【２００８年度 入試問題 原典】
80 .
Become an Early Riser
I have seen this simple, practical strategy help many people discover a more peaceful, even a more meaningful life.
So many people wake up, rush to get ready, grab a cup of coffee, and charge out the door to work.
After working all day, they return home, tired.
The same is usually true for men and women who stay home with their children: They get up just in time to start doing things for the kids.
There is virtually no time for anything else.
Whether you work, raise a family, or both, for the most part you are too tired to enjoy any time left for you.
As a solution to the tiredness, the assumption is often made, "I'd better get as much sleep as I can."
So, your free time is spent sleeping.
For many people this creates a deep longing in the heart.
Surely there must be more to life than work, children, and sleep! Another way of looking at your fatigue is to consider that a lack of fulfillment and a sense of being overwhelmed both contribute to your tiredness.
And, contrary to popular logic, a little less sleep and a little more time for you might be just what you need to combat your sense of fatigue.
An hour or two that is reserved just for you-before your day begins-is an incredible way to improve your life.
I usually get up between 3 and 4 in the morning.
After a quiet cup of coffee, I usually spend some time doing yoga and a few minutes of meditation.
After that, I will usually go upstairs and write for a while, but I also have time to read a chapter or two in whatever book I'm enjoying.
Sometimes I'll just sit for a few minutes and do nothing.
Virtually every day, I stop whatever I'm doing to enjoy the sunrise as it comes up over the mountain.
The phone never rings, no one is asking me to do anything for them, and there is nothing I absolutely have to do.
It's by far the most quiet time of the day.
By the time my wife and children wake up, I feel as though I've had a full day of enjoyment.
No matter how busy I am that day or whatever demands there are on my time, I know I've had "my time."
I never feel ripped off (as so many people unfortunately do), as if my life isn't my own.
I believe this makes me more available for my wife and children, as well as my clients at work and other people who depend on me.
Many people have told me that this one shift in their routine was the single most important change they have ever made in their lives.
For the first time ever, they are able to participate in those quiet activities they never found the time to do.
All of a sudden, the books are getting read, the meditation gets done, the sunrise is appreciated.
The fulfillment you experience more than makes up for any sleep you miss out on.
If you must, turn off the television at night and get to sleep an hour or two earlier.
Gallup has just released a scary new poll that indicates just how much work still lies before us as a nation--and just how frightening is the prospect of Republican rule. The majority of Americans are still likelier to believe in creationism than in evolution--with an amazing 7 out of 10 Republicans holding fast to their literalist beliefs.
Most depressingly, the figures for the American people in general have not moved significantly since 1982--both according to the Gallup polls and a number of others. The fantastic site Polling Report has a rundown of the major polls on just about every major sociopolitical issue, including evolution and politics. The numbers are anything but encouraging: in 1982, 38% of Americans thought that human beings were created over the course of millions of years, but God guided the process; 9% thought God played no part; and 44% said we were created by God in our current form (9% stated "other"). In 2007, those numbers have shifted only slightly, with 38% for divine guidence, 14% for no divine role, and 43% for creationism. A 2005 Harris poll showed 6% fewer Americans believing in human evolution than they had in 1994.
While the overall numbers for Americans are depressing, the political divide is nothing short of astonishing. As Gallup says:
The majority of Republicans in the United States do not believe the theory of evolution is true and do not believe that humans evolved over millions of years from less advanced forms of life. This suggests that when three Republican presidential candidates at a May debate stated they did not believe in evolution, they were generally in sync with the bulk of the rank-and-file Republicans whose nomination they are seeking to obtain.
Independents and Democrats are more likely than Republicans to believe in the theory of evolution. But even among non-Republicans there appears to be a significant minority who doubt that evolution adequately explains where humans came from.
The partisan numbers are 68% creationism to 30% evolution among Republicans, and 57% evolution to 40% creationism among Democrats. Of course, the divide between those who attend church regularly and those who do not is far larger (74% creationism to 24% evolution among those who attend church weekly, compared with 71% to 26% the other way), but that is largely to be expected. It is also important to note that many Americans appear to hold somewhat conflicted and contradictory beliefs. As Gallup goes on to say:
The data indicate some seeming confusion on the part of Americans on this issue. About a quarter of Americans say they believe both in evolution's explanation that humans evolved over millions of years and in the creationist explanation that humans were created as is about 10,000 years ago... <snip>
It might seem contradictory to believe that humans were created in their present form at one time within the past 10,000 years and at the same time believe that humans developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life. But, based on an analysis of the two side-by-side questions asked this month about evolution and creationism, it appears that a substantial number of Americans hold these conflicting views.
While I have no direct evidence to support this claim, I think it stands to reason that more moderates, independents and Democrats are likely to hold contradictory beliefs on this issue: I know several religious Democrats who stick to the principle that science and faith are entirely separate, and willing to live with a contradictory dichotomy between the Bible's literal words and the scientific evidence. Such contradictory beliefs are not generally in keeping with the dogmatic views of the fundamentalist Christians who tend to reject scientific evidence entirely.
Most interesting and underreported in stories covering this issue, however, are the numbers among independents: a full 61% of independents believe in evolution, compared to 37% for creationism--a higher belief in evolution than among Democrats. Factoring in the stunning increase in the number of voters who call themselves Independent (32.9% of the population), this is but another example of a strong majority of "swing" voting population moving away from bread-and-butter Republican beliefs in some pretty fundamental issues. It is a scary thing for a rightist political party when Independents actually stand to the left of the bulk of the Left's party constituents.
Gallup sums it up nicely:
Being religious in America today is strongly related to partisanship, with more religious Americans in general much more likely to be Republicans than to be independents or Democrats. This relationship helps explain the finding that Republicans are significantly more likely than independents or Democrats to say they do not believe in evolution. When three Republican presidential candidates said in a May debate that they did not believe in evolution, the current analysis suggests that many Republicans across the country no doubt agreed.
To me, the upshot is this: we have an increasingly hostile ideological divide in this country between the two parties, with one side avowedly in favor of Luddite ignorance when it comes to evolution, and the other with a solid majority of more reasoned (if often contradictory) beliefs. And while the views of the American public at large in this deeply divided country have not shifted dramatically, the views of Independent voters have swung sharply in the direction of Democrats--and on a fundamental issue that is not subject to prevailing political winds or current events.
Once again, we have a situation where the differences between the two parties could not be more clear; where the Republican Party is showing itself to be increasingly irrational, dangerous, and in hock to the extreme Christianist right; and where the Democratic Party has little to lose with crucial swing voters by standing strong on its principles.
Because to put it bluntly, in the year 2007, a party accountable to a constituency with a supermajority of believers in Biblical literalism simply cannot be allowed to rule. We have seen the consequences of such willful ignorance for the last 6 years, and we can no longer afford to be patient with it.
| ISLAMIC HADITH AND QURAN LESSON OF THE DAY 493 |
| Written by Hafiza Mrs. Iffath Hasan | |
| Saturday, 11 March 2006 | |
| Ayahs of the Day: If God were to punish people for their injustice, not a single creature would be left on earth: but God leaves them be until a determined time. And when their time has come, they cannot postpone it even an hour nor yet bring it on. [16: 61] Hadith of the Day: Protect (yourselves) from the earth for it is your mother and there is no one who does any act, good or evil, except that it will tell about it. [Tabrani] Wise Quote of the Day: Beware, beware! For God has been so protective that it almost seems like Divine forgiveness. [Ali radi Allah anhu] Guidance of the Day: Become an early riser. This simple, practical strategy help many people discover a more peaceful, even more meaningful life. So many people wake up, rush to get ready, grab a cup of coffee, and charge out the door to work. After working all day, they return home, tired. The same is usually true for men and women who stay home with their children: They get up just in time to start doing things for the kids. There is virtually no time for anything else. Whether you work, raise a family, or both, for the most part you are tired to enjoy any time left for you. As a solution to the tiredness, the assumption is often made, "I'd better get as much sleep as I can." So, your free time is spent sleeping. For many people this creates a deep longing in the heart. Surely there must be more to life than work, children, and sleep. Another way of looking at your fatigue is to consider that a lack of fulfillment and a sense of being overwhelmed both contribute to your tiredness. And, contrary to popular logic, a little less sleep and a little more time for you might be just what you need to combat your sense of fatigue. An hour or two that is reserved just for you--before your day begins--is an incredible way to improve your life. Many people have told me that this one shift in their routine was the single lost important change they have ever made in their lives. For the first time ever, they are able to participate in those quiet activities they never found the time to do. All of a sudden, the books are getting read, the meditation gets done, the sunrise is appreciated. The fulfillment you experience more than makes up for any sleep you miss out on. If you must, turn off the television at night and get to sleep an hour or two earlier. [Don't Sweat The Small Stuff] Food for Thought: Most people are searching for happiness. They're looking for it. They're trying to find it in someone or something outside of themselves. That's a fundamental mistake. Happiness is something that you are, and it comes from the way that you think. |
| ISLAMIC HADITH AND QURAN LESSON OF THE DAY 508 |
| Written by Hafiza Mrs. Iffath Hasan | |
| Wednesday, 29 March 2006 | |
| Ayahs of the Day: But if they turn away, your only obligation is clear communication. They recognize the kindness of God, but they deny it, as most of them are ingrates. [16: 82,83] Hadith of the Day: The best of you are those who, when you look at them, you remember Allah. [Tirmidhi] Wise Quote of the Day: How strange is the one who knows Satan to be his enemy and yet listens to him obediently. [Othman radi Allah anhu] Guidance of the Day: Schedule time for your inner work. In the field of financial planning there is a universally accepted principle that it's critical to pay yourself first, before you pay your other bills--to think of yourself as a creditor. The rationale for this wisdom is that if you wait to put money into savings until after everybody else is paid, there will be nothing left for you. The result is that you'll keep postponing your savings plan until it's too late to do anything about it. But, if you pay yourself first, somehow there will be just enough to pay everyone else too. The identical principle is critical to implement into your program of spiritual practice. If you wait until all your chores, responsibilities, and everything else is done before you get started, it will never happen. Guaranteed. Scheduling a little time each day as if it were an actual appointment is the only way to ensure that you take some time for yourself. You might become an early riser, for example, and schedule one hour that is reserved for reading, praying, reflecting, meditating, exercise, or however you want to use the time. How you choose to use your time is up to you. The important thing is that you do schedule the time and that you stick to it. If you set your mind to it, you can find the time you need. [Don't Sweat The Small Stuff] Food for Thought: When you truly know that your life has a grand and heroic mission, then you will realign yourself as a spiritual being. |
The Suburban Field Guide
Friday, December 14, 2007の一部
| Yet Daniel Goleman, author of Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human
Relationships, argues that as humans we are wired for sociability. He gives a
cogent example of today’s frequently self-centered discourse when he describes a
woman whose sister had recently died getting a phone call from a supposedly
concerned friend. As she goes into detail about her grief, the woman hears her
friend typing on the keyboard, answering his email. This sort of detachment
where dialogues become monologues was described by the late philosopher Martin
Buber as an “I It” interaction where “one person has no attunement to the
other’s subjective reality.” Goleman states that Buber used “I It” to describe
“the range of relations that runs from merely detached to utterly exploitive.”
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Thursday, 10 May 2007, BBC
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'Guessing' robots find their way
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The mobile machines create maps of areas they have already explored and then use this information to predict what unknown environments will be like. Trials in office buildings showed that the robots were able to find their way around, New Scientist reported. Making robots that can navigate without prior knowledge of their surroundings was a huge challenge, the team said.
Most mobile robots do this using a technique called SLAM (simultaneous localisation and mapping), whereby they build up a map of their unknown environment, using various sensors, whilst keeping track of their current position at the same time. But this technique is slow because a robot must explore a great deal of terrain to know its precise location. It is also prone to errors. So the team from Purdue University, in Indiana, has developed a new approach. The robots create a 2D map of the area they are exploring, but when they come to an unknown area, they check back through this information to see if it seems similar to any areas that have already explored. They do this using an algorithm - a step-by-step problem solving procedure. Professor George Lee who carried out the research, said: "The robot gets to a new area and thinks: 'Have I seen these sorts of things before?' Then it goes back and looks at its stored data. "It might then think: 'Hey, this is very, very similar to something I've seen before, I don't need to explore that room or corner.' And this saves time for it to explore other areas." He said it was similar to the human navigational process, where we build up a "mental map" of our surroundings by recognising familiar sights. Some limitations The scientists first tested the algorithm using virtual mazes and offices. Their computer models revealed that the robots could navigate successfully while exploring a third less of their environment than robots that simply used SLAM. Then tests carried out using real robots inside a university office building showed that the new navigation technique was also faster and less prone to errors than SLAM. However, the new method did have some limitations, Professor Lee said. "Indoors, in places like office buildings, it works well; outdoors, where the scene isn't as repetitive, the result is not that good." Self-navigating robots could have many applications, Professor Lee told the BBC News Website. The US defence department is currently focusing on self-driving automobiles. Professor Lee's research was funded by the National Science Foundation and was published in the journal IEEE Transactions on Robotics. |
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The humanitarian response to the 2004 asian tsunami was swift and global. But of all the tasks outside relief agencies and foreign soldiers undertook, none was as grim as that assigned to the Indonesian volunteers in Banda Aceh dubbed "the body-snatchers." Their mission: to clear the provincial capital of putrefying corpses, both to preserve the dignity of the tens of thousands of victims and to prevent epidemics among survivors. For weeks, they inched quadrant by quadrant through the wrecked cityscape, freeing decomposing remains from the rubble for burial in mass graves. "It was very, very surprising," says Hasballah M. Saad, an Indonesian human-rights commissioner. "We never imagined that people would come spontaneously."
The volunteers' sacrifices were emblematic of an underappreciated force in modern Asia: the power of community. Time and again, the region's globalized youth are cast as money-grubbing me-firsters--which is to say, the 21st century's version of America's post-World War II baby boomers. In Japan, leaders castigate the "parasite singles" who live at home in suspended adolescence; in Singapore, they fret about the younger generation's propensity to avoid the costs and cares of child-rearing. Everywhere the premise that an Asian "me generation" has emerged is seldom if ever challenged. After all, study after study has plotted the rise of millions of new consumers across the region, noting that global economic growth increasingly hinges on the buying power of well-to-do households in places like Shanghai, Jakarta and Mumbai. One would think that all they want to do--and all the world wants them to do--is spend, spend, spend.
Such observations aren't so much wrong as one-dimensional. History shows that industrializing countries evolve--often radically--with each successive generation. So in light of Asia's breakneck modernization, it's little wonder that values are changing fast. But alongside the spread of unbridled capitalism and conspicuous consumption, the region is also experiencing a profusion of new nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), a religious resurgence and rising nationalism. There are estimated 2 million NGOs in India, and China now has 2,000 registered "green" groups--up from zero in the early 1990s. In Indonesia, students from the top three universities in the country were surveyed on their career plans in 2004. An astonishing 73 percent said they would prefer to work for an NGO than for the government, and about the same number said civic organizations could do more than government to improve the country. In these Asian countries and others, the operative pronoun is "we"--the power of groups to enhance the common good.
In fact, the interplay between individualism and collective action underpins much of Asia's dynamism. One example is modern-day Bangladesh. Infamous for bad governance and incessant civil unrest, the country of 145 million has nonetheless become the least-developed world's overachiever. Its gravity-defying economy is expected to grow by 6.7 percent this year, and the country is on track to meet its United Nations-mandated millennium development goals on poverty reduction, gender equality, literacy and rural development.
But how? One growth driver is the millions of grass-roots enterprises funded by small-scale loans extended without collateral to poor households. The other: a vibrant, youth-oriented NGO community that bolsters educational and health services. "The government is wobbly and ineffective," says micro-credit pioneer Muhamad Yunus, founder of Dhaka-based Grameen Bank and winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize. "But our NGOs are strong and getting stronger, and they focus on the issues we need them to."
Disorienting change can inspire what looks like selfish behavior, to be sure, as rapid economic growth destroys traditional social structures faster than new ones can be built. One example is the magnetic pull boomtowns like Guangzhou, Ho Chi Minh City or Bangalore exert on the best and brightest young talent in their respective countries. Often, the rural migrants who make good in the city find themselves disconnected and alone. "Initially, a lot of their riches go to satisfying selfish demands," says Shalabh Sahai, a 30-year-old resident of Mumbai who received his M.B.A. from the prestigious Indian Institute of Rural Development in Anand.
But, Sahai goes on to note, "as the number of these people increases and they get more experience, many begin to say 'I should do something more'." That was his thinking when he joined two classmates to form the nonprofit group iVolunteers back in 2002. The group, which has 9,000 active members in four cities, seeks to link young elites with suitable needy causes. Since its inception the matchmaking service has arranged for thousands of volunteers--mostly IT professionals or bankers aged 25 to 35--to mentor orphans, teach slum kids to trek, visit old folks homes or advise grassroots environmental groups.
"We have a lot of young people who are extremely intelligent and earn big salaries," says 27-year-old Misha Bhatt, who heads the group's Mumbai operation. "They meet others, brainstorm solutions to problems. The feel-good factor is extremely high." iVolunteers, which is expanding its services through links with companies also looking to do good, reflects a signal change in India: The tradition of village-level charitable giving is being replaced by corporate and individual giving, coming from cities and the new rich.
Different countries in the region are naturally at different stages. In China, grassroots activism dealing with anything other than environmental issues is largely suspect; Beijing severely curtails the formation of independent NGOs. In many ways the bigger challenge is to foster a sense of community within the workplace, as so many of the so-called little emperors born under China's one-child policy start their careers. Employers report that screaming matches, crying jags and other sandbox antics have become commonplace, as has job-hopping fueled by low job satisfaction. New hires often "come with a sense that the rules don't apply to me," says William Dodson, CEO of Silk Road Advisors, a Suzhou-based management consultancy. "The next five to 10 years are going to be rough."
And in fact, less individualism is not always a good thing. In Malaysia last week, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi warned that religious and ethnic tensions could cause the country "to fail as a multiracial and multireligious nation." His comments followed recent clashes between Malay Muslims and ethnic Chinese, many of whom are Christian. On Internet bulletin boards in Japan, South Korea and China, young nationalists trade slurs over everything from Japan's 20th-century imperialism to North Korea's recent nuclear test--suggesting that economic integration doesn't always portend warm diplomatic relations. In South Korea, President Roh Moo Hyun has edged his government steadily away from Washington, its mainstay cold-war ally, into a more neutral position vis-à-vis Pyongyang. That shift appeals to Roh's young political base, which is left-leaning, pro-unification, and favors egalitarian economic policies. In many Asian countries--and certainly in China, Japan and Korea--the younger generation is more willing than their parents to wear their nationalism on their shirtsleeves.
But at least the passion shows that Asians have more on their minds than just making money. Take the Muslim Student Association at the University of the Philippines in Manila, an elite training ground for future business and political leaders. Its members, many of them from impoverished Mindanao, are eager to serve their home communities. Association President Abdel Jamal Disangcopan, 22, is the son of two doctors. He attends law school but doesn't dream of becoming a highly paid corporate lawyer. "Money is just a plus. Fulfillment is first," he says. "I don't want to be stuck in a life where ... I'm not helping anybody." He aims to return to Mindanao and become a much-needed public defender. Another student in the Muslim Student Association says she wants to return to Mindanao to practice medicine, after she earns her degrees, and a third plans to return to become a teacher. All are likely to make good on their pledges--making small but invaluable contributions to the societies in which they live.
With Marites Vitug in Manila and Joe Cochrane in Jakarta
© 2006 Newsweek, Inc.
It works well in indoor environments 