關於 existence意思 ，我們在網路上蒐集到這些相關的討論、資訊與評價

上星期心血來潮有個諗法：「不如請大家分享嘅自己想睇但又無時間睇嘅書。」

點解咁做？一來，係因為我想更深入咁認識呢度嘅朋友。二來，我亦想借呢個機會，擴闊下自己嘅眼界。

最終，我執咗十七本書；其中十三本係 Patreon 會員提名，另外有四本係我自己嘅推介。希望 2021 嘅上半年，可以寫起晒以下呢十七本書嘅精讀掫要同評論，同 Patreon 嘅會員分享。

加入 Room 101 by 利世民

https://www.patreon.com/join/LeeSimon/checkout?rid=6507958

＝＝＝ 我 是 分 隔 線 ＝ ＝ ＝

【#1｜Benoit Mandelbrot, The (MIs)Behavior of Markets 】 點解市場咁唔穩定，不可測？當一個系統裡面有好多互為因果嘅關係，其實好自然就係唔穩定同不可測。知道咗喇，咁又點呢？相信大家最想知嘅答案係：「假如明知市場嘅特點，又可以點樣征服市場？最低限度，點樣先至唔會轟烈陣亡？」最後，雖然多數人見到呢個題目都會諗到財經金融，但其實一理通，百理明，任何社會現象背後嘅演變軌跡，亦大同小異。

【#2 ｜Timothy Brook, Great State: China and the World 】 呢本書嘅重點係：「目前我哋見到嘅中國，其實延伸自被蒙古征服之後所建立嘅大國家結構（Great State）。」書裡面十三個單元，可以單獨去睇，但串埋一齊，又有個更大嘅故事。最重要係，歷史書，睇落好似講過去，但作者好多時都係講緊目前；當然，更值得大家推敲嘅，係究竟從作者所鋪陳嘅歷史，究竟 Great State 嘅未來又會點。

【#3 ｜Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined 】 雖然我哋成日都覺得，兩次世界大戰好暴力，死好多人；有啲社會，好似美國，槍械泛濫，日日都有人死。但實際上，今時今日嘅世界，人與人之間嘅暴力，少過以前好多。人類文明嘅定義，就係唔再講打打殺殺，係咪？但點解會有呢個現象呢？如果話人性本來就係殘酷惡毒，又係乜嘢原因令人嘅獸性受到壓抑呢？又或者，過去幾十年來相對嘅非暴力，其實只係異數？

【#4 ｜ Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business 】 呢本書最初出版係 1985年，當時最主流嘅娛樂係睇電視。但到今時今日仍然有人話，呢本書嘅講法一樣可以用來分析 social media 。當一個觀念可以貫穿唔同嘅時空，佢就符合經典呢個定義。究竟 The medium is the metaphor 呢句說話，係乜嘢意思？假如話電視係「公仔箱」，咁手機又應該係乜嘢呢？

【#5 ｜ Ray Dalio, Principles, Life and Work 】 Ray Dalio 搵好多錢，好叻，我最初留意佢，亦都係因為 Bridgewater Associates 旗下基金曾經跑贏大市。不過，如果因為佢搵好多錢就睇佢寫嘅嘢，就好容易失望，因為我唔相信成功可以複製。好多年前，Principles 仍然係一份可以免費 download 嘅 pdf，我都已經搞過讀書會討論分享。Ray Dalio 係個有諗法嘅人，佢亦都好落力去宣揚佢相信嘅價值觀。Principles 裡面所描繪嘅做人態度，我形容係「極端理性主義」；究竟咁理性嘅人，係咪好不近人情呢？當然，我咁講得，就梗係覺得唔係喇！我甚至乎覺得，極端理性主義，先係真正嘅大情大性。

【#6 ｜ Simon Sebag Montefiore, Jerusalem: The Biography 】 話說有種心理病叫「耶路撒冷症候群」（Jerusalem Syndrome），去到耶路撒冷嘅人，會忽然感覺到聖靈嘅感召，做出一啲好怪異嘅行為。但生活響耶路撒冷嘅人，又會點呢？呢本書嘅作者野心好大，用一個地方嘅人同事，去刻劃三大宗教三千年嘅歷史。其實，過去我一直有個疑惑：明明地球咁大，大把地方嘅條件好過耶路撒冷，點解幾千年來，呢班人究竟係爭緊啲乜嘢？

【#7 ｜ Eric Hobsbawm, Fractured Times: Culture and Society in the 20th Century 】 因為想從一個馬克斯主義者嘅角度睇現代資本主義社會嘅歷史，所以其實我一直都想開始讀 Hobsbawm 嘅著作。既然有朋友提名呢本書，就不如由呢本開始喇。

【#8 ｜ Michael Sandel, The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good 】 好多人鍾意 Michael Sandel ；佢嘅 Justice 同 What Money Can’t Buy 我都有認真去讀。坦白講，我認為 Sandel 叻在將知識普及，但就唔算得有咩個人又或者創新嘅構想。不過，就算係唱「別人的歌」，只要唱得好都值得欣賞嘅。Meritocracy，粗粗地咁可以解做「有能者居之」究竟 Sandel 會點樣去反對？

【#9 ｜ Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power 】 Greene 嘅書，我淨係睇過佢寫嘅 Mastery。如果無記錯，當時應該係睇完 Malcolm Galdwell 嘅 Outliers 之後，順手睇埋。我對 Greene 嘅評價係：「一個好識得將唔同嘅故事炒埋一碟上枱嘅作者。」

【#10 ｜ David Benatar, Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence 】 呢個提名好特別；雖然我只係好簡略咁睇過些少背景資料，但直覺已經話我知，呢本書個種離經叛道嘅程度，係 handle with care 嘅級數。

【#11 ｜ Niall Ferguson, The Square and the Tower: Networks and Power from the Freemasons to Facebook】 呢本書其實都係我自己嘅書單上面好耐；我想睇呢本書係因為佢嘅主題係 Network （The Square） vs Hierarchy （The Tower） 。但令我有少少猶豫嘅係呢本書有少少標題黨；我都幾肯定，有人以為本書係講 Freemasons 同 Facebook 嘅秘聞就衝咗去買。

【#12 ｜ Matthew Walker, Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dream 】 提名呢本書嘅朋友，問我有冇話一定要咩範圍。其實我近年嘅興趣都好雜；好似之前 James Nestor 嘅 Breath ，我唔單止有睇，做埋實驗㗎。

【#13 ｜ Jane Mayers, The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals】
【#14 ｜ Jane Mayers, Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right 】 呢兩本書，The Dark Side 係講 911 後嘅美國，Dark Money 係講 Obama 年代共和黨嘅分裂同變異。一睇就知，作者好唔鍾意共和黨；但我又睇吓，究竟呢個本書可以有幾咁深入，有幾多大家未聽過嘅秘聞。

【#15 ｜ Kate Fox, Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English Behavior 】 似乎係本輕鬆小品；既然呢期咁多香港朋友都諗住去英國，又或者已經身在英倫，寫呢本書嘅推介，應該有市場啩。

【#16 ｜Kevin Kelly, What Technology Wants 】Kevin Kelly 我嘅形容係「奇男子」「先知」；先知，其實都係早過你知，但佢就早過我哋知一啲好重要嘅嘢。例如早在 2008 年佢就提出，話有 1000 個真正 fans 就可以做一個專業嘅 creator；呢個講法，比起依家大行其道嘅 passion economy，早咗十年。但我認為 Kevin Kelly 嘅真正代表作，係呢本 What Technology Wants。Kevin Kelly 對科技嘅發展，好樂觀；就算終有一日，機器嘅智能，將會做到甚至超越人類，但咁又點？汽車快過人類，咁你係咪打跛雙腳吖？工具嘅存在，被動咁睇係解決問題，但主動咁睇係去增加我哋嘅可能性。Kevin Kelly 用嘅例子係：如果莫扎特出生早一百年，當時冇鋼琴，咁佢仲係唔係咁偉大？雖然呢本書係十年前嘅作品，但先知嘅預言，就梗係要攤一陣先至可以公道咁評論，係咪？

【#17 ｜Garry Kasparov, Deep Thinking: Where Machine Intelligence Ends and Human Creativity Begins 】今季壓軸係 Kasparov 講返佢象棋事業高山低谷嘅自傳。雖然呢本書唔少篇幅講佢對 Deep Blue 嘅對弈。但就算你唔識，又或者唔鍾意捉棋，都不得不配佩 Kasparov 嘅 insight：「既然人類遲早都會輸比電腦；我寧願做歷史上第一個輸畀電腦嘅世界冠軍。」當然，輸咗棋之後，佢一定好多反省，但佢嘅結論係唔應該抗拒電腦，反而係要諗點樣用電腦令人腦嘅功能更強大。Kasparov 都有講到 Singularity，但佢比 Kevin Kelly 更樂觀；唔好忘意，Kasparov 曾經當住全世界面，畀電腦活生生咁蹂躪，連佢都話人工智能是個好東西，或者我哋都應該趁早了解其實呢個係一個咩心態。

【陪你看國際新聞】臺灣的防衛策略 vs 美國總統大選
　
蔡英文上任後，2017-2019 年的參謀總長李喜明，與 Project 2049 Institute 的研究員，一起寫了篇文章，投稿在 The Diplomat，並刊登於首頁。
　
Taiwan’s Overall Defense Concept, Explained
https://bit.ly/2TRdnVC
　
內容主要提到中共對臺灣的威脅，台灣目前的防禦策略，已著重於不對稱作戰，也就是用低成本造成高打擊，例如用大量便宜的反艦飛彈，打沉對方進犯的昂貴船隻與兵力。所需要的武器，剛好是最近這個月跟美國買的方向。
　
這種說帖式的文章，一定要提到對美國的利益。文中提到，對美國來說，與臺灣合作，能增加第一線調度的戰爭知識與經驗，對鞏固美國自由開放的印太政策也很有幫助。
　
最後一段說到，臺灣並不會期待美國犧牲自己年輕人的生命來保衛臺灣，但如果美國肯幫助（意思就是情報與武器，出兵隨緣），臺灣會守得更好。臺灣人有決心，捍衛自己的存在以及生活方式。
　
這篇投書的時機點很微妙，是在 11/3 刊出的，也表示政府的工作，在美國總統選舉前，已經朝向整個美國外交軍事決策與智庫圈。
　
不管美國總統之後是拜登或川普，以美國政府的架構來說，持續深化國會、國務院、外交智庫對臺灣的認識，是最具長遠效益的。
　
很幸運也很努力的，在過去四年，我們補足了戰鬥機、坦克，最近又買了反艦飛彈、多管火箭系統，這表示美方軍事決策圈以及國會都已經認識到臺灣的防衛需求。
　
總之，我們已經把握了機會武裝自己、捍衛自己的家園。
　
「A U.S.-Taiwan Joint Working Group could be mutually beneficial as it would not only bolster Taiwan’s defense and provide the U.S. military with insight for its own contingency planning and future warfighting, but also improve latent interoperability. Furthermore, the strengthened defense of Taiwan could play an important role in advancing the U.S. Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy.
　
Now is the time to embrace an asymmetric approach to Taiwan’s defense. A fully implemented and institutionalized Overall Defense Concept would provide strategic guidance across all defense agencies and military services for a unified and deliberate effort in military investments and force development to strengthen Taiwan’s national defense. If the battle comes to Taiwan, the ODC would ensure the capitalization of all available military and civilian assets to muster a whole-of-society effort to defeat the enemy. Now is also the time for a new era of U.S.-Taiwan security cooperation. The Taiwan Strait could possibly be the theater of Sino-American military conflict, and the U.S. and Taiwan have an opportunity to address the CCP threat together. Through implementing the ODC, the U.S.-Taiwan Joint Working Group would enhance deterrent effects of the bilateral relationship and embolden Taiwan’s security.
　
In a cross-strait contingency, Taiwan would appreciate any assistance from Washington. However, Taiwan’s military will not assume that the U.S. will sacrifice American lives to defend the island. But with American support, Taiwan can fight better. It is the onus of the Taiwanese people to decide their fate and fight for their existence.」

【給自己一個機會紅起來】❤️
Give Yourself A Chance To Shine

如果說宇宙的力量可以分為五種，那那五種力量就是金、木、水、火和土了。

世界萬物萬事都能以這五行去分類，而每個人的八字就是這五行的獨特混合體。這混合體遇到外在人事物的五行力量時，就會產生不同的吉凶禍福局面。

我個人經驗是，就算有著同樣八字的雙胞胎，也不會有一模一樣的命運，因為面相有細微之分，姓名的字義、音韻、筆畫和含義也會有不同的靈動力，影響著雙胞胎的命運。

看命，關鍵就在於找出自己需要的五行是什麼。這很考經驗，不是把八字裡的五行加減乘除一番就能斷出。如果這第一步搞錯，全盤的分析就會錯得一塌糊塗了。

在捉準需要的五行後，再來就是引導客人如何在衣食住行方面去補運，進而趨吉避凶。坦白說，如果客人不照著做，其實來看命也沒什麼意思。

知道未來好或不好，然後就聽天由命嗎？那豈不是只是花錢，來聽我說出你人生電視連續劇的劇透而已嗎？

我見了那麼多客人後，自己有個感想。如果人生一切都很安好，但自己就是開心不起來，這樣活著如行屍走肉，太痛苦了。

在批八字時，我都會告訴客人該用什麼顏色來旺自己。不要小看色彩學，每個顏色都有它們的五行。我也多次以色彩學，幫助一些客人應徵成功，在疫情期間依然能奏效。

但在七彩繽紛的顏色當中，只要我一提到紅色，客人們的反應普遍都很大。

什麼？那麼亮啊？
我的老婆說看不慣我穿這色！
那不是天天過年嗎？
我以前的命理師也是這麼說，
但我就是沒有做。

我的答案：你穿了幾十年這樣的顏色，也不見得你好。想命好一點，何不試一下我說的顏色？

紅能分出深淺、濃淡、明暗和不同的色度。沒有人叫你每天穿得像紅包似的。你每天穿黑，也不見得你像包青天那般的黑白分明。

附上A小姐和B先生「走紅」後的個別見證。

寫這電郵見證的B先生，在九月與我做了個後續諮詢。我遠遠看到他時，就已在想，怎麼身上絲毫沒有改變，而且還一副苦瓜臉？

他說，當初我三月見他時，他剛買了一堆衣服。顏色雖不利他，但他不捨得丟，而且老婆也不支持他穿紅色。公司裡的人也都是穿暗色的。

我說，那些新衣你也穿了幾個月了，可以拿去捐給有需要的人，佈施也不算浪費。老婆固然好意，但命是你自己的，你痛苦只有你自己知。

對待自己的命運，我們應該持有科學家的研究精神。你不去做這個實驗，你永遠不會知道我說的到底對不對。做這個實驗不難，不妨叫你的太太給你一個機會去改變。

換衣服顏色而已，又不是叫你換老婆。😂

與其內心糾結直到頭腦打結，我永遠選擇踏出第一步試一下。Never try, never know.

我一生人經歷了那麼多起起落落，老實告訴大家，命好起來時，心豁然開朗時，那種感覺真的很爽。不信，你試一下。

————————————

If the energies in the Universe can be categorised, they would come in the 5 forms of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth.

All manifestations, be it things or events, in this world falls under these 5 elements, and each and every one of our Bazi is the combination of these 5 elements. The interaction between these elements in our Bazi and those in our circumstances will result in myriad of happenings, good fortunes or otherwise.

My personal experience tells me that even though 2 person may have exactly the same Bazi, but their destinies may turn out different. Reasons being the discrepancy in their facial features, the meanings, tonality, character strokes and essence of their names.

The crux of reading your own destiny lies in uncovering which of the 5 elements is or are mandatory for you. This calls for plenty of practical experience. It is not simply doing simple math of plus, minus, multiply and divide. If this first step is wrong, the whole deck of cards will surely collapse.

After deciphering the correct element, the next step is do guide the client on how to use it to boost their energies in all aspects, from external clothing and living environment to what they eat so as to attract good tidings and ward off misfortunes. Frankly, if the client is uncooperative, the whole of point of Bazi analysis would have been lost.

To know how your future will unfold but behave like a sitting duck? That’s just like buying a movie ticket to watch a preview of your life drama, isnt it?

I had this thought after seeing so many clients: if one’s life is seemingly smooth sailing but one remains unhappy, such zombie-like existence is very painful.

During a typical Bazi analysis session, I would always recommend the client certain colours favourable to him or her to boost the luck. Never underestimate the power of colours. Each colour has its own elemental nature. I have used this successfully several times to help clients succeed at their job interviews, even during this pandemic period.

However as soon as I mentioned the red colour, reactions from my clients tended to be bigger than usual.

Why?
Such a bright colour?
My wife said she’s not used to me in this colour!
That’s like Chinese New Year everyday!
The previous master I consulted said so too, but I did not heed the advice.

My answer: if you have been wearing your same old colours for the past many years and getting not much favours from Lady Luck, why not give my suggestion a try?

There are many tones and shades of Red. Nobody is asking you to dress like a big red ang bao (red packet) everyday. Dressing black everyday doesn’t make you Justice Bao either.

Attached are testimonies from Miss A and Mr B after they went red.

Mr B. came to me in September for a follow-up consultation. When I saw him from afar, I was thinking why there wasn’t any sign of change in him. He even sported a sour face.

He told me that after seeing me in March, he had just bought some clothes in colours that were unfavourable to him. He couldn’t bear to throw them away, and his wife didn’t really support him wearing red either. He said his colleagues were all wearing darker colours.

I told him that those clothes he bought had already served him for several months and he could donate them away. That would not constitute wastage. His wife may have good intentions but your destiny is your own business and only you know your sufferings.

We ought to treat our destiny with the spirit of a scientist. If you don’t experiment, you will never know if my methods work. This experiment is a simple one, ask your wife to support you this once.

It’s only changing the colour of your clothes, not asking to change your wife. 😂

Rather than getting oneself in knots, I will always choose to take the first step. Never try, never know.

My life’s journey has been that of ups and downs. Frankly speaking, when the winds begin blowing in your sails, and lift your spirit, those emotions are exhilarating. Don’t believe me? Try it out yourself.

177 沙特（S P SATRE）本質先於存在與存在先於本質

存在先於本質(existence precedes essence)。沙特否定人有任何先天、固有
的本質，這裡的本質指人的各種規定，例如人性。但沙特的意思不是否定

人能擁有本質和規定，沙特認為先天固有的本質是沒有的，但後天的本質
和規定，例如地位、職業、身份等是可以通過後天自由創造而獲得的。所
以這個命題要表達的意思是，人首先只是個沒有任何固有規定的存在，只
是個虛無，然後通過後天創造才有各種本質和規定。但這些後天本質和規
定一旦被創造後，它們也不是不可變易的，人可以超越由自己所創造出來
的本質和規定，例如你是一個醫生，但你有自由選擇辭職轉而做一個老師
。

講者：陶國璋 （中文大學哲學系客座助理教授）

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