传说中的柬埔寨（转载黄蔚）

2008年冬天的广州实在是太冷了，我只好做了一回候鸟，和爸爸妈妈一起去比较温暖的地方。各种原因排除下来，就选择了柬埔寨。去柬埔寨之前，我对这个国家所有的印象，只限于神秘的吴哥窟和遍布的地雷。也许对于父母那一辈人来说，还会再多一点东西：红色高棉，以及流浪在中国多年的西哈努克。于是我努力的去找资料，想去了解这个陌生的国家，无奈，除了网上驴友们的游记，其余资料少之又少。没有像样的官方网页，没有流传甚广的传统故事，甚至当地的风俗也只限于游记的只言片语。于是我懵懂的踏上了旅途，困惑而期待。

现在的柬埔寨是一个很穷的国家，但曾经，它是一个很辉煌的国家。柬埔寨前曾称高棉，种族为高棉人。记载中，最早的柬埔寨为扶南王朝，女王统治。后来，印度方向来的入侵者打败了扶南王朝，取了扶南女王为妻，建立了吴哥王朝。因此，这个国家里，有着黑瘦矮小、鼻梁宽扁的高棉族人，也有着高大魁梧、眼大鼻高的印度族人。吴哥王朝定都吴哥，至1181年醛耶跋摩七世(JayavarmanVII)，发展至最高峰，版图包括现今整个柬埔寨、部份泰国、老挝、缅甸及越南，可谓一时无双。元朝官员周达观曾经从怒江顺流而下到达柬埔寨，一本《真腊风土记》记载了当时繁盛的吴哥王朝。吴哥王朝统治柬埔寨600多年，均定都吴哥，大兴土木，建造王城及大小寺庙600余座，散处于40多方公里的土地上，景象极为壮观。

在12世纪建成最宏伟的吴哥窟，充份表现出吴哥民族的艺术成就。后来由于暹罗素可泰王朝（Sukhothai)入侵，以及当地不可遏止的瘟疫流行，最终吴哥人弃城出逃。之后，寂寞的吴哥建筑就逐渐被热带雨林包围、吞噬。周围渺无人烟，吴哥窟成了传说中"热带雨林中魔鬼居住的城堡 "，就这么被遗忘了。世界大战的几年里，柬埔寨成了法国的属地。直到19世纪，一位法国生物学家在几个胆大的当地人带领下进入丛林寻找标本，无意中发现了掩藏在雨林深处的吴哥窟，才使这座惊世之作重新出现在世界的视线之中。

1953年，柬埔寨西哈努克国王正式宣布柬埔寨从法国独立。随后，在美国支持下朗诺发动政变，驱逐了正在苏联访问的西哈努克国王。波尔布特以"反帝救国"的名义领导柬埔寨共产党和人民进行了反抗，建立了红色高棉并进行了种族清洗。在红色高棉统治的20多年里，这个总共只有600万人的小国，有数以百万的人被屠杀（导游说8年里屠杀了300万，但很多资料说这是被夸大的数据，100万的估计比较可靠），大多数是政治上的异己分子、知识分子、以及其他种族和不同宗教信仰的平民。资料显示这场血腥的运动是受苏联斯大林以及当时"文革"中国影响的。难以想象，波尔布特竟然是一个在巴黎受过高等教育的人。国王西哈努克在军变之后无家可归，当时的中国在"联合一切可以联合的力量反对帝国主义"的号召下收留了这位流亡国王20多年。由于美国利用柬共遏止越南共产党，对其大屠杀行为不加干涉，甚至提供军火武器。而更多的武器--地雷，则是由中国提供的。美国地雷货真价实，一踩即死；中国地雷设计"精巧"，踩到地雷只残废、不死人，传说这种"杀伤地雷"战争中能极大降低敌方的战斗力（因为还要腾出健全的士兵去抢救战友），但和平年代里，却毁掉了很多劳动力。红色高棉统治和撤退期间，在防御地区和东北部热带雨林留下了大量的地雷，这就造成了之后的柬埔寨众多平民被地雷误伤、致残的悲剧。后来，当时还是波尔布特手下的洪森（现任柬埔寨首相）进行了军事起义，在越南军队的帮助下推翻了波尔布特的红色高棉统治。时至今日，金边的大屠杀纪念馆里仍然陈列着大量的受害者头骨，据说当时最出名的屠杀场一次就能处决2万多"政治犯"……


今天的柬埔寨依然很穷，或者说，贫富悬殊十分厉害。有住高级别墅的官员，更多的是住茅屋的贫民。旅游业是支撑国民经济的主要收入，而轻工业也开始逐步发展。这个经历了大半个世纪战乱的国家，正努力从千疮百孔中慢慢调整、挣扎着重新发展起来。

Quote from the Power of Full Engagement about Rituals

"Positive energy rituals are powerful on three levels. They help us to insure that we effectively manage energy in the service of whatever mission we are on. They reduce the need to rely on our limited conscious will and discipline to take action. Finally, rituals are a powerful means by which to translate our values and priorities into action - to embody what matters most to us in our everyday behaviors."

Book List

• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
• The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz
• The Gift of Fear by Gavin De Becker
  

On Brain

In this Tuesday's New York Times article about Dr. Michael Gazzaniga, it mentioned something very interesting. First, the two hemispheres of the brain are connected by the bundle of fibers called "corpus callosum." If they're cut, then the person's left side will be completely disconnected from the right side.

Second, the left hemisphere provides interpretation for a person's experience (so without corpus callosum, can you reason with your left side the right hemisphere?).

Third, in talking about fertilizing human eggs solely for stem cell research, Dr. Gazzaniga compares it to brain death examples, in which surgeons can remove organs for transplants. He argues that the mark of humanity should be the appearance of brain structure (14 days postfertilization). He said, "A single fertilized egg can split into twins - turning one supposedly unique human being into two... twins can then sometimes fuse back together into a single embryo, known as a chimera. So we had one person, and then we had two people, and then we have one person again. So what's that all about?"

Near the end, the article mentioned the human brain's intricate circuitry for understanding other people's thoughts and feelings as "moral". Never mind the moral, but think that when you interpret another person's experience (seeing or hearing a story about, say, stubbing toes in doors), the same region of your brain gets activiated (for stubbing your own toes).

What can we use this for? Let's say you have some great role models. You find out about them, hear stories of their path to great achievements. In doing so, your brain does a similar mental exercise of their experience. The more detailed, vivid, and repeated you learn about them, the better you approach your role models in your actions. So here is a tool to make greater achievement. But remember, learn from the good.

Other interesting readings: How Culture Pushed Us to the Top of the Food Chain: genes give us the capacity for learning and culture, and accumulated culture/knowledge is our species' tools.

Pursuit of Virtuous Cycle

One of the striking things of visiting China is the prevalence of panhandling in the city. But they're not homogeniously the same. I saw the following:

1. young musicians
2. young people running out of money
3. 1 or more limps not functioning
4. with very young children (5-10), and those kids will come up to beg and steal.

Why it's much easier to go to a different city in the States to find job or school, find new friends, and settle down, but not so simple in China? First, languages and cultures are quite different between the prosperous areas and the impoverished areas. Second, the government policy does not encourage this.

The newspaper reported a local millionnaire adopted and hired 20 beggars, in an effort to help them. He succeeded in certain extend, but his business also failed.

It's not the physical condition as much as the mental state that needs to be helped, although physical comfort is pre-requisite for mental aversion to become self-sufficient and contributor to the society.

An effective philanthropic system should generate a virtuous cycle in which ex-panhandlers help others to become self-sufficient. An effective process should be designed. And the process should be well-known, so that people can easily participate to help. At least they can hand out a "name card" to point to the help resource, instead of giving money. The subway ad should say "give this card to those in need, so they can get help and food at this address", instead just tell people. Empower those who wants to help so that when they want to give something, cash is not the only option.

And we need to give people education. It's about choices, the choices you know available to you. Of course, for some, they still have rooms to grow to become a contributing-member of the society (when they're young and healthy). For some, they seem to lose all the ability to do anything (crippled and retarded) other than extending their life meaningless with any resource they can live on from the society. At this point, we have a difficult job to do. Of course we might be able to prevent this at the first place. Then we talk about the source of this, the impoverished areas, the assistance of first-line defence -- good family, the route to economic viability, education, and all that.

It might be a problem larger than I can handle (at this time).

Falling in Love with MRI

An article on NYTimes reported new findings (through brain M.R.I. images) about newly falling in love and getting dumped. You can really see the subconscious area activated in infaturation love, how it subdues overtime, and how it's deepened when you're rejected while you're in the midst of it. From a objective perspective, assuming we're just mechanical bodies, this is really very handy. If you're ever in doubt if someone really likes you, ask him or her to do an M.R.I.. Then if the images show that he or she is not in love with you at the level you want it to be, just dump him or her. That will help.

That's what a scientist will see. But while you're in the middle of it and feeling the feels, there's nothing funny about this. I only hope this new understanding can help us better treat those who we care and who care about us.

As for the article on Korean scientist cloning human egg for stem cell experiement, I think whatever others think, once an idea comes to life, it is like impossible to stop. Can we stop the proliferation of nuclear weapon? Can all human beings, despite all political disagreement in an essentially world anarchy, agree to stop curiosity and the will to master life, not to tap into the power of genetic re-engineering? There's just such little fine line between a conscious human being and plain lab material. The minute human realize they're made from the same material of the rocks, they start to struggle to maintain the distinction between a higher intellectual awareness and pure materials.

Maybe those who made the discoveries are innocent, only with the wish to cure and help people, but the same tools or technologies can be in the hands of those with a deviant agenda. We cannot block, we can only channel the human creativity and curiosity energy into beneficial use. It's like the river must be dammed and released. We can choose to make this a wonder or a disaster for human race.

Poison against Poison

There's a Chinese saying: "use poison against poison."  We can use this method to combat computer virus and worms.  What virus and worms do is to exploit discovered bugs or weaknesses in software.  When bugs are first discovered, software companies are usually quick to make patches to fix it, but not everyone gets the patch, or get in time.  To prevent discovered bugs being exploited in malicious code, we can send a benevolent worm that just exploit this weakness but at the same time patch the host machine first.  To maximize the good and minimize the bad of this "poison", here are the rules:

1. upon infection, the code will patch first
2. then make a limited effort to infect the next 0-N vulnerable machines (this step is optional)
3. inform the user that the machine has been saved from potential catastrophic disaster, and provide further information to allow users educate themselves
4. ask users if they would like to contribute their idle computer power to patch other computers (including their friends), just like looking for ET signals
5. if yes, they can configure the rescue effort
6. if no, the code provides the option to remove itself
7. there should be a federation of these codes, so they use resources in an orderly manner and according to regulations.  A URL is embodied in the code to allow users to validate its authenticity on the federation official website.

Inspired by the article German Court Convicts Sasser Worm Creator

Multiple Choice

Multiple choice:

1. true
2. yes
3. ok
4. positive
5. 1
6. combinations of the above
7. any of the above

慎独

　　独处的时候是充电的时候。

　　知识上的充电，精神上的充电，感情上的充电，体力上的充电。

　　不要放电。不要乱放电。不要随便放电。

　　有目的，充电才有意义。

　　完全没人生目的？容易：你的目的是“找到目的”。
　　怎么找？容易：问自己、问我。

犯错

自从在３８亿年前出现在地球上以后，生命就在不断地犯错误。在亿万年的奋斗中，生命率战率败，率败率战，从来没有放弃过。３８亿年的无间断尝试和失败积累了１５４万物种和我们身体里的几万独特基因。

因为没有放弃失败，成功从海洋登上陆地。因为没有避免错误，成功改造地球。因为没有心理负担，成功孕育出人类的智慧。

生命不是最快，生命不是最强，生命不是最坚硬，生命更不是完美。生命只是不放弃，不停地犯错，不停地尝试。

不敢那么狂妄，不敢藐视生命，不敢不犯错误。

语言（１）

工欲善其事，必先利其器。

若果思想为工，器则为语言也。语言作为一个沟通和构造思想的工具，可以左右我们的人生。如何选择和自己对话，须慎用每词每句。

例１：为什么我总是这么苯？
潜意思：
Ａ：我苯
Ｂ：无时间限制，无条件限制
Ｃ：“我苯”得顺理成章，要寻找借口来巩固这个立论
。。。
解法：把“为什么”问句改成“如何”问句
改善版：如何才能在下一次做得好些呢？下一次如何避免出这样的错？怎样学到好的ＸＸＸ呢？谁可以做个好的榜样？怎么样的结果是理想的呢？怎样达到那个结果？


例２：点解你不ＸＸＸ？
潜意思：
Ａ：你错了
Ｂ：你应该早就知道你错了
Ｃ：我的幸福依赖于你做对
Ｄ：因为你做错，因此我不能开心了
解法：把“点解”问句改成“如何”问句
改善版：什么是我的目的？如何可以达到目的呢？如果你做ＸＸＸ，就比较好，因为结果会ＸＸＸ的（赚更多ＸＸ，付更少ＸＸ，ＸＸ会更开心，等等）。所以下次 可以记得你有ＸＸＸ的选择。如果不记得，可以采取ＸＸＸ的办法来帮你记起（写在ＸＸＸ上，我提醒你，你提醒自己，叫你妈打电话提醒你）。


例３a：我一定要ＸＸＸ
潜意思：
Ａ：如果我这次不ＸＸＸ，以后就没有机会了
Ｂ：如果我这次不ＸＸＸ，就没有其他选择了
Ｃ：如果我不ＸＸＸ，我会死
Ｄ：如果我不ＸＸＸ，可能全家ＰＫ
Ｅ：如果我不ＸＸＸ，地球会停
Ｆ：但是我做不到ＸＸＸ，所以以后没有机会，没有其他选择，我会死，全世界也都跟着我死

例３b：我不可以ＸＸＸ
潜意思：
Ａ：如果我ＸＸＸ，我妈会打我
Ｂ：如果我ＸＸＸ，我一定七窍流血而亡
Ｄ：如果我ＸＸＸ，地球会停
Ｅ：不过我肯定会ＸＸＸ，所以我妈肯定会打我，我肯定七窍流血而亡，全世界也会死

例３c：我不可以ＸＸＸ，但我又一定要ＸＸＸ
潜意思：
Ａ：我死定
Ｂ：全世界死定
解法：去掉“一定要”和“不可以”的口头禅
改善版：我有几个选择，结果各有千秋。我有自由选择任何一个。不管选择哪一个，我都会做好，开心并且无悔


题１：我希望ＸＸＸ
潜意思：
Ａ：希望而已
Ｂ：我需要有人把饼挂在我颈上
解法：
改善版：

题２：我尽量ＸＸＸ
潜意思：
Ａ：肯定不行
Ｂ：理论上说得对，但是我不相信这是可能的
Ｃ：我不想负责任
解法：
改善版：

盲流

　　美国是一个移民国家，纽约一个移民城市。用一种角度来看，是盲流逃亡地。幸好，这里采取了另外一个角度。

　　不管你是农民还是大城市市民，不管你来自发达还是落后地区，不管你是健康还是残废，不管你正常还是弱智，不管你是同性恋还是妓女，不管你是教授还是文盲，不管你是什么颜色和从哪里来，你和你的孩子都有得到教育的机会和合法的政府的帮助。

　　有些理想化。有它的有利条件和环境。不是每个人都可以涌进这里（历史上曾经可以）。不是没有歧视，不是应该完全一视同仁，也不是每个人都懂得珍惜和争 取这些权利。但是知道一个人的成就和他/她的背景和历史没有必然的联系令人振奋。这里没有“民工”这个贬低外来人的概念。

　　当我们面对一件事情要当面解决的时候，我们会在某种程度上依赖我们的感觉。我们的感情和观念是我们无形的限制。当没有情绪困扰的时候，我们可以比较公正地作出决定。在这种情况下把我们认 同的价值观写为法律，而给予在有情绪困扰时的行动指示，可给予我们更好的结果。就是说，如果没有法律给掌权者（警察、官员等等），难以保证他/她们在遇到 问题时能够作出正确决定。更不用说平常人。

心颤

有没有去爬过很高的山？一路上有很多悬崖峭壁。累的时候可以歇息一下，喘口气。要和周围的同伴首尾相顾，互相拉一把。不过不要往后看，一看就心颤脚软。

有机会，使劲跺一跺脚，感觉一下坚实的大地在你脚下，就不会觉得自己在漂浮了。

不要只是希望健康和幸运，做一个健康而幸运的人每天都会做的事情。

崛起

万万年以前，一个还名不见经传的星球上有一群正在崛起的小小生物。它们每人（暂且称为“人”）都很有个性，各有自己的喜好和能力。为了在恶劣的环境 中生存，它们不断地寻求突破。它们尝试改造自己，尝试改造自然，尝试改造自己群体之间的关系。每分每秒都在努力奋斗，从生到死。燃烧尽自己的所有能量，每 人只能有短暂的辉煌。 它们契而不舍，因为放弃本身已经是消失的足够原因。

它们发现，它们自己的生命虽然短暂，它们的联合体却可以超越时间的限制。它们可以自我繁殖，但是个人的想象力和突破点总是受到限制。于是它们追求互 相结合以产生可以结合所有优势的后代。它们的后代也不断地追求和发展“合作生存”这一远大的目标。前赴后继地组建一个强大的组织。

它们学会利用和借助外物以巩固自己的组织。用坚硬的物质来造成中流砥柱。它们学会用电来传递信息，拉起运行全组织的高速网络。有些成员开始执行细分 的任务。有的更适合担当指挥工作，有的能够有效地传递信息，有的能够驱动庞大的机械设备。它们分工协作，把自己的命运和组织的命运紧密联系起来。

每个组织都有自己的信仰和规章制度。这些结构和流程都记录在案，深深印在每个成员的记忆中。这些结构和流程决定了这个组织的特性和能力。这些组织利 用这些信息来复制与自己有相同结构的组织。当一个组织衰老灭亡的时候，它的精髓通过复制的新组织而重生。不断延续和繁衍，产生不同种类的组织。

能源和资源是维持一个组织生存的决定因素。每个组织再次为生存而各显神通。同种类组织之间的权力斗争，不同组织之间的吞并或者合作都不断发生。再一次，组织和组织之间合作研制新的一代自我，以合并互相之间的适合环境的优势，抵消减少先天不足或者不合时宜的缺点：完善自我。

在这个过程中，最开始的那些小小的生物，在庞大的组织里面已经失去了独立的意义。每人都只是这个组织里亿万个默默无闻辛勤工作的其中一个，细胞。

The Merge

This blog is the merge of the 2: Xanga, MSN Spaces.