Chalk Outlines-- Ren X Chinchilla 歌詞中譯

Chalk Outlines-- Ren X CHINCHILLA
粉筆線 -- Ren (Ren Gill) X Chinchilla (瑞恩·吉爾 X 絨鼠/金吉拉)

https://youtu.be/4Vn_N5IHHoc


I'm still here in this bed that I crawled in
昨晚爬上床，醒來我還在這裡
I hope that I'm someone else in the morning
我希望醒來的我變成另一個人
So take this one, wash it down and you'll be fine
所以，吞下它，配著水，你會沒事的
Then walk around in a floating chalk outline
繼續周圍浮著粉筆輪廓線行走

But so it goes, let it be
就這樣吧，順其自然吧
In the gallows, I balanced on my toes so I can breathe
在絞刑架上，我踮起腳尖保持平衡，好讓自己呼吸

But little by little, bit by bit
但一點一滴，一點一滴
I push it back down with a new habit
我用新的習慣推開它
If not for long, just for a while
即使時間不長，一陣子也好
I'll bury myself with a great big smile
我會把自己埋在一個大大的微笑裡
Oh my my, oh my my
哦，我的天，哦，我的天
We trace ourselves in these chalk outlines
我們在這些粉筆線中將自己描邊
Oh my my, oh my my
哦，我的天，哦，我的天
Erase ourselves in thesе chalk outlines
從這些粉筆線中抹去自己

Sertraline and a sip of sеrotonin
舍曲林和一點血清素*
Don't cry 'cause there's a pill for everything
別哭，因為不論什麼都有藥可醫
Take this one, wash it down and you'll be fine
吞下它，配著水，你會沒事的
The feeling goes and you draw a chalk outline
感覺洶湧，你用粉筆線勾勒出輪廓

And so it goes, let it be
就這樣吧，順其自然吧
In the gallows, I balanced on my toes so I can breathe
在絞刑架上，我踮起腳尖保持平衡，好讓自己呼吸

But little by little, bit by bit
但一點一滴，一點一滴
I push it back down with a new habit
我用新的習慣推開它
If not for long, just for a while
即使時間不長，一陣子也好
I'll bury myself with a great big smile
我會把自己埋在一個大大的微笑裡
Oh my my, oh my my
哦，我的天，哦，我的天
We trace ourselves in these chalk outlines
我們在這些粉筆線中將自己描邊
Oh my my, oh my my
哦，我的天，哦，我的天
Erase ourselves
抹去我們自己

It's such a perfect day
今天真是完美的一天
Take it just in case, take it just in case
吃吧，以防萬一，還是吃吧
I'm scared of being okay
我害怕一切很好
'Cause all things change, all things change
因為一切都會改變，一切都會改變
It's such a perfect day
今天真是完美的一天
It's a beautiful shame, it's a beautiful shame
美麗的遺憾，美麗的遺憾
I'm scared of being okay
我害怕一切很好
'Cause all things change
因為一切都會改變

But little by little, bit by bit
但一點一滴，一點一滴
I push it back down with a new habit
我用新的習慣推開它
If not for long, just for a while
即使時間不長，一陣子也好
I'll bury myself with a great big smile
我會把自己埋在一個大大的微笑裡
Oh my my, oh my my
哦，我的天，哦，我的天
We trace ourselves in these chalk outlines
我們在這些粉筆線中將自己描邊
Oh my my, oh my my
哦，我的天，哦，我的天
Erase ourselves in thesе chalk outlines
從這些粉筆線中抹去自己

* 註：皆為抗憂鬱劑
* 按：另推薦這篇中文臉書Asianfan Renmakesmusic 介紹好文：Ren 生平簡介，也推薦另一首更重要的作品 Hi, Ren，以下內容截自曲後獨白

As I got older, I realised there were no real winners,
and there were no real losers in psychological warfare.
But there were victims and there were students.
It wasn't David versus Goliath.
It was a pendulum eternally swaying from the dark to the light.
And the more intensely that the light shone,
the darker the shadow it cast.
It was never really a battle for me to win.
It was an eternal dance.
And like a dance, the more rigid I became the harder it got.
The more I cursed my clumsy footsteps the more I struggled.
So I got older.
And I learned to relax.
And I learned to soften.
And that dance got easier.
It is this eternal dance that separates human beings,
from angels, from demons, from gods.
And I must not forget, we must not forget,
that we are human beings.

隨著年齡的增長，我意識到心理的戰爭之中沒有真正的贏家，
也沒有真正的輸家。
但有受害者，也有學生。
這並非大衛戰勝歌利亞的戰爭。
而像一個鐘擺，永遠在黑暗和光明之間搖擺。
光明越強烈，它投下的陰影就越暗。
這對我來說從來都不是一場需要我去贏得的戰役。
而是一場永恆的共舞。
就像舞蹈一樣，我越僵硬，就越難。
我越是咒罵自己笨拙的腳步，就越是掙扎。
於是，我長大了。
我學會了放鬆。
我學會了溫柔。
這支舞蹈也變得更容易了。
正是這永恆的一舞，將人類、與天使、與惡魔、與神區分開來。
我不能忘記，我們不能忘記，
我們都是人。

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Picture You -- Chappell Roan 歌詞中譯

Picture You -- Chappell Roan
想像你 -- 查普爾·蓉 (沙紅 聖堂)
from The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess
專輯：中西部公主的崛起與衰亡
Producer: JPA Creative

Draw the blinds
拉下百葉窗
Light every candle
點燃每根蠟燭
Slip off my pretty dress down my chest
漂亮的洋裝褪下我的胸口
When I think of you
當我想你的時候
Every night
每晚
Both lips on the mirror
雙唇貼上鏡子
It's ritualistic
儀式一般
Counting lipstick stains where you should be
在你該在的地方一一印上口紅

Oh, I need you around
哦，我需要你
I'm getting close now
我快到了

Do you picture me like I picture you? (Oh)
你想我，就像我想你嗎？ （哦）
Am I in the frame from your point of view? (Oh)
你怎麼看，我是否在你的視線中？ （哦）
Do you feel the same? I'm too scared to say (Oh)
你也有同樣的感覺嗎？我說不出口一半（哦）
Half of the things I do when I picture you
我所做的事，當我想你的時候

So, tell me now (Tell me now)
所以，告訴我（現在告訴我）
All your perversions (Oh, oh)
你所有的癖好（哦，哦）
Am I doing research in a mini skirt (Am I?)
我穿著迷你裙認真研究嗎（是嗎？）
At the library in your hometown?
在你家附近的圖書館嗎？

Oh, I need you around
哦，我需要你
I'm getting close now
我快到了

Do you picture me like I picture you? (Oh)
你想我，就像我想你嗎？ （哦）
Am I in the frame from your point of view? (Oh)
你怎麼看，我是否在你的視線中？ （哦）
Do you feel the same? I'm too scared to say (Oh)
你也有同樣的感覺嗎？我說不出口一半（哦）
Half of the things I do when I picture you
我所做的事，當我想你的時候

When I picture you
當我想你的時候
Aah, aah
啊，啊
Aah
啊
Aah, aah
啊，啊
Aah
啊

Do you picture me like I picture you? (Oh)
你想我，就像我想你嗎？ （哦）
Am I in the frame from your point of view? (Oh)
你怎麼看，我是否在你的視線中？ （哦）
Do you feel the same? I'm too scared to say (Oh)
你也有同樣的感覺嗎？我說不出口一半（哦）
Half of the things I do when I picture you
我所做的事，當我想你的時候



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Birds of a Feather-- Billie Eilish 歌詞中譯

Birds of a Feather (Billie Eilish song)
Billie Eilish/ Finneas O Connell

πολλάκις γαρ συνερχόμεθα τίνες εις ταύτο, παραπλησίαν ηλικίαν έχοντες διασώζοντες την παλαιάν παροιμίαν

I want you to stay
留下來
'Til I'm in the grave
直到我踏入墳墓
'Til I rot away, dead and buried
直到我腐化、死透
'Til I'm in the casket you carry
直到我躺在你抬的棺材中
If you go, I'm going too, uh
如果你離去，我也要走
'Cause it was always you, alright
因為一直只有你
And if I'm turning blue, please don't save me
就算瀕死也別救我
Nothing left to lose without my baby
沒有了你，我沒有什麼好失去

Birds of a feather, we should stick together, I know
相同氣息的我們應該要在一起
I said I'd never think I wasn't better alone
以前我不覺得會有選項比孤獨更好
Can't change the weather, might not be forever
天有不測，或許不會永遠
But if it's forever, it's even better
但如果有永遠，那就更好

And I don't know what I'm crying for
我不知道眼淚從何而來
I don't think I could love you more
我不覺得我還可以愛你更多
It might not be long, but baby, I
或許不長久，但是寶貝我

I'll love you 'til the day that I die
我會愛你直到我走
'Til the day that I die
直到我離開的那一天
'Til the light leaves my eyes
直到神采永遠離開我的眼
'Til the day that I die
直到我離開的那一天

I want you to see, hm
我多希望你能看到
How you look to me, hm
在我眼中看見的你
You wouldn't believe if I told ya
即使我說了你也不會相信
You would keep the compliments I throw ya
——那樣你才會接受我的稱讚
But you're so full of shit, uh
你什麼都不懂
Tell me it's a bit, oh
告訴我你是在開玩笑
Say you don't see it, your mind's polluted
你說你看不出來——你的心智被蒙蔽了
Say you wanna quit, don't be stupid
你說你想放棄了——別傻了

And I don't know what I'm crying for
我不知道眼淚從何而來
I don't think I could love you more
我不覺得我還可以愛你更多
Might not be long, but baby, I
或許不長久，但是寶貝我
Don't wanna say goodbye
還不想說再見

Birds of a feather, we should stick together, I know ('til the day that I die)
相同氣息的我們應該要在一起，我知道 (直到我離開的那一天)
I said I'd never think I wasn't better alone ('til the light leaves my eyes)
我未曾想過會有選項比孤獨更好 (直到神采永遠離開我的眼)
Can't change the weather, might not be forever ('til the day that I die)
天有不測，或許不會永遠 (直到我離開的那一天)
But if it's forever, it's even better
但如果有永遠，那就更好

I knew you in another life
我在另一生認識你
You had that same look in your eyes
你的眼神沒有變
I love you, don't act so surprised
我愛你，別好像很驚訝


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Discussion on a popular internet paradox

I treat this as a problem in logic or linguistics rather than statistics.


Key Questions: define what constitutes the option and define for each choice, what they signify. I propose three answers with their own logic here.
Ref: 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pragmatics
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantics
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correspondence_theory_of_truth


I. Correspondence theory: 1/3
[The correspondence theory of truth states that the truth or falsity of a statement is determined only by how it relates to the world] (quote from wiki)
So there are only 3 choices to be exact. Because (A) and (D) merely signify the only corresponding fact of 25%. This matter-of-fact type of understanding will lead to probability of 1/3 as in Mayur’s answer. This also implies, we know the answer to the question is 25%. But the known fact is independent from answer to this question.

II. Semantico-referential meaning: (B) 50%
[Semantico-referential meaning… describes events in the world that are independent of the circumstance they are uttered in.] (excerption from wiki)
So there are 4 choices if we treat the signifiers as independent from their context. (A) and (D) both correspond to 25% but are independent (ignorant of where they appear). Then the answer will be (B) 50%. And when we answer to this question with (B), because we assumed independence from context, we do not alter the probability.

III. Pure indexical sign: (A) or (D) 25%
[A pure indexical sign does not contribute to the meaning of the propositions at all.] (quote from wiki)
If we understand the choices as purely indexical, then the answer is (A) or (D) 25%. And because sentences are themselves also purely indexical, so it does not affect the meaning or the proposition itself.

IV. Others: 0%
Another popular answer to this question is 0%. I have yet to define the logic behind this answer and have no intention of future attempt. But I generally agree to the fact that if Choice (C) 60% is replaced by 0%, this paradox becomes even better.


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Green tea red bean layered cake

Ingredients needed:

1/4 cup red bean
3 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup green tea powder
Vanilla extract
Regular sugar
Brown sugar
Powdered sugar
1 box of heavy whipping cream (250 mL)
2 g gelatin

# The night before making the cake, rinse 1/4 cup red beans a few times and then soak in water. Submerge with enough water as they will expand in volume.
# The next day, put red beans in water on the stove. Bring to boil and cook for at least 1-2 hours, until desired texture is reached. Add sugar to taste (I use brown sugar here). Let cool.
# Prepare baking pan before you start. I usually use two containers of the same size rather than bake one cake and then cut horizontally. Apply butter to the surface.
# One important thing is that you need a deep pot to assemble the cake in, which means the size of your cake needs to match the diameter of your pot. See previous post for more details on assembly.

(1) Combine the ingredients below
I.
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup green tea powder

(2) Separate the yolk from the egg
For egg yolk, add splash of vanilla extract. After whisking, add to I.

(3) Whisk egg white until fluffy. Slowly add sugar and continue whisking.
II.
3 egg white
1/4 cup sugar

(4) Add just enough water to I. to make creamy texture. Do not over-mix as this would toughen the cake.

(5) Slowly add creamed I. to II. Mix using a spatula. Do not over-mix as this would toughen the cake.

(6) Pour mixture into two greased baking pans. Bake at 375 °F for about 15 min. Check if the cake is cooked. Because oven performance varies.

(7) After pulling the cake out from the oven, remove the cake from tray and let stand cool.

(8) Drain the red beans.

(9) Use 1/4 cup of the red bean soup (cold) to soak the gelatin. Use about half envelope (2 g). Add more if you like more gel-like mousse, add less if you prefer more creamy one. Microwave until dissolved and let stand cool.
III.
1/4 cup red bean soup
2 g gelatin

(10) Whip 250 mL cream. Add powdered sugar to taste. Spare about half for frosting, use another half below.
IV.
250 mL heavy whipping cream
Some powdered sugar

(11) Add drained red beans to IV. Mix with a spatula. Slowly add III.

(12) Line the pot with saran wrap. Put one layer of cake. And then the cream mixture. And then another layer of cake.

(13) Put in fridge for >5 hr or in freezer for 2 hr. This will allow the mousse to solidify.

(14) After taking out from the fridge/freezer, decorate with the saved half of the cream and serve!



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More protein in my diet

Fish dish #1 Asian style
1. Cut ginger into thin stripes and put on plate
2. Put fish on top (tilapia is inexpensive and nice for this)
3. Put little bit of water in plate and a few drops of soy sauce
4. Microwave covered on HIGH for 3-5 min.
(Check to see if you can crumb it with a fork)
5. Season with salt to taste

Optional: Put a few drops of rice wine and a few shakes of salt before microwave. Put some green onion on top after microwave.

Beef dish #1 Steak
1. Buy sirloin beef chop (about 0.5 lb = 8 oz.)
2. Preheat oven to 375 ºF and a pan on stove top to highest setting
3. Grill with or without oil for 1-2 min. on each side (Do not heat for too long, slight browning is enough)
4. Put little salt on each side and move onto aluminum foil; bake uncovered for 5 min.
5. Open oven and cover the aluminum foil and close oven
6. Turn off the oven. Leave in for another 8-10 min.
7. Season with ground black pepper to taste

Chicken dish #1 Stir-fry
1. Buy chicken breast and cut into bite size
2. Marinate with a spoon of rice wine, an egg white, a spoon of soy sauce
3. Mix thoroughly and leave in fridge covered for >30 min.
4. Cut any vegetables (green pepper, mushrooms or anything you like)
5. Heat the pan with oil
6. Stir fry chicken until golden-brown
7. Add vegetables and salt (or any other seasoning)
8. Stir fry for another few minutes

Shrimp dish #1 Stir-fry
1. Buy frozen shrimp (cooked or uncooked) and peeled frozen green soybeans
2. Boil the green soybeans in water for a few minutes
3. Heat the pan with oil
4. Throw in a clove of garlic, chopped
5. Throw in shrimp and boiled green soybeans
6. Season with salt to taste

Optional: Add green onion and egg


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Boredom-- Soren Kierkegaard, Either/Or

Boredom is the root of all evil. Strange that boredom, in itself so staid and stolid, should have such power to set in motion. The influence it exerts is altogether magical, except that it is not the influence of attraction, but of repulsion.

...

The history of this can be traced from the very beginning of the world. The gods were bored, and so they created man. Adam was bored because he was alone, and so Eve was created. Thus boredom entered the world, and increased in proportion to the increase of population. Adam was bored alone; then Adam and Eve were bored together; then Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel were bored en familie; then the population of the world increased, and the peoples were bored en masse.

---------------------------------------------------------

Long in philosophy, scholars had tried to define the fundamental idea of men, and the answer from the seducer is that—all men are bores. Kierkegaard is not trying to focus the readers on how bored/ boring we are; rather, he is expressing the absurdity this way. In most existentialists’ view, we came into the world de trop, and thus with the gift (allow me to name it this way) of time and space, most people don’t know how to act and thus are merely blindly set in motion by the repulsion of boredom to respond passively. But in the case of people living in the authentic aesthetic, this is not totally negative. No matter what the motivation is, an authentic lifestyle still holds its value. They may enjoy life regardless of the ethics (as a note, in an ethically-neutral way) and the ‘rotation method’ is one of the ‘skills’ to enjoy life suggested by the seducer.


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Life and books-- from Good Will Hunting

So if I asked you about art, you’d probably give me the skinny on every art book ever written. Michelangelo, you know a lot about him. Life’s work, political aspirations, him and the pope, sexual orientations, the whole works, right? But I’ll bet you can’t tell me what it smells like in the Sistine Chapel. You’ve never actually stood there and looked up at that beautiful ceiling; seen that. If I ask you about women, you’d probably give me a syllabus about your personal favorites. You may have even been laid a few times. But you can’t tell me what it feels like to wake up next to a woman and feel truly happy. You’re a tough kid. [...] I’d ask you about love, you’d probably quote me a sonnet. But you’ve never looked at a woman and been totally vulnerable. Known someone that could level you with her eyes, feeling like God put an angel on earth just for you. Who could rescue you from the depths of hell. And you wouldn’t know what it’s like to be her angel, to have that love for her, be there forever, through anything, through cancer. And you wouldn’t know about sleeping sitting up in the hospital room for two months, holding her hand, because the doctors could see in your eyes, that the terms ”visiting hours” don’t apply to you. You don’t know about real loss, ’cause it only occurs when you’ve loved something more than you love yourself. And I doubt you’ve ever dared to love anybody that much. And look at you... I don’t see an intelligent, confident man... I see a cocky, scared shitless kid. But you’re a genius Will. No one denies that. No one could possibly understand the depths of you. But you presume to know everything about me because you saw a painting of mine, and you ripped my fucking life apart. You’re an orphan right? [Will nods] You think I know the first thing about how hard your life has been, how you feel, who you are, because I read Oliver Twist? Does that encapsulate you? Personally... I don’t give a shit about all that, because you know what, I can’t learn anything from you, I can’t read in some fuckin’ book. Unless you want to talk about you, who you are. Then I’m fascinated. I’m in. But you don’t want to do that do you sport? You’re terrified of what you might say. -- from Sean Maguire (Robin Williams) in Good Will Hunting
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Theory of Relative Happiness-- by NobodyHere

http://www.nobodyhere.com/justme/theory.here
(Great website)

My theory of relative happiness essentially means that
you don't feel good or bad. Just better or worse than before.
This insight opens a new path to happiness:
depress yourself and in the relief following that depression,
you will experience an overwhelming sense of bliss.

I'm still working on the scientific evidence.


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When we two parted-- Byron

When We Two Parted
當我們別離
--by George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824)
拜倫

When we two parted
當我們離別
In silence and tears,
沉默與眼淚
Half broken-hearted
幾乎心碎
To sever for years,
將分隔多年
Pale grew thy cheek and cold,
你的臉蒼白而冰冷
Colder thy kiss;
你的吻更冷
Truly that hour foretold
那一刻預言了今天
Sorrow to this.
令人傷悲


The dew of the morning
晨露
Sunk chill on my brow--
凍在眉梢
It felt like the warning
彷彿透露
Of what I feel now.
此刻我心
Thy vows are all broken,
你的誓言破滅
And light is thy fame;
你的信用輕薄
I hear thy name spoken,
我曾聽聞你的惡名
And share in its shame.
以此同羞


They name thee before me,
當人們提起你的名字
A knell to mine ear;
如喪鐘響在我耳際
A shudder comes o'er me--
一陣心悸
Why wert thou so dear?
為什麼曾經如此愛你
They know not I knew thee,
他們不如我懂你
Who knew thee too well--
太過懂你
Long, long shall I rue thee,
我將長久為你嘆息
Too deeply to tell.
直到太深無法說得清


In secret we met--
悄悄相見
In silence I grieve,
我沉默傷逝
That thy heart could forget,
你的心竟能忘記
Thy spirit deceive.
你的靈魂能夠欺瞞
If I should meet thee
如果我遇見你
After long years,
在多年以後
How should I greet thee?--
我如何招呼你?
With silence and tears.
以沉默 以眼淚


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True Nobility-- Ernest Hemingway

True Nobility
--by Ernest Hemingway

In a calm sea every man is a pilot.

But all sunshine without shade, all pleasure without pain, is not life at all. Take the lot of the happiest-it is a tangled yarn. Bereavements and blessings, one following another, make us sad and blessed by turns. Even death itself makes life more loving. Men come closest to their true selves in the sober moments of life, under the shadows of sorrow and loss.

In the affairs of life or of business, it is not intellect that tells so much as character, not brains so much as heart, not genius so much as self-control, patience, and discipline, regulated by judgment.

I have always believed that the man who has begun to live more seriously within begins to live more simply without. In the age of extravagance and waste, I wish I could show to the world how few the real wants of humanity are.

To regret one's errors to the point of not repeating them is true repentance. There is nothing noble in being superior to some other man. The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self.



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Miscellaneous quotes from Hemingway

"Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know."
--E. Hemingway

"I love sleep. My life has the tendency to fall apart when I'm awake, you know?"
--E. Hemingway

"Madame, all stories, if continued far enough, end in death, and he is no true-story teller who would keep that from you."
--E. Hemingway

"If two people love each other there can be no happy end to it."
--E. Hemingway

"Never mistake motion for action."
--E. Hemingway

"Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime."
--E. Hemingway

"The world breaks everyone and afterward many are stronger
at the broken places."
--E. Hemingway

"'The world is a fine place and worth fighting for.' I agree with the second part."
--E. Hemingway

"It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end."
--E. Hemingway

"Hesitation increases in relation to risk in equal proportion to age."
--E. Hemingway

"That is what we are supposed to do when we are at our best -- make it all up --but make it up so truly that later it will happen that way."
--E. Hemingway


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Quotes on Death

"All stories, if continued far enough, end in death."
--E. Hemingway

"There is no lonelier man in death, except the suicide, than that man
who has lived many years with a good wife and then outlived her.
If two people love each other there can be no happy end to it."
--E. Hemingway

"Every man's life ends the same way. It is only the details of
how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another."
--E. Hemingway

"Everyone knows they're going to die, but nobody believes it."
--M. Schwartz

"If you accept that you can die at any time-- then you might not
be ambitious as you are."
--M. Schwartz


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Outline of The Phenomenological Method

This is a class note created for Heidegger's book Being and Time chapter seven. All quotes below from Heidegger, Martin. Being and Time. Trans. John Macquarrie and Edward Robinson. New York: Harper & Row, 1962.

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§ 7 The Phenomenological Method of Investigation

7.1 Theme of phenomenology

7.2 Ontology

7.3 Phenomenology as the research of “to the things themselves”

7.4 Superficial word origin of phenomenology

7.A The Concept of Phenomenon

7.A.1 Phenomenon as something showing itself in itself

7.A.2 Appearing as something announcing itself through

(a) what shows itself

(b) what does not show itself

7.A.3 Mere appearance as what does not make up the real Being

7.A.4 Semblance as something showing itself as what it is not

7.B The Concept of the Logos

7.B.1 Logos as letting something be seen

7.C The Preliminary Conception of Phenomenology

7.5 Meaning of phenomenology from word origin

7.C.1 Phenomenon in ordinary/ formal sense:

Any exhibiting of an entity as itself shows itself in itself

7.C.2 Phenomenon in phenomenological sense:

the Being of entities

7.C.3 What goes to make up Being/ the concept of Dasein

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The theme of phenomenology is about the Being of entities and the meaning of being in general. Although ontology had born this mission in philosophy, the term “ontology” itself does not indicate a clear approach and it has a rather unjustified concept of entity. Phenomenology deals with some themes overlapping with those dealt with by ontology. But rather than asking what the object of research is, we would ask how the research is (Heidegger, 50). Now the meaning of phenomenology proposed by Heidegger is ‘To the things themselves’ and he tried to elucidate not only the term phenomenology itself but also its deeper contents by examining its word origin in Greek in the following sections. What phenomenology is not would be made clear in order to point out the prejudice and problems we face.

According to Heidegger, there are four possible interpretations of the word ‘phenomenon’, namely, phenomenon, appearing, semblance and mere appearance. Only the first one, phenomenon, is what phenomenology wants to reveal, i.e.,

‘that which shows itself in itself (51)’.

This interpretation of phenomenon would constantly be what is being referred to in the phenomenological sense and must not be confused with the followings. The second interpretation, appearing, is

something ‘[announcing] itself through something does show itself (52)’.

Appearing therefore at the same time implies that the something showing itself is not showing itself directly but through the appearance. The appearance can either be ‘something that shows itself’ (mere appearance) or ‘something that does not show itself’ (semblance) of the something showing itself (53). The mere appearance is ‘something which does not make up the real Being of what brings it forth (53)’, just like the fever showing itself as redness in face. On the other hand, semblance is ‘to show itself as something which in itself it is not (51)’. This kind of showing itself can also be referred to as ‘seeming’, such as redness in face after exercise may seem to indicate having a fever.

Now that we clearly distinguish the differences between the four interpretations and adopt the first meaning of phenomenon hereafter, we at the same time open up the concept of entities. To be more specific, we must not presuppose that ‘something appears without being itself an appearance (53)’ and shall ‘leave it open whether what shows itself is an entity or rather some characteristic which an entity may have in its Being (54)’.

From Greek origin, according to Heidegger, the definition of Logos is discourse. Discourse here in the pure apophantical sense is to ‘[let] something be seen in its togetherness with something (56)’. It is very different from the judgment-bearing and unjustified concept of synthesis proposed in psychology, about the mysterious binding of something psychical inside with something physical outside. ‘The function of Logos lies in merely letting something be seen, in letting entities be perceived (58)’.

Taking phenomenon and logos together, phenomenology now no longer stands for just science of phenomena similar to all other disciplines. Phenomenology means ‘to let what which shows itself be seen from itself in every way in which it shows itself from itself (58)’. This understanding is no different from the previous notion that phenomenology is ‘to the things themselves.’ What follows then is a de-formalization of the concept of phenomena from ‘any exhibiting of an entity as it shows itself in itself (59)’ into ‘the Being of entities (59)’. This Being of entities include ‘[the exhibitings] that belong[s] to what shows itself so essentially as to constitute its meaning and its ground (59)’. Only in this way can we avoid presupposing the unjustified ‘natural distinction’ between the entity and what belongs to its Being and then start out to examine this relation and phenomena.

Phenomenology is thus the way of access to what is to be the (undefined) theme of ontology. ‘Phenomenon’ in the phenomenological conception is ‘the Being of entities, its meaning, its modification and derivatives (60)’. Bearing this notion in mind, the mission of phenomenology is to rediscover the covered things, and to ‘[grasp] and [explicate] phenomena in a way which is original and intuitive (61)’ yet not in the least naïve or unreflective. We shall no longer think of phenomena as something exhibited; rather, phenomena now become ‘that which shows itself in itself (51)’ behind which there is nothing else (60).


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Vita-- echoes the theme in Good Will Hunting

Living is what it means. Something in itself.

It takes more than critique to live. You may say you know it all, but you don’t understand what you’ve said. Watching life from some ”God’s eye” will give you no real joys or sorrows.

For who can be sure about everything? Or say, anything. Yet life carries on. Is it more ridiculous to say what we’ve been through is real, or is it the opposite?

You’d still prefer an invulnerable life, though it attacks at night. You’d still stay calm and detached yet you know you can never again.

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warmth-- reflection on Kierkegaard

Have you ever noticed how this world bereave people of their inwardness and fill them up with external stimuli, how we live on those crooked dispensable news? I’ve always believed that intake and output are never coexistent. Just like you don't breathe in and out at the same time. I am never able to write when I read a lot.

I sometimes doubt the necessity of the existence of documents of all forms. Yet I can't imagine what I would be like to have lived without all the warmth, the proof of one’s existence.

Philosophy is not interesting unless when you read it, you are so very glad that you are not the only one in this world to ever thought about some particular thing. This is why I've been fascinated.
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Subjective truth-- reflection on Kierkegaard

Subjectivity is directly related to human existence in the world. It can neither be abstracted nor mediated. It is something personal and originating from heart-feelings rather than logic or observations through perceptions, which Kierkegaard named as the inwardness. Kierkegaard emphasized more than once that there does exist objective truth nice and all, it’s just that they’re not of great significance since they are merely cold, detached facts and cannot be life-transforming as can subjective truth. To Kierkegaard, “the thing is to find a truth which is true for me, to find the idea for which I can live and die,” that is, too seek for one’s own subjective truth.

“No theory can adequately embrace the concrete.” is probably the harshest note to all sciences. Kierkegaard pointed out the richness of reality which the theories can never attain. Through perceptions and logic, we establish objective truth. The fascinating scientific discovery of the ‘Uncertainty Principle’ is really an impact on both science and philosophy. It is very similar to the ‘approximation-process’ idea proposed by Kierkegaard in the text— but a substantial difference is that it is a support from the science. Another is the theory of statistics of possibilities about “even the proposition with the highest probability may happen to represent no actual event.” These collectively suggest similar ideas that 1) in some cases, we may infinitely approximate something but never get it, and 2) no matter how we presume a certain thing in totality, by chance it may not appear. These facts point out the uncertainty of objective truths.

Then, what about subjective truths? Is there more certainty in it? Does it provide a definitely correct association? Kierkegaard’s answer is simple and short—negative. But even if in those cases, as he indicated, “the individual is in the truth even if he should happen to be thus related to what is not true.” Why? Because the criteria are different. For objectivity, its criteria of value are correspondence and coherence; in subjectivity, they’re authenticity and sincerity. The infinite ‘approximate process’ defeats science but not the subjectivity.

Similar to the Christian example Kierkegaard provided, there is a fable in Buddhism as followed: a man who sincerely wants to become a monk tried to find a mentor. On his journey, he met a devil-figure and falsely followed him in his moral practice. At last, he still became a Buddha because though he was receiving all the inspirations from a wrong model, his subjective apprehension is still on the right path. And thus Kierkegaard defined ‘the highest truth attainable for an existing individual’ as “an objective uncertainty held fast in an appropriation-process of the most passionate inwardness...”

Other than questions on religion, subjective truth also applies to almost all except the construction of science. For example, love is a typical subjectivity as truth. As long as you love someone, it is definite already. You can neither observe through perceptions nor deduce through logic—you simply keep the faith and that’s all. Devotion is prior to any other judgment in such cases.
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Internet-- reflection on Kierkegaard

I was especially impressed by the following two descriptions made by Kierkegaard on the society and totality. He wrote that “It is selfish within the individual and it results in the selfishness of the society around him, which thus works against him.” and that “[Publicity is] an all embracing something which is nothing” and is “less than a single real man however unimportant.” Not only do they apply to our present age here and now but the situation has gone from bad to worse compared to that in Kierkegaard’s age.

How could living in the totality make people feel even more alienated? Most people live in the crisis of having an undefined self-image. People try harder and harder in their daily life to imitate each other in the illusory public, which appears in the form of fashion among many others. In reality “human nature needs variety” and are born with the impulse to assert himself. As a results, we are often playing the roles not even close to our true selves.

People go on the internet to do crazy things that they won't ever dare in reality or to express their real feelings simply because it is safe there— “nothing really happens” there. This escape is now more convenient to practice than in Kierkegaard’s age. At then, people may create an illusionary world of forms in their deliberation. Now, we made an improvement by providing one readily available— the virtual world built on wires and wares. If Kierkegaard could have seen the situation here and now, he may very likely become willing to agree more with Hegelian for at least they think (no matter how empty those ideas are detached from real life, they do think).

Kierkegaard's message remains true for all of us. You have to look at things in perspective, to be aware of the trick the totality (including the public, mass media and the society) is playing before us and to recognize the real precious thing— our individualities. No matter how accessible a world of unknown has become and how much fun there is to just intake, we should hold onto what’s intimate and long-lasting to us. We should be aware of the fact that though there are things that are convenient, they are seldom necessary to our existence. Maybe we actualized ourselves through them, but the invaluable still lies in our self-fulfillment rather than in those dead wires and wares.
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