人生變化，旁觀者清

Everything changes once we identify with being the witness to the story, instead of the actor in it.

                  要體認出人生種種事物的變化， 以一位旁觀者的角色， 而非以當事人的角色．

歲月最後留給人的，或許是一種見山還是山的心境

最近幾天開始把家裡，還有記憶、臉書大掃除
翻出了老東西，會回想到過去，
這幾年送給朋友和捐到慈善機構的衣服高達上千件，
家裡漸空了．剩下一堆堆書籍．

翻出相簿、手機或臉書的訊息箱，
會發現人與好多人之間的關係，不論深淺，好比是搭車或走路遇到的過客，

我好思念我以前擁有的小狗(明明是女生，我將她取名為很man的名字"OA"),
我好想念那些離世或健康漸失的朋友和家人，
愛過的人，經過練習，我開始有了能量將怨恨轉成了祝福．
社交軟體，我刪別人或別人刪我，也許可以是沒有任何原因．
我不排斥臉書不認識的人加我，但是加了彼此沒互動，或加了無原因的刪除或惡言，我開始害怕交新朋友了，
我很想養隻小狗，但我害怕它離我而去我該如何，
我很想愛個人，男的女的都好，但是我不想面對失去，所以我逃避開始．

上了年齡還沒結婚，周圍的家人和朋友都逐漸變少了，
朋友間彼此的共同活動，我們已不再共同擁有以往的熱情，
步入婚姻的朋友，開始了另一種生活模式，
許多結婚的女朋友說，如果可以重來，不想選擇失去自由，
許多單身的女朋友說，就是找不到對象，或是這一輩子乾脆不找了

漸漸直到最後，隨著人事物的到來和離去，
我最後擁有的是那些「歡樂和失去」的記憶，
和一顆世故且脆弱，卻狀似堅強的心．

歌德(Wolfgang von Goethe)說，人到中年，都會覺得年輕時的美好夢想和嚮往，不過是一些不切實際的幻想。在生命中的每個十年，我們都會擁有新的命運、新的希望、和新的渴望。

我的2006，我剃了光頭，面對第一個摯親爺爺離去，
我的2016，這十年，我像搭乘了人生的雲霄飛車，現在的我，也許該是為自己勇敢地找出新的渴望，老的時候，我希望讓自己成為一個愛笑的老太婆．

網路正在改變我們的大腦，不用 LINE, WHAT's APP, SKYPE 被視為怪物的我

"Sometimes we have to disconnect to make a connection."

這部影片想傳達的是，有時候我們必須斷線，以在真實生活中和重要的人連線．

個人經驗

很多朋友跟我說，
沒有用 Line 就交不到朋友、找不到男朋友，
這難道是真的嗎？
我的心態老了吧，我好想聽到朋友的聲音

我打電話給人，卻無法找到他們或得到答覆，除非我傳訊息給他們才能找到他們。 

我給別人我的電話號碼，但最後他們會告訴我，他們真的不知道怎麼聯繫我，或者他們根本不會打電話給我。

有些人取笑我，說我很老派，最終將沒有任何朋友或男朋友。 

對於通訊方式的轉變，我一直感覺很困惑。甚至有人告訴我，他想念舊年頭的溝通方式，但他的對外溝通卻只用電腦的應用軟體「SKYPE」。 

我一直都覺得，我們都受到制約了。 

直到我看到這本書， 「網路讓我們變笨：數位科技正在改變我們的大腦，思考與閱讀行為？」，我覺得我並不是處在“寂寞”的島嶼。

Personal experience

I went to a hair salon today and the hairdresser felt surprised about my behavior of not using LINE to communicate with people, and she was certain that I wouldn't find a boyfriend because I don't use it. She said people no longer want to talk on the phone nowadays. They only prefer a text by free app. However, she is not the first person to say this to me but I have been wondering if that has become the norm that humans share today? To me it is the sad truth I can not get accustomed to accept. Guess I am so old-school! I just want to hear people's voice instead of seeing their texts all the time.

I called people but could not reach them or get a reply unless I LINEed them.

I gave people my phone number but in the end they told me they didn't know HOW to contact me or they just did NOT call me. Some people teased me that I'm so old school and will eventually have no friends or boyfriend. I've been really feeling confused about the transformation of ways of communication. Even someone who told me he wanted the old time back just only used a computer app, Skype. I have been well aware that we are all being conditioned. Until I saw the publication of this book, The Shallows - What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains (網路讓我們變笨?：數位科技正在改變我們的大腦、思考與閱讀行為), I felt I am not in the "lonely" island. 

Google、Yahoo、Facebook......
　　你每天使用的網路，正在悄悄改變你的大腦 　　「Google讓我們變笨了嗎？」本書作者卡爾曾在二○○八年於著名的《大西洋月刊》提出這個問題，獲得了廣大的回響，也讓當今一項重要的爭辯成形：我們在享受網路帶來的寶藏之餘，是否犧牲了深度思考和閱讀的能力？
　　現在，卡爾把他的論點發展成至今最吸引人的探索之作，探討網際網路在智能和文化層面造成的影響。數百年來，人類的思考不斷被種種「智能科技」重 新塑造（包括字母系統、地圖、時鐘、印刷術和網際網路），從各種歷史和科學證據來看，大腦會因應我們的經驗而改變。我們用來尋找、儲存和分享資訊的科技， 確確實實改變了我們的神經通道。
　　廣博還是淺薄？這是值得我們深思的問題
　　卡爾彙整了從柏拉圖到麥克魯漢等各個思想家的觀點，說明印刷的書籍如何讓我們集中注意力，促成深度又有創造力的思考；相反地，網際網路鼓勵我們用打游擊的方式到處採集細碎的資訊，並且讓我們不斷被其他東西干擾。如今我們愈來愈習慣快速略讀，卻失去了專注與沉思的能力。
　　現代人與網路的關係愈來愈密不可分，我們有愈來愈多的人生體驗，是透過電腦螢幕上閃爍搖曳的符號來完成的；我們也把大腦的工作自動化，把思想和 記憶交付給強大的雲端系統。人類在享受便利的網路生活之際，卻面臨了更大的思想危機：我們身而為人的知性與感性，正在慢慢消逝。
　　《網路讓我們變笨？》結合了人類智能史、大眾科學和文化評論，全面且深入地探究了現代人的心智狀態。這本書將會永遠改變我們對於媒體和頭腦的想法。
　　◎ 榮登《紐約時報》暢銷書榜
　　◎ 二○一一年普立茲獎非小說類決選入圍

Here is their lecture at Youtube,

“Is Google making us stupid?” When Nicholas Carr posed that question, in a celebrated cover story, he tapped into a well of anxiety about how the Internet is changing us. He also crystallized one of the most important debates of our time: As we enjoy the Net’s bounties, are we sacrificing our ability to read and think deeply? Now, Carr expands his argument into the most compelling exploration of the Internet’s intellectual and cultural consequences yet published. As he describes how human thought has been shaped through the centuries by “tools of the mind”—from the alphabet to maps, to the printing press, the clock, and the computer—Carr interweaves a fascinating account of recent discoveries in neuroscience by such pioneers as Michael Merzenich and Eric Kandel. Our brains, the historical and scientific evidence reveals, change in response to our experiences. The technologies we use to find, store, and share information can literally reroute our neural pathways. Building on the insights of thinkers from Plato to McLuhan, Carr makes a convincing case that every information technology carries an intellectual ethic—a set of assumptions about the nature of knowledge and intelligence. He explains how the printed book served to focus our attention, promoting deep and creative thought. In stark contrast, the Internet encourages the rapid, distracted sampling of small bits of information from many sources. Its ethic is that of the industrialist, an ethic of speed and efficiency, of optimized production and consumption—and now the Net is remaking us in its own image. We are becoming ever more adept at scanning and skimming, but what we are losing is our capacity for concentration, contemplation, and reflection. Part intellectual history, part popular science, and part cultural criticism, sparkles with memorable vignettes—Friedrich Nietzsche wrestling with a typewriter, Sigmund Freud dissecting the brains of sea creatures, Nathaniel Hawthorne contemplating the thunderous approach of a steam locomotive—even as it plumbs profound questions about the state of our modern psyche. This is a book that will forever alter the way we think about media and our minds.

痛苦是最好的導師，讓我成為更好的自己............ Charles Dickens - 察爾斯 狄更斯

痛苦是最好的導師，能使我瞭解你過去心裡的傷痕。
一路走來，願我曾受過的苦痛，

都化為祝福，讓我成為更好的自己。 

Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but - I hope - into a better shape. 

- Charles Dickens 察爾斯 狄更斯 

  (英國維多利亞時代 最偉大的作家) 

- Chinese Translation 中文翻譯：蕾而的平凡生活

閱讀人生 Reading Life

 

Reading is that fruitful miracle of a communication in the midst of solitude
閱讀，能奇蹟般有效觸及你的孤獨，讓你與自我進行交流與對話。

Chinese Translation 中文翻譯：閱讀角落 Reading Corner

生命很浪漫，
像是為一幅畫作上色，而不是加減總和。

Life is romantic. It is painting a picture, not doing a sum.

-Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Chinese Translation 中文翻譯: 閱讀角落 Reading Corner

< End 文完 >

窮得只剩下錢 vs 窮得還有愛

許多人過著窮得只剩下錢的生活，
而這位乞丐則過著窮得還有愛的生活。

生命賦予我們最大的資產，是我們意志上的選擇權，如何活出本質的豐富與精彩，則憑藉著我們對自己的設定。













文: 蕾兒的平凡生活
圖：網路

The Book of Life by J. Krishnamurti

Food for thoughts and soul
很開心能夠在二手書店找到這本書，從此我不須在他們的網站上ㄧ次ㄧ次讀一些些。

能夠以自己的需要與閱讀速度，隨時和這本書相處與交流，我是幸運的。

How lucky I am that I came across this book, The Book of Life, by J. Krishnamurti at a second-hand bookstore, which also made me feel blessed. Now I can read at my pace with a real book instead of reading it just bit by bit from the Facebook page and what's more important is that I will gradually manage to understand what the core value of life should be under the completely new instruction from this influential mentor by myself.