Just finish reading Mohohan (模倣犯) of Miyabe Miyuki (宮部美幸).
It takes quite a while to go through this 1300-page classic of modern detective fiction. As Miyuki herself says, you do not have to guess who the murderer is until the very last page - it is plain obvious from the middle. Well, you may have a glimpse of some social problems that the younger generation of Japanese is facing at this moment, and it remains enjoyable to read every details of all doings and thinkings of everyone involved.
The careful audience would ask: who was the Mohohan ? The two murderers were certainly not - as one of them insisted towards the end of the story, the crime was entirely a drama of his own invention. On that, I would say Miyuki herself is the one who imitates. As a fans of Hercule Poirot, one would find the plot very much similar to that in The Curtain, and Agatha Christie was certainly a cut higher in elaborating the plot and, with due respect to Miyuki, telling a story.
PS. And Miyuki is not the only Mohohan. Yoichi Takato (高遠遙一) in the Kindaichi Case Files (金田一少年之事件簿) is another clumsy one - Seimaru Amagi (天樹征丸) could have done better.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Purpose
K asks why writing a handbook or protocol or guideline could boost up one's ego.
What a question ! On the contrary, if we follow the logic of Sigmund Freud or Arthur Schopenhauer, we should ask: Could there be any other reason for writing up those things besides ballooning up the ego ?
Let's take away the consideration of metaphysics and psychology. In general, there are a few reasons for our friends on Pluto to write a handbook or guideline:
For sure the first two are beyond the reach of most of us. That's why many creatures on Pluto go for the last - and mistake it as the second.
PS. You may find my argument familiar. Yes, I wrote a similar thing on this blog some months ago. That's a traditional wisdom: It doesn't matter everything has been said - nobody was listening.
What a question ! On the contrary, if we follow the logic of Sigmund Freud or Arthur Schopenhauer, we should ask: Could there be any other reason for writing up those things besides ballooning up the ego ?
Let's take away the consideration of metaphysics and psychology. In general, there are a few reasons for our friends on Pluto to write a handbook or guideline:
- I (or the board or council) exist.
- (Since we get funding to improve the service,) we have done some work.
- We are independent and we think independently. Therefore we will not blindly follow the existing guideline across the Atlantic (or the Victoria harbour).
- (To their juniors) we have told you what to do; we will not bare any responsibility for your mistake.
For sure the first two are beyond the reach of most of us. That's why many creatures on Pluto go for the last - and mistake it as the second.
PS. You may find my argument familiar. Yes, I wrote a similar thing on this blog some months ago. That's a traditional wisdom: It doesn't matter everything has been said - nobody was listening.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Misconception
The very misconception is: by winning the gold medal by a man who could run fast and over the hurdles, we become a stronger people and a great country.
The scenario is all too familiar. Many fans of the Chinese martial arts in the Qing Empire tried to prove their daggers were better than the bullet; an equal number of the Red Guards (紅衛兵) in the Cultural Revolution attempted to show abacus could do the arithmetic faster than a calculator.
On a few occasions they were successful - in fulfilling their inferiority complex but grandiose ego paradox.
But, let's take aside our patriotic feeling and passion for traditional Chinese culture. There are millions of people who could use the bullet or calculator - and they are ordinary people who had a reasonable training. Our genius in flying dagger or abacus are one-in-a-million and their achievement take years of hardship.
And although Liu Xiang (劉翔) may actually run faster than Dayron Robles, it doesn't necessarily mean that you are any faster or stronger than a man from Cuba, or Jamaica, or London.
If our people is straight and have confidence in ourselves, why bother so much about the one who quited the game and lost "your" gold medal ?
The scenario is all too familiar. Many fans of the Chinese martial arts in the Qing Empire tried to prove their daggers were better than the bullet; an equal number of the Red Guards (紅衛兵) in the Cultural Revolution attempted to show abacus could do the arithmetic faster than a calculator.
On a few occasions they were successful - in fulfilling their inferiority complex but grandiose ego paradox.
But, let's take aside our patriotic feeling and passion for traditional Chinese culture. There are millions of people who could use the bullet or calculator - and they are ordinary people who had a reasonable training. Our genius in flying dagger or abacus are one-in-a-million and their achievement take years of hardship.
And although Liu Xiang (劉翔) may actually run faster than Dayron Robles, it doesn't necessarily mean that you are any faster or stronger than a man from Cuba, or Jamaica, or London.
If our people is straight and have confidence in ourselves, why bother so much about the one who quited the game and lost "your" gold medal ?
Thursday, August 28, 2008
王楠
Watched the Women's Table Tennis final. I was thoroughly impressed by Wang Nan (王楠).
(My friend KM had a vivid account on why we thought the performance of our silver medal winner was seminal. Go and read http://drkmchow.blogspot.com/2008/08/table-manner.html)
Yes, our media put just too much emphasis on how many gold medal our country won from the Game. That's beyond the point - sports should be promoted for better health of the people, and got to be something for the player to enjoy. What's the good to win a gold medal by stressing your spine too much at your childhood so that you have to walk with a crutch at your 30's ?
And what could we hope a people could achieve if they put all their enthusiasm on a man who could won a gold medal by running fast and over the hurdles - but not all those important problems of the nation ?
All of a sudden I imagine an excellent motto for the next Olympic game in London:
Let's enjoy the game.
PS. There is no better metropolis than the one on River Thames to hold the game in 2012. English people are well known for their passion for fair play, and Karl Marx began the origin of communism in this very city.
(My friend KM had a vivid account on why we thought the performance of our silver medal winner was seminal. Go and read http://drkmchow.blogspot.com/2008/08/table-manner.html)
Yes, our media put just too much emphasis on how many gold medal our country won from the Game. That's beyond the point - sports should be promoted for better health of the people, and got to be something for the player to enjoy. What's the good to win a gold medal by stressing your spine too much at your childhood so that you have to walk with a crutch at your 30's ?
And what could we hope a people could achieve if they put all their enthusiasm on a man who could won a gold medal by running fast and over the hurdles - but not all those important problems of the nation ?
All of a sudden I imagine an excellent motto for the next Olympic game in London:
Let's enjoy the game.
PS. There is no better metropolis than the one on River Thames to hold the game in 2012. English people are well known for their passion for fair play, and Karl Marx began the origin of communism in this very city.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Confusion
Although the extra-terrestrials tried very hard to avoid duplication in our curriculum, paradoxically they put up many integrated teaching sessions - so that the same topic is covered by "experts from different areas" in the same morning or afternoon.
(I do not intend to discuss the definition of expert today. Maybe later.)
And therefore we have the pathophysiology of certain condition taught by a chemical pathologist and then a physician an hour later, or the structure of certain part of our body explained by an anatomist and then a surgeon soon afterwards.
In the latter scenario, you may come to the conclusion that there must be two species of Homo sapiens on earth. As we know, the degree of confusion increases exponentially with the number of people to explain the condition.
That's in fact simple psychology of education. A child who is exposed to two different languages simultaneously learn both slower than another child who is taught one language at a time.
As Duan Yu (段譽) tried to learn the Meridian Swords (六脈神劍) in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils (天龍八部), he was advised by his uncle: 先練一圖,學完再換.
(I do not intend to discuss the definition of expert today. Maybe later.)
And therefore we have the pathophysiology of certain condition taught by a chemical pathologist and then a physician an hour later, or the structure of certain part of our body explained by an anatomist and then a surgeon soon afterwards.
In the latter scenario, you may come to the conclusion that there must be two species of Homo sapiens on earth. As we know, the degree of confusion increases exponentially with the number of people to explain the condition.
That's in fact simple psychology of education. A child who is exposed to two different languages simultaneously learn both slower than another child who is taught one language at a time.
As Duan Yu (段譽) tried to learn the Meridian Swords (六脈神劍) in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils (天龍八部), he was advised by his uncle: 先練一圖,學完再換.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Duplication
In a recent meeting, our man from Pluto told us that a few final year students complained about the change in the arrangement of ward attachment this year - they do not have a chance to follow the gastroenterologist.
Some of us reminded him that the change was based on the feedback from students last year: some of them were assigned to gastroenterologist in this hospital and again in another one. Since it is (politically) incorrect to take out the one from the peripheral hospital, we could just do away with our own one.
I suspect our students wish to have it the other way round when they made the proposal. Oh, they do not have a grip with the world.
But we shouldn't blame them. By and large, the decision roots from an obsessive idea hold by many extra-terrestrials that we should have no duplication in our curriculum. The aim was to cover as many things as possible - and that 5 years would be orchestrated in such a highly coordinated manner for every minute detail that each topic is touched on but once.
They have forgotten that we could forget.
After all, we don't read a textbook once and expect we could remember everything (or even 70%) in it, do we ?
Some of us reminded him that the change was based on the feedback from students last year: some of them were assigned to gastroenterologist in this hospital and again in another one. Since it is (politically) incorrect to take out the one from the peripheral hospital, we could just do away with our own one.
I suspect our students wish to have it the other way round when they made the proposal. Oh, they do not have a grip with the world.
But we shouldn't blame them. By and large, the decision roots from an obsessive idea hold by many extra-terrestrials that we should have no duplication in our curriculum. The aim was to cover as many things as possible - and that 5 years would be orchestrated in such a highly coordinated manner for every minute detail that each topic is touched on but once.
They have forgotten that we could forget.
After all, we don't read a textbook once and expect we could remember everything (or even 70%) in it, do we ?
Monday, August 25, 2008
Edition
In the very evening that I gave a chapter of Harrison's to the girl of our ward to read, I received a Facebook message from HM - one of my university classmates.
"I have checked your statistics book reference in your web site unfortunately this one is printed in 1991 and the next edition will be OK in mid-2009. Any new suggestions ?"
I replied, "Statistics has not advanced that fast; the 1991 edition is good enough for any purpose - and probably easier to read."
For a similar reason I keep a copy of the first edition of Gray's Anatomy: human structure has not evolute in any noticeable extend over the past 100 years. The same argument also applies for classics by Adam Smith (on economy), Benjamin Graham (on investment), and so forth.
No, it's more than that. The same principle may also apply to subjects that do advance quickly, such as internal medicine. It is generally better to read a well-written but slightly outdated book than the most updated publication whose existence serves nothing but the ego of the author - or worse, the administrator.
"I have checked your statistics book reference in your web site unfortunately this one is printed in 1991 and the next edition will be OK in mid-2009. Any new suggestions ?"
I replied, "Statistics has not advanced that fast; the 1991 edition is good enough for any purpose - and probably easier to read."
For a similar reason I keep a copy of the first edition of Gray's Anatomy: human structure has not evolute in any noticeable extend over the past 100 years. The same argument also applies for classics by Adam Smith (on economy), Benjamin Graham (on investment), and so forth.
No, it's more than that. The same principle may also apply to subjects that do advance quickly, such as internal medicine. It is generally better to read a well-written but slightly outdated book than the most updated publication whose existence serves nothing but the ego of the author - or worse, the administrator.
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