连续上咗差唔多两个星期班，真是人都颠。寻日临放工前，望住窗外发呆发现到好靓噶云彩。

最近一个月工作又有新变动，转跟了一个年轻帅气有魄力的领导，哩条友自带劲多资源，来咗唔够一年，就将睇唔顺眼噶前辈整走晒，好串。跟住佢做野辛苦就紧噶啦，但是条粉肠醒目、靓仔、行动力强、思想又同一个维度，一齐做野好鬼好玩。

看了一部评价很高的的法国电影《坠落的审判 》，看过后觉得是过奖了，两个半小时的电影看着虽不沉闷，但还是过于单调，以悬疑开头却是开放式的结局，感觉是被骗了一般。

影片开始讲的是女主是位作家，正在接受采访，突然楼上响起了嘈杂的音乐，采访被迫结束。看到这里我在想，女主难道就不能上楼让她丈夫关掉音乐，就听之任之？

接着女主丈夫莫名地坠楼身亡，我以为是一部悬疑推理片，后面就要层层推理找到凶手了。让我遗憾的是直到电影结束也没看到凶手，也不知道女主丈夫是自杀还是他杀。

女主被当作嫌疑人审判，在审判过程中我们才知道女主和父母不和，喜欢大都市，迁就丈夫才来到穷乡僻壤的地方居住，不管孩子的生活和学习，还是双性恋，婚内出过轨。对于丈夫的付出觉得是应该的，认为他的失败是「罪有应得」，口口声声说爱他，却并不关心他。

我觉得是女主杀死了她丈夫。一是她的小说有相关情节。二是和丈夫的关系不好，经常吵架。三是女主有几次故意隐瞒实情，比如手臂上的淤青和与丈夫的关系（说很久没吵架了），说自己在大声的音乐中睡着了，但当儿子发现尸体叫她时又很快能听到呼喊声。四是她丈夫尸体在雪地上有明显拖动的血迹，和自杀不符。五是她儿子为了保护她做了伪证：一开始说记错了位置和最后关键的和父亲自杀倾向的对话（我觉得这段对话是编造的）。

这些朋友、亲人确实是急需用钱(看病)，才会开口。不管你有多少存款，如果关系比较好的，看关系的远近，一次给对方发500、或1000、2000元，并说自己现在的信用卡欠×××钱。这年头，欠信用卡很正常。为什么这样说？

因为无论对方是如何守信的人，他们在借钱的时候，全都会给一个承诺时间，但到了约定时间，没有一个会还的。因为借钱，本身就是一个人能力的极限，已经见底了，才会开口。不是不想还，是没能力还。

别指望要回来了，这样说，意味着，这是第一次给对方借，也是最后一次。

关系一般的，当场委婉拒绝。关系较好的，就按上述的数额发一些，自己就不会得罪人，但很可能会失去这个朋友，因为老会惦记对方啥时候还。沙拉老师说的，如果对方借钱，就意味着会失去这个朋友。

不像有的学者定义的，肯给借钱的人，能称为朋友。现实刚好相反，原来是朋友，借钱不还就会失去朋友。

如果对方是女的，一般直接不要借，更还不上。

博客安家之路

已经有半个月没更新博客，过了个五一就什么都不想动。前阵子博客搬到软云上，结果才没多久，软云就出问题，紧急撤回来，幸好数据是可以备份（不过搬过去时，我就设置了每天凌晨自动备份到又拍云，就是怕出什么问题，结果怕啥来啥）。

2号那天就赶紧把数据搬过来，直接切换好域名，回来原来的篱落主机上，不管怎么说，这个主机还是要保留着，关键时刻有个退路。

去年到今年年初，一直想买个cloudcone的机器，但一直没有我想要的1C2G的机器，我就干脆不买，不买立省100+。

图片上传又拍云

老调重弹，之前在后台ueditor直接配置上传到又拍云，搬到软云后不能使用，也搞不定。于是搭建一个图床程序LightPicture，但随着软云机器出问题，这个程序就没了，尽管没什么损失，虚拟主机无法使用这个程序。

找到一个比较合适的本地直接上传的程序，纯前端就可以实现，程序从github上找到的，名字叫：web-upload-upyun

拿到程序后，稍微改了下上传路径和命名规则，基本上满足我的需求即可。

之前还想着放到主机上，后来想着这不安全，毕竟没有任何验证，直接谁都可以上传，于是本地浏览器打开即可。

折腾子站点--知识库

其实就是一个瞎折腾的站点--知识库，很久之前用百科程序，后来就切换到Typecho程序上，相当于两个Typecho程序，前几天换了个新主题，主题也有一些BUG，于是动手改了改。

又将博客边栏的读取知识库的feed改了下，现在应该不至于自己搞死自己，改成读取文件，文件缓存一天。

测试两天，目前还没发现什么问题，就这么先用着。

最近发现自己越来越讨厌网络词语了，但是一直没细想原因，今天决定仔细思考一下。

我讨厌的词语有（次级列表表示讨厌原因）：

• yyds -> yong yuan de shen -> 永远的神 （形容杰出的人）
  • yyds 是拼音缩写，增加了理解难度。
• IP -> intellectual property -> 知识产权（可能指「跨媒体制作」或者「网络红人」）
  • IP 是缩写，增加了理解难度；「跨媒体制作」意思清晰，没必要发明新词；「intellectual property」意思增加了，容易造成歧义。
• city walk（在城市散步）
  • 中文已有「散步」，没必要发明 city walk。
• 走心（原指「变心」或者「走神」。现在网上有「用心」、「动心」的意思，贬义转褒义了）
  • 中文已有「用心」、「动心」，没必要发明新词；「走心」的意思增加了，容易造成歧义。
• 百元机（1000元人民币以下的手机）
  • 百元机（1000元以下的手机）不符合直觉，百元机按直觉应该是一百元能买到的手机。
• 千元机（1000元～2000元人民币的手机）
  • 千元机（1000元～2000元人民币的手机）同样是不符合直觉。
• emo（引申自 emotion，可以指一切负面情绪，比如：颓废、忧郁、悲伤）
  • emo 意思模糊，你到底是哪种情绪呢？

这些词语的问题就是：晦涩难懂、不必要地创造新词、重新定义词语导致歧义、不符合直觉、意义模糊。语言的目的就是传递信息，而费解的词语会阻碍这个过程。我写博客时越来越追求文章通俗简洁，所以就很讨厌这些词语。看来我不是讨厌网络词语，是讨厌烂词。

世界在变化，我们需要创造新词来描述新事物。近年也有一些我觉得不错的网络词语：

• 全职儿女（一种职业，在家通过做家务等劳动换取父母支付的薪水。）
• 躺平（很形象地表达不想努力。）
• 打工人（突出上班就是给别人干活，有自嘲意味。）

前面批评了烂词，我也顺便从中总结我对语言的态度：

• 保持准确
• 保持通俗，使更多人理解
• 继续使用原有词语，能继续用就不需要发明新词
• 修正费解的词语。比如：鲁棒性（robustness）应该是健壮性；自行车（bicycle）不会自行移动，应该说脚踏车或者双轮车。
• 可以从外语引入缺乏的词语。比如：咖啡（coffee）、电话（日语借词）。

最后，推荐我自己的中文训练方法：

• 看到网络词语就在心中翻译
• 看到中英夹杂就想怎么用纯中文表达
• 用通俗的词语代替网络词语
• 表达时考虑受众的知识水平

本文图片出处：

• 简单点，说话的方式简单点 - 斗图表情包 - 斗图神器 - adoutu.com（使用 Bigjpg 放大 4 倍，无降噪）
• 你要不要聽聽看 你現在到底在講什麼（出自视频 不要再取奇怪的餐點名稱了｜#吹你腦｜喬瑟夫 ChillSeph - YouTube 的 0:53）

Everybody used to be naked, all the time. Naked at birth, naked at death, naked while sitting around with people, naked while meeting strangers, naked while preparing and serving food.

This condition is hard to imagine, because everybody you’ve ever met has been in the habit of wrapping themselves in woven fibres. Coating our bodies with textiles is such a useful thing to do that everybody does it now. But the technology to do that had to be invented, and many people lived their whole lives before that happened.

In fact, many people lived and died before any material goods had been invented — at least anything more complex than sharpened sticks or stones. Biologically, those people were basically the same as us. They still had to stay warm, they had to keep their kids safe, and they had to eat. Just with no stuff.

Mother Nature gives all human beings the same raw deal: with a gun to your temple, she whispers, “Find 2000 calories today, for each member of your family, and you may live one more day. Don’t let your bodies get too hot or too cold, and don’t let anything puncture or break them. Good luck.” There is no negotiation, and no crying foul; you have to do this.

If a group of beings survives this arrangement for long enough, their children become old enough to do it themselves. We know some number of them succeeded, because we’re their descendants.

You could call that condition – naked, with no possessions – abject poverty. You really can’t have any less materially. This poorest state of human beings is our default state. It’s what we are, actually, before you add any accessories.

Wild animals all live in abject poverty, because they can’t invent any stuff to make it easier. Humans can improve their condition significantly by acquiring objects and knowledge. Anything useful we gain, on top of our basic no-stuff state, can be broadly called wealth. A bearskin is wealth. A sharp obsidian flake is wealth. A log placed across a stream is wealth. Knowing how to make twine is wealth.

Wealth For Sale – Cheap!

A few items of wealth can go a long way.

Imagine a group of pre-clothing, pre-stuff people, coming across a modern bag of kitchen garbage, left behind by careless time travelers. There are some food scraps in there, some balled-up cling wrap, some soiled rags and other useful materials, but the real prize is an empty jar of Kraft peanut butter. After eating the high-calorie remnants, they can use the screw-top container to carry a ration of water any distance without spilling it. Now they can go that much farther from the water source, to find more food and survey more terrain for other advantages.

That bag of garbage alone could elevate a small group of people to something slightly above the default no-stuff state, in terms of ease, maybe for a long time, if they can keep that peanut butter jar intact. The bag of garbage is wealth.

Imagine if instead of a bag of garbage, this group found the unsold stuff from a single American yard sale. Now we’re talking life-changing wealth. Enough clothing for six people. Containers galore. A stack of Danielle Steel novels, providing thousands of sheets of paper. A claw hammer and a hand saw. A screwdriver, and some screws. Forks and knives. Towels. A box of matchbooks. A bundle of ballpoint pens. Zoo animal figurines. A package of hair ties. A blue tarp and a four-man tent! Who could ever be so lucky? This group’s battle with the human condition is by no means solved, but it will be far easier than any of them thought was possible.

Now imagine they came across a modern landfill. What we might see as an embarrassing pit of refuse, they regard as a fertile mountain of food, tools, and inspiration. Just its ability to attract seagulls would be a boon they’d sing legends about. We may find it disgusting, but when compared to the absolute poverty that is our baseline condition, a landfill contains an unbelievable amount of wealth. Why do you think the seagulls and rats are always so excited about them?

Mountains Upon Mountains

We don’t regard landfills or unwanted yard sale stuff as wealth, because the life of even an ordinary modern human rests on far richer and more enormous piles of wealth – layers and layers and layers of wealth, which have elevated us so far beyond our base state that we’ve lost all perspective of what wealth even is, and how much of it we have.

Aside from all the cheap and free objects and tools that abound in the modern world, there’s such an abundance of food energy that even the least wealthy members of industrialized societies have to be careful not to consume dangerously excessive amounts of it.

Then there’s the wealth of countless institutions and systems that quietly deliver all sorts of ease, know-how, and services, directly or indirectly: libraries, maps, journalism, art, construction standards, computer networks, and ten thousand other layers of advantage.

Wealth levels vary greatly between individuals, which is inevitable when there’s so much wealth that has accumulated from so many sources. But even if you literally grew up in a garbage dump, you’ve probably always had access to an abundance of useful tools, helpful systems and infrastructure, accumulated human knowledge, and caloric energy galore — not everything you want, not everything others have, but much, much, more than zero.

Most of modernity’s wealth benefits us even when it’s owned or controlled by others. Living in a place where there are phones, even if you don’t have one, makes life far easier, and might even save your life. Simply existing within in a society with industries, courts, banks, hospitals, roads, electricity, professional expertise, and schools – even if you have no direct access to those things yourself — frees you from huge proportion of the survival burden Mother Nature still puts on every human being.

That stuff alone constitutes immense wealth, in the absolute sense. Virtually any random person from history would agree. The only person who wouldn’t is a contemporary person who’s measuring wealth not from zero but from how much some other person has.

Yet people somehow lived with none of this stuff. They had the same fragile bodies and the same propensity for suffering, and they presumably still experienced moments of connection, happiness, peace, and meaning in a zero-wealth condition.

True Value is Measured from Zero

Measuring wealth from zero is a different way to think about it than normal. What makes you wealthy, in the way the word is typically used, isn’t what you have, but what you have compared to the people near you in time, space, and culture.

It’s useful for politicians and pundits to describe wealth in this relative way — as a comparison to some arbitrary standard — because it allows them to exploit our capacity for envy and pity, and maybe convince us to blame society’s problems on their political enemies. Did you know you’re supposed to have a house and a car and an investment portfolio? If you don’t, guess who’s screwing you!

Humans are prone to seeing wealth in relative terms. Watch this 1-minute clip of a capuchin monkey getting caught up in the relative view. Mother Nature prods us to strive for more than we have, as a failsafe. A bit of burning covetousness now might help you survive a future drought or famine. But it can also make you miserable, even when you’re sitting on a centuries-deep mountain of advantages.

How to Measure from Zero

Getting new things feels exciting. Simply having the things you already have, even if those things are immensely valuable, doesn’t usually feel like anything. The relative view only allows new acquisitions to feel strongly rewarding for a brief time, before you fully assimilate your new identity as an iPad-haver or Blundstone-wearer.

Feeling the full wealth of what you’ve already got is possible only when you measure that wealth from zero. Then you can feel its absolute value, rather than its relative value.

The easiest way to feel the absolute value of something is to imagine, as vividly as possible, its disappearance.

Next time you go to bed, imagine the bed, the covers, the building and its contents, all disappearing from around you, dropping you naked onto the cold ground.

Pretend this is the new condition of your life. There you are, blowing in the wind. You’re still you, just with no stuff. You have to carry on with your life from here. Where do you go?

Your first impulse will probably be to rely on the abundant layers of wealth that still surround you – nearby structures to shelter in, available materials to wrap yourself in, phone systems, emergency services, friends and strangers and their piles of stuff.

Now — only if this surrounding stuff was gone would you actually have to contend with your real birthright: the base state of human beings.

But you don’t, and almost certainly never will. Now come back from this fantasy. Suddenly your ratty Wayfair duvet and noisy radiator feel like the riches they are.

Measuring from zero helps us keep perspective. I’ve often recommended a similar exercise, but in this version you make your friends disappear instead. You might know it already: when you’re with a loved one, imagine that they’re gone from your life and you’re not actually seeing them in the room with you, you’re just remembering what it was like when they were still here.

A moment later, when it clicks in your brain that they are still here, their true value – as measured against zero, not against some arbitrary status quo — becomes palpable. Who could ever be so lucky?

***

Photos by Sarah Brown, Matthew Moloney, Luca Bravo, James Wainscoat, Robinson Grieg, Chris Tweten, Alex Hudson, Element5Digital, Chandler Cruttenden