Something i read from David Hume in a collection of philosophical readings in the winter holiday 2009 is informative for me as I have never rise to the fullest realization of this fact:
“But though our thoughts seems to possess this unbounded liberty, we shall find, upon a nearer examination, that it is really confined within very narrow limits, and that all this creative power of the mind amounts to no more than the faculties of compounding, transporting, augmenting, or diminishing the materials afforded us by the senses and experience. In short, all the materials of thinking are derived either from outward and inward sentiment: The mixture and composition of these belongs along to the mind and will.”
I am still not sure whether it is already proved wrong or otherwise, but since it is useful to me, why not believe it?
In fact, I can’t possibly use a word or expression which I haven’t seen it used anywhere before, I risk making a mistake or using improper words by using words from a vague memory, and I can use the word most perfectly if I remember it exactly how I saw it used previously, and even better if in various occasions.
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Parroting - First Step of Learning
I used to draw back when I write or say something using exactly the phrase or sentence I learned recently because I was afraid of being caught parroting someone else. And later I came to realize that is not that what language is made up of? I became at least unabashed to copy other’s words. And now taking it one step further, I come to know that it it not only legitimate, but the only way to learn a language. That means, if I continued to draw back when I was afraid of copying others, I was rejecting the only way to learn.
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Seeing the Future in History
I came to understand the importance of experience. If I hadn’t competed in a speech contest, I would have no picture to conceive before I virtually set my foot on the stage, which also means that I wouldn’t know how to deal with the questions when I drew a blank. Furthermore, if I want to predict the future, I have to know the history. And at the same time, the longer the history I knew, the longer-term my sight will be.
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“We may observe that upon the appearance of the picture of an absent friend, our idea of him is evidently enlivened by the resemblance, and that every passion, which that idea occasions, whether of joy or sorrow, acquires new force and vigor. In producing the effect, there concur both a relation and a present impression. Sensible objects have always a greater influence on the fancy than any other. It is certain, that distance (both in time and space) diminishes of the force of every idea.”
The impression, or the sensation I get whenever I am inspired by some thing, the effect will work on me immediately of course, but as time goes on, the idea of that impression, which is an imitation of the impression, fades away and finally to the point that I just forget.
故，子曰：
“温故而知新，可以为师矣。”--------------
1. The experience goes first. I gain my experience by close observing, hand-on practicing, reading, watching TV, and feeling.
2. Then comes the relations. The more i see, the more clearly i am going to discern the unchanging among them. The more likely i am to establish relations.
3. With experience and relations, which is also the principles, i can resolve new problems.
That is the common process of learning and acquiring the ability.
It is an exciting experience to look back and chew on the previous lines i have kept down. With new experience and understanding since the last time i saw them, i would find new meaning within the old ones. 温故而知新。It is also inspiring that after the meditation of myself, i would come to the same conclusion that great people used to. It is like a re-union.
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