As usual, I put up a quiz for the Chinese Valentine's Day:
既繫禍福之源
復隱陰陽之始
(猜一字)
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Oil
The famous gourmet Chua Lam (蔡瀾) used to say that the best tempura chef leaves not a single drop of grease on the tissue paper.
The comment appears a mystery to me for many years: On one hand it is very true - experienced tempura chefs tend to leave much less grease than the others. On the other hand, it seems incredible because we could observe the difference when the two chefs are using the same ingredients, stove, oil, and even temperature settings of the oil.
However, I saw light during this very lunch. You know what, the amount of grease left actually does not depend on the skill of frying (the determining factor of how good a dish of tempura is), but how much oil could the chef shake away from every newly fried piece of food, which, in turn, is governed by three factors:
The comment appears a mystery to me for many years: On one hand it is very true - experienced tempura chefs tend to leave much less grease than the others. On the other hand, it seems incredible because we could observe the difference when the two chefs are using the same ingredients, stove, oil, and even temperature settings of the oil.
However, I saw light during this very lunch. You know what, the amount of grease left actually does not depend on the skill of frying (the determining factor of how good a dish of tempura is), but how much oil could the chef shake away from every newly fried piece of food, which, in turn, is governed by three factors:
- the skill of holding chopsticks
- physical strength of the wrist and forearm
- how meticulous the chef is
Friday, February 26, 2010
Tempura
Lunch with Vivian in a Japanese restaurant specialized in tempura.
We've tried this one some years ago, and the dishes are always superb. This time, while I was busy with the deep fried veges, my wife suddenly said, "Do you notice that man?" She pointed at a middle-age chef, "He's probably the most senior one besides the main chef from Japan. He is very smart and could always spot who needs some more tea or their table cleaned."
"Well, I see the same thing, but have a different conclusion." I found myself Hercule Poirot and was speaking to Arthur Hastings.
"Eh ..." obviously my wife could not see what I meant.
"Yes, he stands there and is quick to spot what we customers need. It gives him all the bonus. But, remember, he is a chef - and I did not quite see him attending the stove or the food."
I refrained myself from saying the word window dressing - human being could not face too much reality.
We've tried this one some years ago, and the dishes are always superb. This time, while I was busy with the deep fried veges, my wife suddenly said, "Do you notice that man?" She pointed at a middle-age chef, "He's probably the most senior one besides the main chef from Japan. He is very smart and could always spot who needs some more tea or their table cleaned."
"Well, I see the same thing, but have a different conclusion." I found myself Hercule Poirot and was speaking to Arthur Hastings.
"Eh ..." obviously my wife could not see what I meant.
"Yes, he stands there and is quick to spot what we customers need. It gives him all the bonus. But, remember, he is a chef - and I did not quite see him attending the stove or the food."
I refrained myself from saying the word window dressing - human being could not face too much reality.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Cooperate
You may not aware of the fact that it is indeed illuminating to try Monoply with three AI players.
To begin with, you could choose how sophisticated your opponents are - from a group of simple minded beginners to three quasi-experts, each of whom has their own calculation.
The point is, it is actually not more easy to defeat three naive AIs than shrewd ones. In fact, usually it's the other way round.
The reason is, naive AI players all follow simple rules, and it is very easy to fix up a mutually beneficial trade between two of them. In contrast, more calculating strategies include considerations to minimize the gain of their opponents - not uncommonly result in a slightly less favorable decision to oneself.
The same phenomenon has been proved by studies in game theory of economics decades ago.
To begin with, you could choose how sophisticated your opponents are - from a group of simple minded beginners to three quasi-experts, each of whom has their own calculation.
The point is, it is actually not more easy to defeat three naive AIs than shrewd ones. In fact, usually it's the other way round.
The reason is, naive AI players all follow simple rules, and it is very easy to fix up a mutually beneficial trade between two of them. In contrast, more calculating strategies include considerations to minimize the gain of their opponents - not uncommonly result in a slightly less favorable decision to oneself.
The same phenomenon has been proved by studies in game theory of economics decades ago.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Monopoly
Talking about Monopoly, you may not know it is the only game that I paid to install in my iPhone, and I still play quite a bit over weekends with the three players with artificial intelligence.
You know, many people consider Monopoly not a enjoyable board game - it just lingers on without anyone going to bankrupt. In reality, if you follow strictly the original rules, which could be found in the set or on-line, the market follows an exponential growth, with the bubble bursts in around an hour.
**************************************
I must declare there is tinge of obsession to Monopoly for me. I had a set when I entered secondary school - it was a present from a distant auntie. At that time, my family was living from hand to mouth, and the board and houses and paper money and all the pieces received a big cheer. I still remember it cost HK$180 - when HSBC was selling below HK$5 per share (before splitting).
Soon after I received the expensive gift, I realized my auntie, who used to be not much more well off than my parents, made her money by leverage trading in the gold market. In fact, she also bought herself a new car, many purses, handbags, and clothes.
The problem was, the gold market crashed and remained stagnant in the following years. The car, purses, handbags, clothes, and what not, all vanished into thin air. (To me, they seemed to have traded back to the Community Chest in the Monopoly.)
Behind the game of paper money, going on there was actually a game of real money - in flesh and blood, literally.
I learned a lesson.
You know, many people consider Monopoly not a enjoyable board game - it just lingers on without anyone going to bankrupt. In reality, if you follow strictly the original rules, which could be found in the set or on-line, the market follows an exponential growth, with the bubble bursts in around an hour.
**************************************
I must declare there is tinge of obsession to Monopoly for me. I had a set when I entered secondary school - it was a present from a distant auntie. At that time, my family was living from hand to mouth, and the board and houses and paper money and all the pieces received a big cheer. I still remember it cost HK$180 - when HSBC was selling below HK$5 per share (before splitting).
Soon after I received the expensive gift, I realized my auntie, who used to be not much more well off than my parents, made her money by leverage trading in the gold market. In fact, she also bought herself a new car, many purses, handbags, and clothes.
The problem was, the gold market crashed and remained stagnant in the following years. The car, purses, handbags, clothes, and what not, all vanished into thin air. (To me, they seemed to have traded back to the Community Chest in the Monopoly.)
Behind the game of paper money, going on there was actually a game of real money - in flesh and blood, literally.
I learned a lesson.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Apartment
(Our luncheon discussion continued.)
"Although you may think our friends in mainland have much research money, the amount is actually trivial - if you compare to that of the price of any apartment in the Mid-Level." one of us pointed out.
I considered for a while, and added, "Nonetheless, it is still entirely right to look north for research money. You know, our local grants are so small that it is not enough even for the premium of an apartment in the Home Ownership Scheme (居屋) - maybe its only good for buying a house in Monopoly !"
We all laughed, though not without a sense of bitterness.
WY remarked, "The Monopoly game suffers inflation as well. You know what, the new version has marked up all the price."
"Maybe, even for Monopoly, our grant money is only good for an old house that is about to fall apart." I say to myself.
PS. To be exact, monetary values were multiplied by 10,000 in the 2006 US version.
"Although you may think our friends in mainland have much research money, the amount is actually trivial - if you compare to that of the price of any apartment in the Mid-Level." one of us pointed out.
I considered for a while, and added, "Nonetheless, it is still entirely right to look north for research money. You know, our local grants are so small that it is not enough even for the premium of an apartment in the Home Ownership Scheme (居屋) - maybe its only good for buying a house in Monopoly !"
We all laughed, though not without a sense of bitterness.
WY remarked, "The Monopoly game suffers inflation as well. You know what, the new version has marked up all the price."
"Maybe, even for Monopoly, our grant money is only good for an old house that is about to fall apart." I say to myself.
PS. To be exact, monetary values were multiplied by 10,000 in the 2006 US version.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Provost
Lunch with LS and WY.
"PS is on leave. You know, she is quite disappointed after attending the meeting with provost." The former said.
"Oh, I was not there. What's up ?" I said.
"The provost said that there is no need to have so many publications - you only need a Nature in ten years."
"That's literally correct, and also what our man from Pluto always says." I added, "In fact I know of one person who really did it." (I refrained myself from saying that that happened long before universities regularly monitor the research output of their academic staff.)
"OK ... OK ..." my friend certainly saw that I was not helpful, and she added, "The provost also said that, for grant money, we have to look north."
"Quite true. Our friends in mainland are never short of research money." I agreed, "Just that we need to have collaborative work with them. Nowadays, they are so self-sufficient that I do not see where lies our added value."
WY chipped in, "Many a time you could not take the money back here - the research work must be done within mainland."
"Very true," LS sighed, "By the way, is it the reason that a satellite institute is set up north to the SZ River ?"
I smiled, "Do you know why Chairman Mao's body is put in the Mausoleum ?"
The two girls looked startled.
"For displaying." I continued.
"PS is on leave. You know, she is quite disappointed after attending the meeting with provost." The former said.
"Oh, I was not there. What's up ?" I said.
"The provost said that there is no need to have so many publications - you only need a Nature in ten years."
"That's literally correct, and also what our man from Pluto always says." I added, "In fact I know of one person who really did it." (I refrained myself from saying that that happened long before universities regularly monitor the research output of their academic staff.)
"OK ... OK ..." my friend certainly saw that I was not helpful, and she added, "The provost also said that, for grant money, we have to look north."
"Quite true. Our friends in mainland are never short of research money." I agreed, "Just that we need to have collaborative work with them. Nowadays, they are so self-sufficient that I do not see where lies our added value."
WY chipped in, "Many a time you could not take the money back here - the research work must be done within mainland."
"Very true," LS sighed, "By the way, is it the reason that a satellite institute is set up north to the SZ River ?"
I smiled, "Do you know why Chairman Mao's body is put in the Mausoleum ?"
The two girls looked startled.
"For displaying." I continued.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Samgiti
While talking about the early history of Buddhism, it may have skipped your eyes its relation with the chronology of scientific development.
First, let's get the numbers right. Gautama Buddha (釋迦牟尼) was born in 563 BC and died in 483 BC. His theory was organized in the First Buddhist Council (第一次结集) shortly after his death, and perpetuated as Buddhism in the following centuries.
The catch is: Buddhist Council is the modern English translation of what happened, which, together with the traditional translation in Chinese (结集), implies that a group of experts came together, reached a conclusion, and - in modern sense - published a conference report.
However, the technology of having a written record (pen and paper) did not reach India before 100 BC. (The exact time is actually unknown; most authorities believe it was actually after the birth of Jesus.) The original Council was called Samgiti in Pali (巴利文), which means gathering and reciting together. What happened was, in reality, Buddha's teaching was declaimed by two of his senior students, Ananda (阿難) and Upali (優婆離), checked by the Mahakassapa (摩訶迦葉) - the chairman and also the most senior student of Buddha, and then rehearsed by all 500 delegates of the Council.
You see the problem here ? For nearly 500 years, the Buddhism theory passed from one generation to another by verbal teaching - without a written record. If you have ever try the megaphone game (傳聲筒遊戲), the implication is obvious.
First, let's get the numbers right. Gautama Buddha (釋迦牟尼) was born in 563 BC and died in 483 BC. His theory was organized in the First Buddhist Council (第一次结集) shortly after his death, and perpetuated as Buddhism in the following centuries.
The catch is: Buddhist Council is the modern English translation of what happened, which, together with the traditional translation in Chinese (结集), implies that a group of experts came together, reached a conclusion, and - in modern sense - published a conference report.
However, the technology of having a written record (pen and paper) did not reach India before 100 BC. (The exact time is actually unknown; most authorities believe it was actually after the birth of Jesus.) The original Council was called Samgiti in Pali (巴利文), which means gathering and reciting together. What happened was, in reality, Buddha's teaching was declaimed by two of his senior students, Ananda (阿難) and Upali (優婆離), checked by the Mahakassapa (摩訶迦葉) - the chairman and also the most senior student of Buddha, and then rehearsed by all 500 delegates of the Council.
You see the problem here ? For nearly 500 years, the Buddhism theory passed from one generation to another by verbal teaching - without a written record. If you have ever try the megaphone game (傳聲筒遊戲), the implication is obvious.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Samsara
I used the term reincarnation yesterday, but that's not entirely correct. The phenomenon has a poetic name: Samsara. (It happens when Sam meets Sara - rather romantic in a sense.)
Although reincarnation and samsara have the same Chinese translation (輪迴) and very similar meaning in modern Hinduism, there is a fundamental difference. The former describes the belief that after somebody's death, their soul lives again in a new body. The latter, however, in its original use, referred to the very fact that during the course of our worldly life, what we do determines the future destiny of ourselves - and the world that we are living.
Yes, you can have a purely philosophical interpretation; no superstition is needed. For example, if you calculate every penny to decide your action, people around would do the same to you - and you live in a world of calculation; if you resolve every problem by guns and bombs, you create a world of violence. We create something that we could not escape - Buddha called it the Wheel of Life, or The Six Realms (六道輪迴).
In traditional Buddhism, the six realms are (from bottome to top):
PS. You may ask: What's left for the hell ?
My friend, that's the original sin.
Although reincarnation and samsara have the same Chinese translation (輪迴) and very similar meaning in modern Hinduism, there is a fundamental difference. The former describes the belief that after somebody's death, their soul lives again in a new body. The latter, however, in its original use, referred to the very fact that during the course of our worldly life, what we do determines the future destiny of ourselves - and the world that we are living.
Yes, you can have a purely philosophical interpretation; no superstition is needed. For example, if you calculate every penny to decide your action, people around would do the same to you - and you live in a world of calculation; if you resolve every problem by guns and bombs, you create a world of violence. We create something that we could not escape - Buddha called it the Wheel of Life, or The Six Realms (六道輪迴).
In traditional Buddhism, the six realms are (from bottome to top):
- hell
- preta (hungry ghost)
- animal
- asura
- human
- god
PS. You may ask: What's left for the hell ?
My friend, that's the original sin.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Shabake
During the CNY holiday, I read Shabake (娑婆氣) of Hatakenaka Megumi (畠中恵). It is a hybrid story of detective and thriller - another book I borrowed from AL.
The book is very much similar to those by Miyuki Miyabe (宮部美幸) and I shall not elaborate here. The meaning of Shabake, however, is not without interest.
According to Hatakenaka, the term means the heart that has been blinded and controlled by fame, money, and other calculations on earth. Nonetheless, I could not find the origin of the term Shabake. Shaba (娑婆), on the other hand, appears in ancient literature of Hinduism and Buddhism; it means the world that we are living.
The traditional Chinese translation of Shaba is, with a sense of black humour, To Tolerate (堪忍).
What do we have to tolerate on earth ? By Buddhism, they are the Ten Sins (十惡) and Three Poisons (三毒).
I shall not describe all ten sins, but the last three refer to Sins of the Idea (意惡業), which are the same as the three poisons: greed (貪), anger (嗔), and obsession (癡). They are the major (and possibly only) factors that keep us in this world of reincarnation.
PS. You see where we are getting at ? What Buddha said was: We have to tolerate ourselves !
The book is very much similar to those by Miyuki Miyabe (宮部美幸) and I shall not elaborate here. The meaning of Shabake, however, is not without interest.
According to Hatakenaka, the term means the heart that has been blinded and controlled by fame, money, and other calculations on earth. Nonetheless, I could not find the origin of the term Shabake. Shaba (娑婆), on the other hand, appears in ancient literature of Hinduism and Buddhism; it means the world that we are living.
The traditional Chinese translation of Shaba is, with a sense of black humour, To Tolerate (堪忍).
What do we have to tolerate on earth ? By Buddhism, they are the Ten Sins (十惡) and Three Poisons (三毒).
I shall not describe all ten sins, but the last three refer to Sins of the Idea (意惡業), which are the same as the three poisons: greed (貪), anger (嗔), and obsession (癡). They are the major (and possibly only) factors that keep us in this world of reincarnation.
PS. You see where we are getting at ? What Buddha said was: We have to tolerate ourselves !
Thursday, February 18, 2010
不高興
Overheard the dialog between a couple - on the Valentine's day.
*******************************
"I tell you this: I am not happy." The girl said.
"Eh ... ?" Her little boyfriend was at a lost.
"Listen. I have make a lot of money in these years, and, in fact, you owe me quite some penny. You have to stop leading the way and say this and that. I am not happy. I hold the purse and I should lead. Do you remember, a few years ago, I already made it clear. I have the money. I could say no !"
The man was silent. He wished to say it was the girl's mother - her landlady - who made a lot of money. But he swallowed the idea back.
At last, he said, with a not-that-pacifying tone, "Yes, yes. In fact you could always express your opinion and say no to any of my suggestion if you do not find acceptable - it does not depend on the amount of money in your purse. After all, your self-esteem should not be based on money or whatever. If you do not first respect yourself, who else would do so ?"
*******************************
On this, I would slightly modify the saying of Su Xun (蘇洵) in An Essay on the Six Kingdoms (六國論):
茍以天下之大，而從閨閣女兒之故事，是又在村間愚婦下矣！
*******************************
"I tell you this: I am not happy." The girl said.
"Eh ... ?" Her little boyfriend was at a lost.
"Listen. I have make a lot of money in these years, and, in fact, you owe me quite some penny. You have to stop leading the way and say this and that. I am not happy. I hold the purse and I should lead. Do you remember, a few years ago, I already made it clear. I have the money. I could say no !"
The man was silent. He wished to say it was the girl's mother - her landlady - who made a lot of money. But he swallowed the idea back.
At last, he said, with a not-that-pacifying tone, "Yes, yes. In fact you could always express your opinion and say no to any of my suggestion if you do not find acceptable - it does not depend on the amount of money in your purse. After all, your self-esteem should not be based on money or whatever. If you do not first respect yourself, who else would do so ?"
*******************************
On this, I would slightly modify the saying of Su Xun (蘇洵) in An Essay on the Six Kingdoms (六國論):
茍以天下之大，而從閨閣女兒之故事，是又在村間愚婦下矣！
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Successor
During the holiday, I skipped through the recently released annual report of a local bank.
I must say I have no interest what so ever to put my money on it, but a remark of the chairman - when he was asked when he would step down and pass the position to his son - caught my notice:
"When we really recover from the financial tsunami, and our net profit has returned to the 2007 level."
It sounds great, eh ? Just that a scene in Demi-gods and Semi-devils (天龍八部) of Jin Yong (金庸) came through my mind.
*******************************
During a family crisis, the King of Dali (大理) asked for the help from his close friend, who was a senior monk of a small temple.
The Buddhist agreed, but in return he requested the King to cut down the salt tax of the country, which was a heavy burden to many Dali people.
The King sighed, "You mentioned this some years ago. In fact I intended to cancel all salt tax when my younger brother take up the reign some years later - so that the Dali people would consider that a benevolent policy of the new king."
(The original text was: "五年之前，師兄命我免了大理百姓的鹽稅 ... 小弟意欲待吾弟正淳接位，再行此項仁政，以便庶民歸德吾弟。")
Another reason why the after-eighty generation has so much difficulty.
I must say I have no interest what so ever to put my money on it, but a remark of the chairman - when he was asked when he would step down and pass the position to his son - caught my notice:
"When we really recover from the financial tsunami, and our net profit has returned to the 2007 level."
It sounds great, eh ? Just that a scene in Demi-gods and Semi-devils (天龍八部) of Jin Yong (金庸) came through my mind.
*******************************
During a family crisis, the King of Dali (大理) asked for the help from his close friend, who was a senior monk of a small temple.
The Buddhist agreed, but in return he requested the King to cut down the salt tax of the country, which was a heavy burden to many Dali people.
The King sighed, "You mentioned this some years ago. In fact I intended to cancel all salt tax when my younger brother take up the reign some years later - so that the Dali people would consider that a benevolent policy of the new king."
(The original text was: "五年之前，師兄命我免了大理百姓的鹽稅 ... 小弟意欲待吾弟正淳接位，再行此項仁政，以便庶民歸德吾弟。")
Another reason why the after-eighty generation has so much difficulty.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Work
During an (official) CNY gathering, I met H and L - both clinicians but worked in different hospitals.
"Hi, H, long time no see. In fact you seem not coming to our committee meeting for ages." L was usually the one who brought up a tasteful discussion.
"Uh huh ... Just too busy to attend everything," H murmured, "You see, many a time I am not even able to finish with the homework assigned by the committee ..." (Like the English cabinet, our committee regularly sends boxes of files to its members for perusal. To say the least, it is often a trying task.)
"Quite true," L remarked, "By the way, why don't you bring home those boxes so that you could finish ?"
H turned his head away and looked into my eyes in horror. I was lost in the smell of the atmosphere and the flavour of the words.
On my way back, I could not stopped thinking of Ronald Reagan's story when he was the governor of California.
********************************
One day, when Reagan was about to off work at 4:45 PM, he met one of his juniors - who was hurrying to a meeting.
"I need to stay late. The meeting is very important, and we have lots of urgent matters to take care of." The official explained, with a hue of dissatisfaction to his boss.
"I think both of us should go home early rather," the later-to-be president was unmoved, "If I have to work for 16 hours a day to be a state governor, how could I take up a higher post in the future ?"
PS. I told this story some two years ago in this blog. It doesn't matter. As Andre Gide pointed out: Everything has been said - but nobody was listening.
"Hi, H, long time no see. In fact you seem not coming to our committee meeting for ages." L was usually the one who brought up a tasteful discussion.
"Uh huh ... Just too busy to attend everything," H murmured, "You see, many a time I am not even able to finish with the homework assigned by the committee ..." (Like the English cabinet, our committee regularly sends boxes of files to its members for perusal. To say the least, it is often a trying task.)
"Quite true," L remarked, "By the way, why don't you bring home those boxes so that you could finish ?"
H turned his head away and looked into my eyes in horror. I was lost in the smell of the atmosphere and the flavour of the words.
On my way back, I could not stopped thinking of Ronald Reagan's story when he was the governor of California.
********************************
One day, when Reagan was about to off work at 4:45 PM, he met one of his juniors - who was hurrying to a meeting.
"I need to stay late. The meeting is very important, and we have lots of urgent matters to take care of." The official explained, with a hue of dissatisfaction to his boss.
"I think both of us should go home early rather," the later-to-be president was unmoved, "If I have to work for 16 hours a day to be a state governor, how could I take up a higher post in the future ?"
PS. I told this story some two years ago in this blog. It doesn't matter. As Andre Gide pointed out: Everything has been said - but nobody was listening.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Half
It is my habit to borrow books for Euterpe from our local public library every week. One of the book that I recently picked - by accident, I must say - was McMug Halves a Cake.
To my surprise, the story turns out to be exceptionally illuminating for even an adult.
Since I must have spoiled your appetite recently, let me share the story with you here.
*********************************
McMug and McDull made a a large cream cake. They used flour, sugar, eggs, butter, cream, and lots of fruits - cherries, strawberries, pineapples, kiwis, and what not.
When the cake was done, they shared it with each other. McMug brought a knife and cut it carefully.
The cake was duly halved. Just that when McDull took a close look, he found that his share had one fewer cherry than McMug's.
They decided to make a further division to make everything equal.
That's done. The cherries were even out. But, when they looked at it now, the share of McMug had half a slice of kiwi fewer than his friend.
The two decided to cut the cake further to make sure there's no inequality. They chopped and cut and incised and, after a much hard work, they finished.
This time, they were satisfied. The two shares had the same amount of cream, same number of cherry, strawberry, pineapple, kiwi, and everything.
But, the two pigs were not happy ... because the cake was minced to all crumbs and debris !
To my surprise, the story turns out to be exceptionally illuminating for even an adult.
Since I must have spoiled your appetite recently, let me share the story with you here.
*********************************
McMug and McDull made a a large cream cake. They used flour, sugar, eggs, butter, cream, and lots of fruits - cherries, strawberries, pineapples, kiwis, and what not.
When the cake was done, they shared it with each other. McMug brought a knife and cut it carefully.
The cake was duly halved. Just that when McDull took a close look, he found that his share had one fewer cherry than McMug's.
They decided to make a further division to make everything equal.
That's done. The cherries were even out. But, when they looked at it now, the share of McMug had half a slice of kiwi fewer than his friend.
The two decided to cut the cake further to make sure there's no inequality. They chopped and cut and incised and, after a much hard work, they finished.
This time, they were satisfied. The two shares had the same amount of cream, same number of cherry, strawberry, pineapple, kiwi, and everything.
But, the two pigs were not happy ... because the cake was minced to all crumbs and debris !
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Solo
In an evening shortly before the CNY, Vivian and I passed the McDonald's next to our home. My wife remarked, "It's phenomenal to see so few people inside. Everyone seems going home for dinner.
"Even if they are alone and have no place to go, not very many people would like to eat in a McDonald's during this time of a year," I remarked, "Alas, it is a real difficulty to find a decent place to dine - or lunch - alone. We should have a local guide of, say, 100 best places for solo dining."
Vivian chuckled, and was forced to agree, "To say the least, all traditional Chinese restaurants are not suitable."
"Quite right. And the next book people need would be recipes of 100 dishes for eating alone. You know, it is actually a trying task to cook for youreself - if there's nobody else to share the food with you. I had enough experience after living in Bristol for a year."
Vivian nodded. The only thing I didn't tell her right the way was I am too happy for not having that need any more.
Happy Valentine's Day.
"Even if they are alone and have no place to go, not very many people would like to eat in a McDonald's during this time of a year," I remarked, "Alas, it is a real difficulty to find a decent place to dine - or lunch - alone. We should have a local guide of, say, 100 best places for solo dining."
Vivian chuckled, and was forced to agree, "To say the least, all traditional Chinese restaurants are not suitable."
"Quite right. And the next book people need would be recipes of 100 dishes for eating alone. You know, it is actually a trying task to cook for youreself - if there's nobody else to share the food with you. I had enough experience after living in Bristol for a year."
Vivian nodded. The only thing I didn't tell her right the way was I am too happy for not having that need any more.
Happy Valentine's Day.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Dinner
Had a family gathering for the New Year eve in a traditional Hangzhou restaurant.
As usual, Vivian chose the place and I fixed the menu:
前菜
龍井蝦仁
三鮮魚圓
東坡肉
叫化雞
炒杭州時菜
春筍扒豆苗
生煎鍋貼
煎八寶飯
Kung Hei Fat Choi !
PS. Met WB - a previous colleague of mine and an expert in Chinese astrology - at the place. I believe that's a good sign.
As usual, Vivian chose the place and I fixed the menu:
前菜
- 蝦油浸雞
- 炸響鈴
- 素鵝
- 醬鴨
- 酒糟魚干
- 青瓜海蜇
龍井蝦仁
三鮮魚圓
東坡肉
叫化雞
炒杭州時菜
春筍扒豆苗
生煎鍋貼
煎八寶飯
Kung Hei Fat Choi !
PS. Met WB - a previous colleague of mine and an expert in Chinese astrology - at the place. I believe that's a good sign.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Means
You may think my declaration yesterday not timely, but there is some other consideration that may skip your eyes:
General election (or a democratic system) is the means, not the aim.
What I mean is we should aim for a society with no corruption, no secret agreement between billionaires and senior government officials, the opinion of the majority is followed while that of the others is listened to and respected, or any other desirable character that you could name. (Alas, the ultimate aim of us should be leading a happy and peaceful life. That's something we often forget.)
And, general election or some other democratic system is associated with these desirable characters.
Let me use the standard of medical research. The two things are associated, but a casual relationship could not be established, and the correlation coefficient is often rather weak.
Even if the relation is a causal one, to use the jargon of logic, we could be sure that general election is not a sufficient condition for no corruption and so forth. (Yes, democracy may be a necessary condition - on the prerequisite that the relationship is causal; I belief general election - as a specific form of democracy - would be exceedingly unlikely to be a necessary condition.)
I shouldn't say any more to spoil your appetite.
General election (or a democratic system) is the means, not the aim.
What I mean is we should aim for a society with no corruption, no secret agreement between billionaires and senior government officials, the opinion of the majority is followed while that of the others is listened to and respected, or any other desirable character that you could name. (Alas, the ultimate aim of us should be leading a happy and peaceful life. That's something we often forget.)
And, general election or some other democratic system is associated with these desirable characters.
Let me use the standard of medical research. The two things are associated, but a casual relationship could not be established, and the correlation coefficient is often rather weak.
Even if the relation is a causal one, to use the jargon of logic, we could be sure that general election is not a sufficient condition for no corruption and so forth. (Yes, democracy may be a necessary condition - on the prerequisite that the relationship is causal; I belief general election - as a specific form of democracy - would be exceedingly unlikely to be a necessary condition.)
I shouldn't say any more to spoil your appetite.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Election
To begin with, I must declare I am against a general election.
Specifically, I'm against electing the head of a government by a system of one-person-one-vote of all the citizens. (I have not such a strong opinion against the concept that every one has the right to vote for some representative in the parliament or legislative council. That's another story.)
And, for that reason, I am disappointed with the recent so-called modified referendum. Our by-their-name supporters to democracy do not consider the single prerequisite of referendum or democracy: to give a choice of expressing the opposite opinion.
In other words, I could not come out and vote against a general election. (Their naive idea is everyone who vote must be supporting their proposal - I am not.)
You may argue it's not their fault - all of the nominal communists refuse to join the game, so that there is no choice. But, may I remind you, from the very beginning our "democratic" friends did not consider the possibility of a single vote against general election, and therefore they proposed to use the voter turnout as the marker of success. Opposition ? Please keep your mouth shut at home.
PS. More importantly, while planning the modified referendum, couldn't they anticipate the few possible strategies that the other side would take, and plan according actions ? (By definition, your enemy would not follow the rule that you prefer.) If our creme de la creme experts in politics do not comprehend the basic rules of game theory and could not plan things ahead carefully, how could we rely on them to take care of our city ?
Specifically, I'm against electing the head of a government by a system of one-person-one-vote of all the citizens. (I have not such a strong opinion against the concept that every one has the right to vote for some representative in the parliament or legislative council. That's another story.)
And, for that reason, I am disappointed with the recent so-called modified referendum. Our by-their-name supporters to democracy do not consider the single prerequisite of referendum or democracy: to give a choice of expressing the opposite opinion.
In other words, I could not come out and vote against a general election. (Their naive idea is everyone who vote must be supporting their proposal - I am not.)
You may argue it's not their fault - all of the nominal communists refuse to join the game, so that there is no choice. But, may I remind you, from the very beginning our "democratic" friends did not consider the possibility of a single vote against general election, and therefore they proposed to use the voter turnout as the marker of success. Opposition ? Please keep your mouth shut at home.
PS. More importantly, while planning the modified referendum, couldn't they anticipate the few possible strategies that the other side would take, and plan according actions ? (By definition, your enemy would not follow the rule that you prefer.) If our creme de la creme experts in politics do not comprehend the basic rules of game theory and could not plan things ahead carefully, how could we rely on them to take care of our city ?
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Four-letter
Another recent example of mistaking means as the aim is our honorably council's decision to forbid doctors to use four-letter words to their patients.
I would not elaborate my feeling to the decision. (You would find a wonderful collection of feelings and emotions in the Facebook.) Nonetheless, our friends living outside the solar system does make a crucial mistake and their decision is against a basic principle of legislation:
One should not put up a law because it is morally right or wrong; we should only put up one that could be judged by objective means.
Violation of this principle would result in a law that brings much litigation argument but does not protect the right of any.
You see the point here ? There is no objective definition of a colourful spicy vigorous explicit offending intimidating language; an incriminating phrase to one may be merely an innocent adverb and local slang to another.
(We don't need to extrapolate very far to find an example. Not too long ago, a certain Mr. Tsang said gout up in a formal meeting of the legislative council. You may consider that not appropriate, but many of our senior officials would interpret that as dogs' barking, quarreling, or possibly some problem related to uric acid.)
After all, we do not need a hot and spicy wording to convey our meaning.
For example: They are King Nikochan.
I would not elaborate my feeling to the decision. (You would find a wonderful collection of feelings and emotions in the Facebook.) Nonetheless, our friends living outside the solar system does make a crucial mistake and their decision is against a basic principle of legislation:
One should not put up a law because it is morally right or wrong; we should only put up one that could be judged by objective means.
Violation of this principle would result in a law that brings much litigation argument but does not protect the right of any.
You see the point here ? There is no objective definition of a colourful spicy vigorous explicit offending intimidating language; an incriminating phrase to one may be merely an innocent adverb and local slang to another.
(We don't need to extrapolate very far to find an example. Not too long ago, a certain Mr. Tsang said gout up in a formal meeting of the legislative council. You may consider that not appropriate, but many of our senior officials would interpret that as dogs' barking, quarreling, or possibly some problem related to uric acid.)
After all, we do not need a hot and spicy wording to convey our meaning.
For example: They are King Nikochan.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Volume
While thinking of the choice of medical textbook, my memory brought me back to the student days.
Many of you may know I used Harrison's during medical school. Although the whole thing has an arm-breaking weight, it was conveniently divided into two volumes in those days: Book I covered approach to clinical problems, infectious disease, and cardiology, while Book II dealt with the other sub-specialties. The result was I brought only Book II around with me (after finishing cardiology in the summer vacation), leaving the other half for long holidays.
Later when I became a physician trainee, I mentioned this to the man who still had a moustache during a casual conversation, and the mischievous nephrologist could not stop laughing.
"Why ! I brought Book I around when I was a student because only the part on clinical approach is important !" My mentor pointed out.
On this, I would slightly modified the sayings of Ayn Rand to express my view:
The truth is universal; it finds the textbook only as a medium of expression.
Many of you may know I used Harrison's during medical school. Although the whole thing has an arm-breaking weight, it was conveniently divided into two volumes in those days: Book I covered approach to clinical problems, infectious disease, and cardiology, while Book II dealt with the other sub-specialties. The result was I brought only Book II around with me (after finishing cardiology in the summer vacation), leaving the other half for long holidays.
Later when I became a physician trainee, I mentioned this to the man who still had a moustache during a casual conversation, and the mischievous nephrologist could not stop laughing.
"Why ! I brought Book I around when I was a student because only the part on clinical approach is important !" My mentor pointed out.
On this, I would slightly modified the sayings of Ayn Rand to express my view:
The truth is universal; it finds the textbook only as a medium of expression.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Textbook
What would you do if you are allowed to bring one textbook to attend the final examination? (Let's confine ourselves to the written examination for the moment.)
Simple. Rather than studying and trying to recite all those information, one would equip their own textbook as much as possible: key words would be highlighted, bookmarks and memo papers are here and there, with notes scribbled all over.
And it is human. We feel we know everything about medicine by having at hand an encyclopedic textbook. Similarly, we believe we have learnt the material after highlighting the book during reading, or we have a grip on our own life by possessing a lovely Moleskine diary.
It is so easy to mistake means as the aim.
PS. One interesting consequence and (to me) favorable side effect would be the selection of a dedicated textbook by each student. In fact, I would be long to see how many of them would continue to use the one published by our own department rather those internationally renowned classics.
Simple. Rather than studying and trying to recite all those information, one would equip their own textbook as much as possible: key words would be highlighted, bookmarks and memo papers are here and there, with notes scribbled all over.
And it is human. We feel we know everything about medicine by having at hand an encyclopedic textbook. Similarly, we believe we have learnt the material after highlighting the book during reading, or we have a grip on our own life by possessing a lovely Moleskine diary.
It is so easy to mistake means as the aim.
PS. One interesting consequence and (to me) favorable side effect would be the selection of a dedicated textbook by each student. In fact, I would be long to see how many of them would continue to use the one published by our own department rather those internationally renowned classics.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Consequence
I was a little surprised to find so many of my friends supporting an open book examination for our medical students.
You know what, after that blog, I actually gave some thought and considered how that could actually work out. Should we limit the number of book to be brought by each student, or limit the total weight of the books ? Do we accept books enriched with sticky notes and handwriting ? How about lecture notes ? Again, do we limit the number of pages or the weight ? If we go for further, who is going to count, and do we count those tiny sticky note papers ?
(I would go mad once I begin to think of allowing computers.)
Of course it is all because of my paranoid personality. One can always follow examples (say, examination of law students) and, to begin with, allow one book - which could include a reasonable number of sticky notes and handwritten material.
As a believer of the game theory, my next question is: How would that affect the behaviour of our students ?
I give you a day to imagine.
You know what, after that blog, I actually gave some thought and considered how that could actually work out. Should we limit the number of book to be brought by each student, or limit the total weight of the books ? Do we accept books enriched with sticky notes and handwriting ? How about lecture notes ? Again, do we limit the number of pages or the weight ? If we go for further, who is going to count, and do we count those tiny sticky note papers ?
(I would go mad once I begin to think of allowing computers.)
Of course it is all because of my paranoid personality. One can always follow examples (say, examination of law students) and, to begin with, allow one book - which could include a reasonable number of sticky notes and handwritten material.
As a believer of the game theory, my next question is: How would that affect the behaviour of our students ?
I give you a day to imagine.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Moleskine
There is a recent recrudescence of interest in using the traditional Moleskine notebook. Chua Lam (蔡瀾) mentioned it in his daily column, and a little friend of us actually posted a video clip that compares iPhone and Moleskine in his Facebook wall.
I was so impressed that I almost rushed to order a new Moleskine on line.
I gave up at the last minute, when I remembered there is already a hard-cover notebook in my pocket. Although I still carry with it everywhere I go, my need of referring to it has dropped to almost zero: I have so many appointments (and they keep changing) that I am forced to organize my activity in the Google calender (which synchronizes with my iPhone). A similar problem - and resolution - happened to my contacts. I used to write down some ad hoc ideas and things to do on the notebook, but now I prefer typing them electronically (because of my deteriorating handwriting).
Alas, now the only thing that I refer to my notebook is to check on the equation for the calculation of glomerular filtration rate - which I use so often but could never remember.
PS. After my urge to buy a Moleskine, I actually bought a little notepad software for my iPhone - paid by my remuneration for my chapters in the department textbook.
I was so impressed that I almost rushed to order a new Moleskine on line.
I gave up at the last minute, when I remembered there is already a hard-cover notebook in my pocket. Although I still carry with it everywhere I go, my need of referring to it has dropped to almost zero: I have so many appointments (and they keep changing) that I am forced to organize my activity in the Google calender (which synchronizes with my iPhone). A similar problem - and resolution - happened to my contacts. I used to write down some ad hoc ideas and things to do on the notebook, but now I prefer typing them electronically (because of my deteriorating handwriting).
Alas, now the only thing that I refer to my notebook is to check on the equation for the calculation of glomerular filtration rate - which I use so often but could never remember.
PS. After my urge to buy a Moleskine, I actually bought a little notepad software for my iPhone - paid by my remuneration for my chapters in the department textbook.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Kokuhaku
My recent bedtime reading is Kokuhaku (告白) by Kanae Minato (湊佳苗) - I borrow it from AL.
The story is not at all exciting but well told. To me, it is the written mimic of some cubism painting by Palbo Picasso: A single event was outlined by five persons, each with their own view and contributes to the overall picture.
In a sense, this way of telling a story is a slight twist of The Long Murder (長い長い殺人) by Miyuki Miyabe (宮部美幸), who is more imaginative by using ten purses from the first-hand perspective. Nonetheless, the real pioneer of this trick was Ryunosuke Akutagawa (芥川龍之介). In his masterpiece In a Grove (藪の中), all seven witnesses gave an entirely different story, so much so that one could never tell what did actually happen - or whether there exists a reality at all. (Yes, that's the movie Rashomon [羅生門] of Akira Kurosawa [黒澤明].)
PS. The final chapter of Kokuhaku is a kind of self confession, which turns out to be an anti-climax. I'm quite disappointed. Alas, after the confession of Justice Wargrave in And Then There Were None, who could do a better job ?
The story is not at all exciting but well told. To me, it is the written mimic of some cubism painting by Palbo Picasso: A single event was outlined by five persons, each with their own view and contributes to the overall picture.
In a sense, this way of telling a story is a slight twist of The Long Murder (長い長い殺人) by Miyuki Miyabe (宮部美幸), who is more imaginative by using ten purses from the first-hand perspective. Nonetheless, the real pioneer of this trick was Ryunosuke Akutagawa (芥川龍之介). In his masterpiece In a Grove (藪の中), all seven witnesses gave an entirely different story, so much so that one could never tell what did actually happen - or whether there exists a reality at all. (Yes, that's the movie Rashomon [羅生門] of Akira Kurosawa [黒澤明].)
PS. The final chapter of Kokuhaku is a kind of self confession, which turns out to be an anti-climax. I'm quite disappointed. Alas, after the confession of Justice Wargrave in And Then There Were None, who could do a better job ?
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Pathologist
(continue)
I started my work on one of the specimens that afternoon. It was a woman's pelvis, cut into half from the middle. My original plan was to show the blood vessels and nerves that supply the uterus and bladder.
But I met difficulty very soon. In the next morning, I showed the specimen to Ching and said, "Em ... this pelvis seems a bit weird. The organs are sticking together."
"This woman was a street-sleeper who was found dead. Nobody claims for the body, and therefore it ends up here. I noticed the point you mentioned as soon as I received it. You see, the peritoneum is all thick and spongy. It means inflammation - or what they called peritonitis. I have checked and the appendix appeared normal, but there was a hole on the duodenum. Obviously she died of perforated peptic ulcer ..." he explained.
My eyes were wide open. That was literally the first lecture of human pathology for me.
The new friend of mine was obviously in the best of his mood. He went on and point to the other pelvis that he gave me yesterday, "You see. This men was said to have prostate cancer and multiple metastasis. But, look, the prostate is small and contracted. The pelvic bone also appeared OK. I don't think he had the disease at all !"
"Then why did he die ?" I asked.
He laughed, "Oh, don't be silly. His lungs were hell - that's why I threw them away."
***************************
Later in my clinical years, many teachers said that one could learn a lot simply by staying in the ward. I was always skeptical with this suggestion because, if it works, all hospital amah should become consultant physicians.
Nonetheless, there remain some highly gifted and motivated few who, despite having no formal teaching, could acquired an incredible amount knowledge and insight simply by staying in the field for long enough.
Do rest in peace.
PS. I turned the two pelvis into specimens showing the nerves and muscles of the pelvic floor and perineaum - which (I was happy to know) were still in use until very recently.
I started my work on one of the specimens that afternoon. It was a woman's pelvis, cut into half from the middle. My original plan was to show the blood vessels and nerves that supply the uterus and bladder.
But I met difficulty very soon. In the next morning, I showed the specimen to Ching and said, "Em ... this pelvis seems a bit weird. The organs are sticking together."
"This woman was a street-sleeper who was found dead. Nobody claims for the body, and therefore it ends up here. I noticed the point you mentioned as soon as I received it. You see, the peritoneum is all thick and spongy. It means inflammation - or what they called peritonitis. I have checked and the appendix appeared normal, but there was a hole on the duodenum. Obviously she died of perforated peptic ulcer ..." he explained.
My eyes were wide open. That was literally the first lecture of human pathology for me.
The new friend of mine was obviously in the best of his mood. He went on and point to the other pelvis that he gave me yesterday, "You see. This men was said to have prostate cancer and multiple metastasis. But, look, the prostate is small and contracted. The pelvic bone also appeared OK. I don't think he had the disease at all !"
"Then why did he die ?" I asked.
He laughed, "Oh, don't be silly. His lungs were hell - that's why I threw them away."
***************************
Later in my clinical years, many teachers said that one could learn a lot simply by staying in the ward. I was always skeptical with this suggestion because, if it works, all hospital amah should become consultant physicians.
Nonetheless, there remain some highly gifted and motivated few who, despite having no formal teaching, could acquired an incredible amount knowledge and insight simply by staying in the field for long enough.
Do rest in peace.
PS. I turned the two pelvis into specimens showing the nerves and muscles of the pelvic floor and perineaum - which (I was happy to know) were still in use until very recently.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Prosector
It was the summer of 1987. Shortly before I took the final examination of medical year one, PT - a senior lecturer of anatomy and the tutor of my group - indicated me to stay after the afternoon anatomy class.
He asked if I was interested to do a part-time prosector job during the holiday (not too rare an invitation in those days, when the department was expanding its collection of dissected specimens for teaching and examination).
I was more than eager to agree. To begin with, I have much interest in anatomy; it would be an excellent chance to consolidate my knowledge. Moreover, I was desperately in need of money for the textbooks next year.
A few weeks later, I finished with the examination and (after a brief break) returned to the smelly basement of the Basic Medical Science Building. PT introduced me to Ching, the embalmer at that time, and asked him to take care of me.
Of course I knew Ching for nearly a year - who doesn't after studying his first year of medicine in this university ? He loved to chat with our class when we did the dissection, and he did show us a few mnemonics of anatomy that he brought with him from another medical school. Nonetheless, to many of us, he was a friendly technical staff but nothing more.
To my surprise, Ching was immensely efficient at work. In no time he gave me two newly obtained pelvis and asked me to think what I could do with them.
(To be continued.)
PS. After that summer, PT disappeared in my story. He actually quited his job in Hong Kong a few months later and returned to Britain, where he soon became an eminent professor of anatomy.
He asked if I was interested to do a part-time prosector job during the holiday (not too rare an invitation in those days, when the department was expanding its collection of dissected specimens for teaching and examination).
I was more than eager to agree. To begin with, I have much interest in anatomy; it would be an excellent chance to consolidate my knowledge. Moreover, I was desperately in need of money for the textbooks next year.
A few weeks later, I finished with the examination and (after a brief break) returned to the smelly basement of the Basic Medical Science Building. PT introduced me to Ching, the embalmer at that time, and asked him to take care of me.
Of course I knew Ching for nearly a year - who doesn't after studying his first year of medicine in this university ? He loved to chat with our class when we did the dissection, and he did show us a few mnemonics of anatomy that he brought with him from another medical school. Nonetheless, to many of us, he was a friendly technical staff but nothing more.
To my surprise, Ching was immensely efficient at work. In no time he gave me two newly obtained pelvis and asked me to think what I could do with them.
(To be continued.)
PS. After that summer, PT disappeared in my story. He actually quited his job in Hong Kong a few months later and returned to Britain, where he soon became an eminent professor of anatomy.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Visit
Met K - a young consultant of another specialty in a peripheral hospital - in an informal incident. I did not see him for quite some time.
"Hi ! How're you getting on ?" I asked lightheartedly.
"Just back from an overseas visit. You know, our boss is very keen on quality improvement and introduction of successful experience from overseas centres. This time, we - a handful of newly promoted consultants - have the chance and visit several hospitals and private clinics in that friendly city ..." My friend appeared enthusiastic.
"Well, was that useful ?"
"Quite a bit, quite a bit." He sounded more apologetic than proud, "For example, we learn some useful ways to streamline drug dispensing after a clinic visit, and how to shorten the queue waiting outside the consultation room."
"That sounds great." I tried to be encouraging, "Are you people going to put them in use ?"
"Oh, not yet ..." my friend sighed, "We are not in the position of making any administrative decision. All we could do is to report to our headquarters people and arrange further meetings to present our proposal - if there is any ..."
(You may ask why don't those administrating specialists do the overseas visit themselves. They do - for example, to some Japanese motor corporations. The problem is: The first clinic that they should pay a visit and learn is our own ones.)
PS. As to shortening the queue, DC - another friend of mine who works in yet another specialty - told me that the way they learned was to stop people from waiting outside the consultation room; patients were asked to stay outside the building and wait there.
The only difference is: The administrators agreed to adopt that policy !
"Hi ! How're you getting on ?" I asked lightheartedly.
"Just back from an overseas visit. You know, our boss is very keen on quality improvement and introduction of successful experience from overseas centres. This time, we - a handful of newly promoted consultants - have the chance and visit several hospitals and private clinics in that friendly city ..." My friend appeared enthusiastic.
"Well, was that useful ?"
"Quite a bit, quite a bit." He sounded more apologetic than proud, "For example, we learn some useful ways to streamline drug dispensing after a clinic visit, and how to shorten the queue waiting outside the consultation room."
"That sounds great." I tried to be encouraging, "Are you people going to put them in use ?"
"Oh, not yet ..." my friend sighed, "We are not in the position of making any administrative decision. All we could do is to report to our headquarters people and arrange further meetings to present our proposal - if there is any ..."
(You may ask why don't those administrating specialists do the overseas visit themselves. They do - for example, to some Japanese motor corporations. The problem is: The first clinic that they should pay a visit and learn is our own ones.)
PS. As to shortening the queue, DC - another friend of mine who works in yet another specialty - told me that the way they learned was to stop people from waiting outside the consultation room; patients were asked to stay outside the building and wait there.
The only difference is: The administrators agreed to adopt that policy !
Monday, February 1, 2010
Force
Although it sounds idea to have government policy nothing to do with religion, it is nevertheless an ingenuous expectation that politics should be independent from our spiritual belief. We know from history that the two are magnetic and electric forces of physics - they are all but one.
For that reason, when religious force moves fast enough, it generates a political one.
To go one step further, it is often to the advantage of a government to have highly religious citizens. Although a country always needs a well structured legal system to keep everything in order, one could not resolve every problem in the court. Although religion could not keep everything in order, it does help to keep most things in harmony.
That's a cut higher than in order.
Alas, that's not my invention. The Han emperors started to use Confucianism and Taoism for China, and I don't think I need to elaborate on the relation between Vatican and other European countries over the last 2000 years.
PS. The most recent example on the interaction between politics and religion is probably the heavy governmental support to the movie Confucius.
You may argue that strictly speaking, Confucianism is not a religion. That actually brings us to a deeper water of the concept (or domains) of god, which I hope I could elaborate later.
For that reason, when religious force moves fast enough, it generates a political one.
To go one step further, it is often to the advantage of a government to have highly religious citizens. Although a country always needs a well structured legal system to keep everything in order, one could not resolve every problem in the court. Although religion could not keep everything in order, it does help to keep most things in harmony.
That's a cut higher than in order.
Alas, that's not my invention. The Han emperors started to use Confucianism and Taoism for China, and I don't think I need to elaborate on the relation between Vatican and other European countries over the last 2000 years.
PS. The most recent example on the interaction between politics and religion is probably the heavy governmental support to the movie Confucius.
You may argue that strictly speaking, Confucianism is not a religion. That actually brings us to a deeper water of the concept (or domains) of god, which I hope I could elaborate later.
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