The value of communication in an internship

I admit the title is big, and this passage may not fulfill the role of extensively evaluate the value of communication in internship in general, but let me just speak from my own experience. In particular, let me start with my internship experience in four companies so far.

All four companies are tech companies, and all are in different fields. For the first three however, I worked in the same geographical location as my other teammates, while for the fourth one, all my teammates are in Massachusetts, and I am the only one in California. This is when I realize the value of communication, as you know the value only when you lose it.

The delay of any communication is huge, sometimes hours. This poses a huge problem in a highly dynamic company culture. Meanwhile, our team is strictly following the agile software development method, with an iteration cycle of two weeks. Even one hour is thus highly valuable. To make things worse, as an intern and a new grad, there are many things for me to learn and familiarize, but I am always hesitated when I encounter a problem. If I can see my team lead or other teammate in person, I could directly ask if they are busy and if they can spare some minutes with me, but now, I need to assume they are busy all the time, so I have to solve all problems with my own hands. Sometimes this is a good practice, but it usually takes several or maybe tens times of efforts than simply asking for help. To make things worse, I can easily spend several hours working on an issue but end up with no result.

Some suggestions for interns and new starters:
-> Try to avoid the situation in which most of your team members are in a different geo location. Different buildings inside the same campus is okay, but different cities can be challenging.
-> If you happen to be separated from your teammates, don't get upset. Learn to adjust your working habits, including your working schedule, ways of communication, and so on. This is especially important for new full-time employees, as you will probably stay inside the company for years ahead, so it is better to get accustomed soon.
-> Working in a different location from your teammates is challenging as well as rewarding. You will be forced to communicate with your co-workers effectively, learn to make your words clear, and care about your tone in writing.

道德经胡言乱语的一章

我不同意或欣赏道德经中某些言论。譬如第四十六章：

不出户，知天下；不窥牗，见天道。其出弥远，其知弥少。是以圣人不行而知，不见而明，不为而成。

大致意思是说有道者不需要从外界获取信息就能够知道天下万事而保持内心的通明，不去做事事情就自然而然的成功了。

道德经大部分写辩证观，少数涉及玄学，然而这一章特殊之处在于它将主观唯心主义发挥到了极致。所谓不为而成，基本是符合老子所说的“行不言之教”和“民众皆曰我自然”之类是一个意思，但是却过于偏颇了。也许对于治国而言，在小国寡民的环境下，一个君主可以通过自身的行为去教化人民，或是什么事儿都不做，依民众自身的发展，社会会自然地到达一个相对稳定和谐的平衡点，所以能谷物丰收粮食充盈人民安家乐业。然而，此章的角度显然并非国家，而是个人，那么前面所说的“无为而治”就无法成立了。

即使在信息爆炸的今天，”不出户“也很难以”知天下“。媒体往往有失公正；非民主国家禁止信息自由；搜索引擎对于“黑色网络”（darknet）无能为力等等，众多的原因都使得你很难知道在这一秒钟大洋彼岸的一个平静的小村落中即将席卷全球的势力正在发酵。“其出弥远，其知弥少”句更是令人不知所云。同时代的孔子周游列国，虽说最终是个伤心地结局，但不知若是没有这段经历，是否“其知弥足”呢？

小感

妈妈真是了解我，她说：“两件事对你很重要，一个是精神上的朋友，另一个是美食。”近来细思，深觉这总结得贴切。我似乎占有欲，事业心，嫉妒心，甚至于青年人所常有的求胜心都没有。“上善若水”是我最欣赏的一句话之一，“水善利万物而不争”。老子讲求”若水“，最终是为了”长久“，但我甚至连”长久“都没什么追求。此非怪也哉？又何求知己？

另一个是美食。虽然自比作谢安般淡然，然谢安石也有折屐齿的故事，我常常矫情镇物又算些什么呢？然而情感的波动，最好便是由美食来调节。所谓一勺老汤下肚，瞬间喜上眉梢，再烦心的事也能抛在一旁。

提到谢安，我与他的差距甚远。别的不提，单出身而言，谢家是晋朝世家，而小张家目前不名于世。谢安石可以在东山玩到四十岁，谢万失势，他为了家族才东山再起；张也生二十多就东奔西跑为生计，虽然偶尔文艺一番，发表一下隐居的志向，却一直没去做过。也生呀也生，隐居真的需要很多钱吗？

抛开不提。近来迁居，孤独了两周多，还被斯坦福拒了，万幸总算重拾了旧时对自由的追求，心又平静下来了。

略述恋爱婚姻观

又犯了前文的老毛病，光顾着过嘴瘾。今天所幸过个够。

前天听了一对基督徒新婚夫妇的讲座，说恋爱婚姻的。我不太信宗教，撇开其中天父的不谈，但觉得讲座中一点挺对，即：

为婚姻而谈恋爱。

我第一想法即是时间与精力的有限。人一生短短数十年，譬如朝露，朝诞夕逝，为了享乐什么的去恋爱，实在是太奢侈，也太不负责任。

另一点，则是看一则漫画所感（http://myjs.qq.com/t-116584-1-1.htm）。漫画大致是把一个女子比作圆的一角，她想周游世界，但是因为不是圆满的圆，所以一直在等待那一个正好缺失她这一角的圆的男子。然而各种各样的男子都令她失望。终于，一个满圆出现了。”你为什么不能自己走呢？”满圆问道。女子尝试，终于磨平了棱角，也磨成了满圆。这儿的道理是：

人本身是一个完整的个体，婚姻并不是为了补足一个不完整的生命。

最后，引用余秋雨先生对青年的一句建议：

虔诚地等待那个人的出现。

自嘲一番

偶然劳动时，突然欣喜地发现自己对物质生活追求不高。想想别人梦寐以求的豪车别墅美人，我似乎一点兴趣都没有。相反的，觉得自己所拥有的，常常都是累赘，一时看得新奇，久了，但觉无用，倒是分散了精力。转念一想，又不禁莞尔--我一个无业游民，何谈物质生活追求？哈哈，哈哈。

名者，实之宾也。此话有理，可是不适合由我这个一穷二白的家伙来说。我本淮右布衣，不名一文，虽有抱负，暂无成果。而如“名者，实之宾也”，须当像许由一样的大隐士来说，那样的胸怀才配得上这种高深的境界。我说说，也只能是过过嘴瘾，装装文化人而已。

多说无益。追求更高的境界，在更高的平台上。

A man should not stay busy all the time

A man should not stay busy all the time.

From time to time, he should be able to jump out from what he has been doing to have a broader view on his life and career. It is rather hard to have an open mind when it is occupied with labor, sometimes bothersome.

Recall the story of a young man and a monk. A young man, burned by his passion for high achievement but frustrated for failing all the time, consulted with a monk. Instead of answering the young man's confusion directly, the monk invited him to sit down:"Would you like some tea?" "Yes please", said the young man, a bit absentmindedly. The monk smiled, and started pouring the tea into a cup. Quickly, the tea filled in the cup and began to overflow, yet the monk didn't stop pouring. "Wait! Wait!", the young man exclaimed, feeling rather agitated and surprised--anyway, how could this monk be so careless. The monk, still smiling, said in a thoughtful tone:"I could not fill in the cup if it is already full. Similarly, if your mind is filled with labor, ambition and frustration,  how can you listen to others? How can you differentiate the sound of your inner mind from noises?" Lost in thought, the young man remained silent.

胡话：人为啥要活着？

近来不适，肠胃感染，发烧数日。期间却幸而有闲心想了两个人生宇宙终极问题：

1. 人为什么要活着？

我之前的想法便是人活着是为了追求道与自由。其中”自由“的定义便是能不受拘束地做所愿做的事，类似“随心所欲不逾矩”；同时，在更高的层面，意志的自由， 即内心所想不会受外部所影响。心的自由延伸出去，便是内心的淡薄宁静。引陶渊明先生的诗解释一下：

纵化大浪中

不喜亦不惧

应尽便须尽

无复独多虑

这一条曾是我的人生最终目标。

然而近日发烧，我又细想了自由，觉得第一条可有可无，最重要的第二条亦存有疑点：第一条的还不足以达到能与人生终点平等的高度，不表；第二条可疑，因为如果我们内心皆淡薄了，那为什么还要去追求？

2.人为什么要有追求？

（我为人甚懒，如果此答案是无解，那我也可以开心地颂着“朝闻道，夕死可矣”投海了……）

追求是为了能不断地提高自己的一项技艺，而高超的技艺是通向道的路径。这是我烧后的答案。

老子先生写过”上善若水“的句子，说是水”处人之所恶，故近于道“，似乎是说我的观点完全站不住脚。无所谓，可能下次我想起来就能说服他/自己了。

撇开论证。我自己最想提高的技艺是音乐。然而老聃先生又唱反调了：”五音使人耳聋“。类似的，刘禹锡先生也贬斥”丝竹乱耳“。更可怕的是，我内心却同意两位先辈的观点。于是，此时此问暂是无解，但如你所见，我随心行文，需得尽快找出答案，否则，”夕死可矣“吧……



也生胡写

（临表涕零，不知所言，大概就是我现在的感觉吧。）