，左腦和右腦各自都覺得，「左腦和右腦」是同一個人格。

左腦覺得，「我和右腦」是同一個人格。

右腦覺得，「左腦和我」是同一個人格。

為何他們會有這個根深蒂固的錯覺呢？

一方面，人自小開始，外界會給他這個訊息：一個頭顱內，只會有一個自我，否則就是不正常。另一方面，左腦和右腦再向自己和對方不斷強調，「左腦和右腦」是同一個人格。

— Me@2011.03.23

2011.03.23 Wednesday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK

I am a Strange Loop, 2.1

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自我委員會 2.1

… the “I” as a hallucination hallucinated by a hallucination.

— p. 293, I am a Strange Loop, by Douglas R. Hofstadter

「自我」是一個幻覺。而這個幻覺本身，是由一個幻覺製造出來的。

第一次看這句句子時，我覺得作者是在胡言亂語。現在我才明白作者「胡言亂語」的背後，究竟想帶出什麼意思。

剛才講過，一個人的「自我」，其實是「多重人格」。或者說，「自我」是一個由很多個委員組成的委員會。但是，一般的情況下，我會覺得我是一個單一的人格。那麼，「我是一個單一的人格」這個（錯誤）概念，是誰跟我說的呢？就是由我的「自我委員會」的各個委員跟我說的。即是說，那個「自我委員會」一直在誤導我。

但是，那個被誤導的「我」又是誰呢？

我就是那個委員會。換言之，「自我委員會」一直在誤導「自我委員會」。委員會中的各個人格，一直以為大家是同一個人格。而各個人格，又不斷向其他人格重複強調，大家是同一個人格。

— Me@2011.03.20

2011.03.20 Monday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK

Chrono Cross

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Chrono Trigger 2

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An Ancient Fort-
Chasing phantoms in one’s dreams…

Arni Village –
Where the tides start to turn…

Opassa Beach –
A calling from beyond time…

Arni Village –
Nothing has changed but everything!

Cape Howl –
A reminder of one’s former self…

Heading North –
In search of some answers…

The Port Town of Termina –
The pride of the Acacia Dragoons…

Viper Manor –
Where lies the key to the past…

Guldove –
Where ripples become waves…

Hermit’s Hideaway –
Meeting with the ‘other’ swordsman…

From Pirate Ship to Ghost Ship –
A mariner’s worst nightmare…

On to Water Dragon Isle –
In search of the dragon blue…

Fort Dragonia –
Ancient dragons’ dream in ruins…

Temporal Vortex –
Where lost souls wander…

The Lost Portal –
Isolation of people from the world…

Termina –
Knight or day…?

Marbule –
The village of the demi-humans…

The Masamune –
The blood-stained sword of evil…

The Dead Sea –
A place forsaken by the gods…

A Portal Reopened –
And the planet began to shake…

Back to Viper Manor –
A captive audience awaits…

Surprise Attack!!! –
Pursuers with heavy-hearts…

To the Sea of Eden –
Through the hidden holes in time…

The Arbiter of Time –
On whom the three Fates smile…

Terra Tower –
Caught in an echo of time…

Chrono Cross –
The point where destinies meet…

For all the Dreamers –
Our planet’s dream is not over yet…

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– Chrono Compendium

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2011.02.26 Saturday ACHK

Memento

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written and directed by Christopher Nolan

Memento（凶心人），有關「遺忘症」。整套電影倒轉播，令觀眾體會到主角「沒有新記憶」的感受。

– Me@2010.08.05

2011.02.17 Thursday (c) All rights reserved by ACHK

Succeeding

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by John T. Reed

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The book is available only through the author’s own website.

— Me@2011.01.22

— Me@2022.10.04

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2011.01.22 Saturday ACHK

Twelve Monkeys

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directed by Terry Gilliam

* It’s just like what’s happening with us, like the past. The movie never changes. It can’t change; but every time you see it, it seems different because you‘re different. You see different things.

— James Cole

2011.01.15 Saturday ACHK

When I Say No, I Feel Guilty

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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

World of Goo

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by 2D Boy

World of Goo is a physics-based puzzle game by 2D Boy, an independent game developer consisting of Kyle Gabler and Ron Carmel, both former Electronic Arts employees, released for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, iOS and WiiWare. 

— Wikipedia on World of Goo

2011.01.01 Saturday ACHK