Some Quotes I Like
2023/12/3
一谈起合格的教师，我们好些人就会想起老祖宗传承下来的教师经: “为人师表、行为世范”。我想问一下，有这个必要吗? 可能吗? 这是教师的第一准则吗?
现代人类社会的发展趋势一一应该是一个合情合理的趋势一一是专业化。在现代专业化社会中，大学教授只是多种职业中的一种。一方面，现代社会并不承认 “万般皆下品，唯有读书高”; 另一方面，一个相对成熟的现代社会一一或者专业化的社会一一迟早要打破“学而优则仕”的局面。于是，大学教授真正要做的，是完成社会对该职业所设定的任务，没有必要故作优良，更没有必要假装清高。
大学教授与现代社会所有的教育者一样，我们的任务是给下一代讲一讲我们所认识的人生、我们自以为是的真理。当然也应该告诉后生们我们的迷惑、我们的无知。假装什么都懂是行不通的、也是违背人生正道的。哪怕是从教学效果看，坑蒙拐骗的教育经实际上也是蒙不住学生的。正如托尔斯泰所指出的，由于还没有过度地浸淫于俗世，孩子们的美丽心灵可能具有辨别真伪的非凡能力。而且，一旦感到了教育者实质上在做坑蒙拐骗的勾当，所谓正面教育的所有努力都会瓦解为东流水，甚至转化为负面的效果。
因此，我认为，教育者的职业定位应该是给年轻的学生们提供一套套的参照系。美妙的、正面的，是给后生们追求幸福快乐人生的鼓励; 失败的、痛苦的，是给他们的警醒。
至于“道德楷模”的功能，是不应该由我们大学教授以及其他层面的教育者来承担的。在这个方面，我认可一个“合格公民”的基本标准，而不相信教育者应该是“完人”。也许，有人会想这样不大好，因为，我们这些不怎么完美的教育者教有出来的学生也好不到哪里去。但我要说，如果我们能够让绝大部分学生成为一个个 “合格公民”，那么，我们的教育应该是非常成功的了。
其实，社会的楷模并不是一个大学教授按照某种标准能够做出来的、更不是硬装出来的。那些自封的“成功人士”大约也是不在此列的。真正活在老百姓心中的楷模是时代的英雄豪杰、是人类在给定时期的领袖。他们，必得给人们带来光明、带来希望，有时不得不用自己的生命与灵魂来为人类杀出一条血路。他们，会产生于各种职业里，在教育者中并不见得比例就会高一些。相反，因为教师职业远离日常生活，产生公众认可的英雄的机会可能相对更少一些。这个事实也告诉我们，我们一一大学教师一一不应把成为“明星”和“显贵”作为自己的职业目标。
放下“为人师表、行为世范”的社会包袱吧! 取而代之，让我们争取做一个符合“职业标准”的大学教授、一个合格的公民。我说要争取做到，是因为，如果扪心自问，我们这个群体的相当一部分人会认为自己离这个标准还颇有距离。
From 彭笑刚《物理化学讲义》序言
2022/11/22
- Honesty, both personal and intellectual
- A cooperative mindset, which often prioritizes helping your colleagues over your own direct work
- Intellectual curiosity – relentlessly getting to the bottom of problems
- Humility, including the ability to admit what you don’t know, and to acknowledge and learn from your mistakes
- A quantitative approach to decision making and problem solving
几年前还在官网上, 现在找不到了, 备份一下.
2020/10/1
在相当长的一段时间中, 我们的科普界似乎有一种很流行的观念, 即认为好的科普著作, 就在于以通俗的语言准确地向普通读者讲清科学道理. 当然, 这也是一种类型的科普, 但却绝不是唯一种类的科普, 更不是科普的最高境界. 作为一本优秀的科普著作, 语言的通俗和科学概念的准确只是最起码的必要条件, 甚至于连趣味性都可归入此列, 除了这些基本要求之外, 真正优秀的科普著作应该能向读者传达一种精神, 一种思考的方法, 能带给读者一种独特的视角, 以及一种科学的品味, 一种人文的观念.
— 从一到无穷大, 刘兵 (代序)
2020/7/10
The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.
2020/1/12
糟糕的是, 人们总是把 crush 误以为是爱情, 败坏那份幻想的轻盈. 人们迫不及待地要从那瞬间的亮光中, 拉扯出一大段拖沓的故事, 最后被这拖沓淹没, 深陷泥沼, 积重难返.
然而闪电怎么可能被固定住呢? 某同学说, 面对有些可能性, 转过身去, 是个美丽的错误, 但是迎上前去, 则是一个愚蠢的错误.
所以当 crush 来临的时候, 放任它, 但无需试图抓住它, 把它的头强行按到爱情的粮草当中去. 你可以托着下巴, 设计那些明明不可能发生的事情的每一个细节, 与自己辩论下一次见到他时该穿的衣服, 该说的话, 与此同时, 你深深地知道其实下个月, 你就会将他忘记. 你看着手中的那根火柴, 那么短, 慢慢地烧到了指间, 然后熄灭. 熄灭之后, 你心存感激, 感谢它的光, 也感谢它的稍纵即逝.
From 刘瑜. (2010). 送你一颗子弹. 上海三联书店. p. 251.
2020/1/12
A text is what you read in order to learn something. A reference is something you look back on after you know the outlines of a subject in order to get difficult theorems exactly right.
One function of a text (rather than a reference) is to decide what an average reader really needs to know about a subject, and what can be safely left out. So, if you want to know everything about a subject, consult a reference.
From Notes on Time Series for Macroeconomics and Finance.
2019/12/31
黛：先生はあの老人がジムのバーグを持ていたから、次の駅で降りられると思われた。でも、降りない可能性だってあったんです。次の駅で降りるというのは、あなたの根拠薄弱の推測でしかない。あなたは「席を譲りましょうか」と聞くべきでした。たとえあなたの方が断ったとしても、その手続きこそが重要なんです。暗黙のルールとされている手順を踏むこと、そのものがマナーなんです。
From Legal High se. 1 ep. 1.
2019/11/11
There is a perverse element in the titles of mathematical texts. The most difficult are usually entitled Introduction to … or The Elementary Theory of … Feller’s book is doubly difficult, since it is an “introduction” and it is only volume I.
From David Salsburg’s The Lady Tasting Tea p. 224.
2019/10/29
Some of Kolmogorov’s favorite activities were teaching and organizing classes at a school for gifted children in Moscow. He enjoyed introducing the children to literature and music. He took them on hikes and expeditions. He felt that each child should have a “broad and natural development of the whole personality,” David Kendall wrote. “It did not worry him if they did not become mathematicians. Whatever profession they ultimately followed, he was content if their outlook remained broad and their curiosity unstifled.”
From David Salsburg’s The Lady Tasting Tea p. 141.
2019/10/23
There are different types of mathematical writing. Some “definitive” texts are cold and sparse, presenting a sequence of theorems and proofs with little or no motivation. In some texts, the proofs are turgid and difficult, plowing with determination from hypotheses to conclusion. There are some definitive texts that are filled with elegant proofs, where the course of the mathematics has been boiled down to seemingly simple steps that move effortlessly to the final conclusions. There are also a very small number of definitive texts in which the authors try to provide the background and ideas behind the problems, in which the history of the subject is described, and in which examples are taken from interesting reallife situations.
From David Salsburg’s The Lady Tasting Tea p. 59.
之后一段是说: These last characteristics describe Gumbel’s Statistics of Extremes. It is a magnificently lucid presentation of a difficult subject, filled with references to the development of the subject.
2019/10/7
魔王：私はこの世界において、教育が最も大きな力を持つようになると思う。本当の世界の広さは、誰にも分らないほど広いのだ。それなのに、誰もが己の常識や知識に当てはめて知ったつもりになる。しかも、教育がより重要である理由は、教育が重要であるという事実も、教育がないと理解されないという点にある。
From 魔王勇者 ep. 7.
2019/7/10
When a man cannot choose, he ceases to be a man.
— Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange.
2019/6/16
In our ninja training, Master Splinter is constantly telling us that when given two choices, always choose the harder path.
From TMNT 2003 se. 1 ep. 10.
2019/6/15
I strongly feel that our history of silence never did us many good — silence only perpetuates more silence, while talking normally gives birth to more talking, more sharing, more identification, more awareness, more change.
From TEDx Talks Why I stopped watching porn by Ran Gavrieli.
2019/6/10
The rejection of facts, the rejection of reason and science — that is the path to decline. It calls to mind the words of Carl Sagan, who graduated high school here in New Jersey, he said: “We can judge our progress by the courage of our questions and the depths of our answers, our willingness to embrace what is true rather than what feels good.”
…
If you disagree with somebody, bring them in and ask them tough questions. Hold their feet to the fire. Make them defend their positions. If somebody has got a bad or offensive idea, prove it wrong. Engage it. Debate it. Stand up for what you believe in. Don’t be scared to take somebody on. Don’t feel like you got to shut your ears off because you’re too fragile and somebody might offend your sensibilities. Go at them if they’re not making any sense.
Use your logic and reason and words. And by doing so, you’ll strengthen your own position, and you’ll hone your arguments. And maybe you’ll learn something and realize you don’t know everything. And you may have a new understanding not only about what your opponents believe but maybe what you believe. Either way, you win.
From President Obama’s Speech at Rutgers Commencement 2016.
2018/11/15
生命是宇宙赠予我们的珍宝: 虽然永远超脱不了自然规律, 却能在局域的非平衡系统中创造出秩序, 进而产生美. 生活是追求秩序和终极之美的过程; 因此人们思考科学与哲学, 画画唱歌, 有时还结伴而行, 做各种美好的事情. 虽然成本很高, 个体的生命也终将失败 (死亡: 系统的熵最终不可避免地增长), 我们仍会竭尽全力地让这个体系, 以及人群所组成的依然微不足道的体系所容纳的信息再多一点, 再美一点. 生命本身难免丑陋, 渺小又脆弱, 但又同时具有这种潜能, 如此才使得这个多数时间与空间区域都无所谓目的的世界对生命而言不再显得那么绝望.
— AI Euler