Sometimes I Wonder….
if some people are only born to be the stepping stones of others? Is that truly their only potential?
The Chinese Room Thought Experiment: Separating Mental and Functional States
One thing I wonder about learning new languages is how differently a person who learns a second language different from a person who primarily knows that language. For instance, if I learn Chinese to the point where I can survive in China like any other Chinese person, then how much different will my brain be from that of a native speaker? On the contrary, I wonder how different the minds of my Chinese friends are who learned English are from myself in terms of processing the English language. Notably, someone who is new to a second language will probably think in their own native language and do some translations in their head as they read, write, speak, and listen, but as they master a foreign language, does the way in which they process information differentiate substantially? What is the final result? Will we be the same?
This Week
Work went by slowly. Every day, the minutes passed like seasons and work lasted 8 hours per day. The highlights of this week were eating with a friend and surprising someone at work when I knew what 加油 “jia you” meant. I shouted “add oil” down the hall as I heard them say it to someone and it caught their attention. We chatted for a few minutes because they were curious as to what exactly I knew and how I had come to learn it. I always feel strange people that I just know “bits and pieces and that I had never taken a class yet”.
I drank a glass of sake later that night and the after taste stayed around longer than I expected. What else is new? Things happen that we don’t expect. That’s life, but I wish for the happy unexpected things as opposed to the bad ones.
I’m going to go study Chinese on my Nintendo DS for awhile. 88
Crazy Lady
What drives a person to be like this?
Reflections on the Week
This song seems to capture my thoughts pretty well for right now.
How to Make Anyone a Villain… or Not (Part 1)
After doing a wide analysis on many, many, MANY books, TV series, movies, and situations in real life, I have realized that several villains among these works have much in common, even with their counterpart protagonist. So what makes villains different than heroes? It certainly is not always their views of the world.
Surely, people are not born inherently evil, possessed by some “evil gene” or “evil demon”. It is how they are shaped, both by their environment and their reaction or lack of reaction to their world that the colors of their morality fade from white to black.
In fact, most villains out there believe that their said to be evil ambitions will be “for the greater good of the world” and that the consequences of their actions are merely a sacrifice. In some cases, their morality is either clouded by ignorance or lacks knowledge of the big picture.
However, let us consider two scenarios that are similar to many situations in the real world:
Xidan Girl Sings “Angel’s Wings” In Beijing Tunnel
Awesome girl! She’s become very famous as well! Best voice I’ve heard in awhile and the echo of the tunnel gives her an excellent effect!
