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    July 30

    “一束价值观的玫瑰”


    沉默近一个月之后,2008年7月24日,兰迪·波许(Randy Pausch)在卡内基·梅隆大学(Carnegie Mellon University,简称CMU)个人主页上的病况网志再有了更新,执笔者却不复教授本人——活检显示“癌症在恶化”。没有奇迹。旋至次日清晨,最后的更新,已是讣告。

    这是早被预言的诀别,却不是伤逝。除却在芭芭拉·华特斯(Barbara Walters)第二次访谈时流露的少许憔悴,最后11个月的悲哀夜空,兰迪着意缀满了幽默与关爱的繁星。“启悟千百万人”,母校的悼词如此嘉许。

    计算机科学系教授兰迪的声名从学界漫溢至公众,始于去年9月18日他在CMU所作的“最后之演讲”。最后演讲这一例规的本意,是校方向即将退休的教授致敬。对兰迪而言,却不免更残酷的况味:一个月前,医生正式知照,手术未能遏制恶性肿瘤细胞扩散,晚期胰腺癌将在三到六个月内,夺去他的生命。这场演讲,不仅是教学生涯的最后一课,更是兰迪46载仓促人生的遗言。

    400 余听众前,出人意料地,兰迪以理工学者的利落,数句即了结病情的公布。而后的70分钟,他以“真正实现你的童年梦想”为题,历数往昔那东海岸小男孩的白日 梦,包括体验零重力、参加全美橄榄球联盟、为世图百科全书撰稿、成为《星球大战》里的柯克船长、赢取游乐场的大毛公仔和当上迪士尼的幻想工程师。这是满目 希望与机遇的婴儿潮一代的标准梦想,如火花溅落科学、活力、知识、娱乐与想象力各层面。一个个包袱清脆抖出,全不觉大限将至,而人生轨迹这么一划清,自获 得首个计算机学位之后的这26年间,他搭建的赫然成一道艺术与科学的虹桥。

    兰迪是美国电子艺界的先驱,在人机交互领域卓有建树。为了排名 不分先后的最末一项童年梦想,他刚毕业就向迪斯尼发了求职信,遭冷拒而心不死,直到1990年代初自荐加入“阿拉丁计划”,才一偿夙愿。梦想的迂回与实现,恰恰演示了计算机虚拟实境技术诞生、成熟,并与商业兴趣融和的发展史。人机交互的切入点,不是象牙塔里砌堆的单向概念模型,而要以用户的感受与响应为 重,通过反复执行与评估,终让使用者的心智模型与设计者的概念模型彼此契合。换言之,人机交互,有如计算机科学里的人本学派,关注的是人的感受,并旨向感受的圆满。

    于是不难理解,“最后之演讲”洋溢的人文关怀,何以温馨并深远至此。

    韦伯(Max Weber)曾反复辨析价值理性(value rationality)与工具理性(instrumental rationality) :后者以对相关支出与收益的估价为前提,功利地考虑、利用各种影响因素,无情并系统化地向目标推进;前者则建基于对价值理念的坚信,这种理念须是无条件且 内在固有的,例如道德上的责任感、美的渴求以及宗教信仰等。现代社会中, 两种理性激烈争持。工具理性常将价值理性视作非理性而不屑一顾,以免“拖慢”技术进阶的步伐;另一方面,无论价值理念有如何改变人心的伟力并可变现,“‘ 柏林今天的猪肉卖几文钱’这种问题,也难导入终极价值的追问”(1911年夏,韦伯致李凯尔特 )。 对此两难,韦伯设想的解决之途,惟将价值理性厘定为工具理性的基础。有了应许之地的召唤,摩西将踏过红海。

    工具理性至上,是今天理工学者常陷的窠臼。兰迪能跳脱此无间道,显然与原生家庭慷慨提供的宽容与自由,以及成熟技术的自信,有莫大关系。迪斯尼的阿拉丁计划之后,兰迪在CMU一课开了十年,鼓励学生乘想象的翅膀,建立虚拟世界。1998年,他与艺术家马瑞奈里(Don Marinelli)共同创办娱乐技术中心(Entertainment Technology Center), 探求艺术家与计算机学者——右脑与左脑——的合作之途。CMU以巨资建造连通校园内艺术中心与计算机科学中心的天桥,并命名为“兰迪·波许桥”,这固然是 大学对兰迪的衷心致敬与最美丽的纪念,宽而言之,更可视作现代学术的里程碑,象征着价值理性与工具理性的桥接——韦伯当年梦想过的和解。

    另一基于左右脑功能差异的成见,指女性的逻辑思维能力天生较弱,因而不适合计算机科学研究。兰迪主导的“爱丽丝计划”(The Alice Project) ,将编程借叙事手段可视化,着意引导学童尤其是女学童踏入计算机技术的奇境,是寓教于乐(edutainment)的典范尝试。

    “最后之演讲”通过视频分享网站Youtube 迅速传播全球,唤醒无数人的童年梦想。兰迪始终未向公众彼露他临终的信仰皈依,而仅他遗赠这束丰美的玫瑰——白的是工具理性,红的是价值理性,世人手有余香。

    ORIGINAL URL

    转自 新春秋

     

    本来前几天就想介绍Randy Pausch的“最后之演讲”

    但是那段视频没有看完(长达104')

    Randy教授演讲迸发出的幽默与他对科学和梦想的热爱

    让人印象深刻,促人深省

     

    July 29

    wild china

    这个天蹲宿舍,在学校ftp发现了让眼睛blingbling的好东西
    BBC 《Wild China》(译名《锦绣中华》)
     
    在发出长窜肺腑感叹后,才发现早被人说
    “蜗居自己那一亩三分地不动窝”正在思考
    我就认了!并慢慢改掉深居简出孤陋寡闻的恶习
    它坚定了我的意志
    一定要买正版DVD收藏
    二定要实现暑假出行的计划
     
     
    July 26

    "Find the Joy of Life"

    "...the ancient egyptians had a beautiful belief about death. When their souls got to the entrance of the heaven, the god asks them 2 questions. Their answers dermain wheather them were admitted or not."

    "Have you found joy in your life?"

    "Has your life brought joy to others?..."

                                                                                                                --"The Bucket List"

    To some extent, I would have the answers like these so far.

    "No. And the second is that I wish I have ever been trying to."

     

    Since the end of that movie, I tried to remember every details in the letter form Carter to Edward, two men at the edge of death. And the question is handing in my head.

    When I heard the address Edward presented in the Church, I almost cried. What if there would be a certain guy who knows u in this world, who find it worth his while to know you.

    As one of the items in the notes, "Help a complete stranger for the good"

    and I don't know if it was true: the process of Finding Joy in one's life is the same path by giving joy to others.

     

    July 25

    life

    一辈子 或长 或短
    承担这一段生命历程有多少重量呢
    July 14

    The Power Of Free! (ZZ)

    free
     
    A few days ago, I wrote about the power of the word “New” to get our attention - if there’s a more potent attractor out there, it’s almost certainly “FREE!” For years, advertising gurus have listed “free” on every compilation of powerful headline words. Now, research conducted by Dan Ariely (a Duke behavioral economist, previously at MIT) shows us that “free” is far more effective than “almost free.” Indeed, a preference for “free” seems to be another feature hardwired into our brains.

    Free Kisses Beat Bargain Truffles

    In his book Predictably Irrational, Ariely describes a series of simple experiments that offered subjects something desirable - chocolate - at a variety of prices. Two types of chocolate were used - a Hershey’s kiss and a Lindt chocolate truffle. While the kiss is an inexpensive and common treat, a Lindt truffle is a far more tasty confection that costs an order of magnitude more than the kiss.

    The first experiment offered subjects a truffle for 15 cents (about half its actual cost) or a kiss for 1 cent. Nearly three out of four subjects chose the truffle, which seems logical enough based on the relative value of the offers.

    The next experiment reduced the price of each product by one cent - the truffle was offered at 14 cents, and the kiss was free. Although the price differential remained the same, the behavior of the subjects changed dramatically: more than two thirds of the subjects chose the free chocolate kiss over the bargain-priced truffle.

    To see if the appeal of the free kiss was based on convenience (not having any change, having to hunt around in a purse for coins, etc.), the experiment was repeated in a cafeteria food line where the cost of the chocolate could be easily added to the total purchase. Even with the elimination of paying inconvenience, the free kiss was still the overwhelming choice.

    Ariely attributes the preference for “free” even when the rational choice would be the bargain item to an aversion to loss. In essence, a free item carries no risk. He may well be right, though I think another explanation is that, to our hunter-gatherer brain, a free item represents the proverbial low-hanging fruit. That is, a resource that can be obtained with near-zero effort. If, millennia before money and commerce came into being, I had just gorged on fruit and had an adequate supply of food stored in my cave, I would be unlikely to go looking for more food. But, if I was walking back to my cave and found a perfect apple hanging over the path in easy reach, I’d no doubt be tempted to pluck it and figure out what to do with it later. That apple would be, in essence, “free” - other food sources might involve climbing, stalking, traveling, or other kinds of effort.

    Amazon’s Experience with FREE!

    The most interesting example of the power of “free” in Predictably Irrational comes from Amazon.com. When they launched a “free shipping” promotion with the purchase of a second book every country except France showed a big jump in sales from the offer. The Amazon marketers investigated, thinking perhaps the French were rational enough not to be swayed into buying a second book. In fact, they found that in France the program had been slightly altered. Instead of zero shipping, the offer in France charged a mere one franc - about twenty cents. From a pure economic standpoint, the two offers are almost indistinguishable. In actual performance, though, the one franc offer caused no sales increase. (When the French offer was changed to FREE!, sales did indeed jump.)

    Here’s the neuromarketing takeaway: FREE! is more powerful than any rational economic analysis would suggest. If you want to sell more of something, use that power. I often see department store offers like, “Buy one pair of slacks at regular price, get a second one for only one penny!” That may sound clever - “wow, pants for just a penny!” - but I think FREE! will outperform the penny offer. Want to spark sales of a product? Try offering something for FREE! with it. Want to get the widest possible sampling of a new product? Use a FREE! sample.

    When NOT To Use FREE!

    There are some cases when using FREE! isn’t the best idea. If you are trying to encourage sampling of a product that appeals to a specific audience, for example, a very modest charge will throttle demand but will eliminate most samplers who have no use for the product. For example, I don’t own a cat. I don’t even care much for cats. But if the supermarket had a big display of “Free Cat Food Samples” there’s a good chance that I’d pick one up, thinking that I’d give it to a friend. Or maybe hang onto it for when one of the inevitable stray cats shows up. Hey, it’s FREE! - I’ll grab it now, and figure out what to do with it later.

    If Ariely’s research is to be believed, pricing the cat food sample at a mere ten cents would almost certainly slash inappropriate sampling by people like me. A few legitimate cat owners might avoid the sample, too, but the overall cost/benefit of the program would likely improve.

    Original URL

     

    这些天来珠海简直可以说闷得发慌

    今天好不容易找到实验室来上网

    人啊,成天裸奔汉漂流在嘴边,可是真能忍受?

    99%现代人一天脱网+手机

    会抓狂,像我...

    July 07

    六月初五小暑

    原来今天小暑

    听说小暑大暑之间吃荔枝最好

    这时期的适宜吃不说,而且风味最佳

    经过了价格高走的时候

    岭南果王不惜低下高贵的头,接受“抵吃夹大件”的现实

    这几天本来可以提前尝鲜的

    可惜喉咙不争气

     

    前后花了2天时间

    把寝室和客厅好好收拾

    人说家居如人品

    看在我人品的份上

    笑话偶邋遢也口上留情点

    嗯啊!现在总算看上去像个窝。。。

     

    湛江3姑突然响手机

    问说我身体好不好啊广州热不热啊认识女孩没有啊

    好啊不热啊有啊。。。。。呃呃

    答应了她8月份去趟湛江

    看看那儿的变化看看她的“新屋”

    数数手指头+脚趾头

    也有13年没有回去了

    毕竟那里有收藏着少年半年的记忆

    南亚所的小朋友们

    你们还在吗?还好吗?还记得我?

    July 06

    每个人有一座森林

     

    “你在森林里样了好几种动物,马、牛、羊、老虎和孔雀。如果有天你必须离开森林,而且只能带一种动物离开,你会带那种动物?”

    想打发最近无聊的时光

    随便填塞空空的脑袋

    再读了一遍孔雀森林

    才发现,原来自己这么像一只孔雀

    可是我是选老虎的人啊...

     

    昨天收拾搬回来的行李

    7成是书-_-||...舍不得扔就得受罪

    随意翻看着以前写过的实验报告

    还是思绪万千

    4年像流水哗啦啦地过下来

    需要一些时间回忆和整理

    像大人说的“总结经验教训”-_-

    一堆糊地乱塞乱放

    胶纸剪刀拉盖封箱

    然后扔在楼顶的角落里

    不想再像以前那样不负责任

     

    “用认真的态度对待生活,就是对生命最真诚的回馈”——李欣频

     

    隔了好长好长时间,换了一个新BLOG,第一篇新博文

    日后好好干吧!!!