The following is an article I wrote and shared with 馮達旋 (Da-Hsuang Feng), who was the Vice President of NTHU at the time when I was in college in Taiwan. While I think that my past perspective was somewhat narrowed (especially toward India, my sincere apologies) and arrogant, it nevertheless inspires me to some extent as it popped up on my feed in Facebook yersterday. I am noting it down here for my future self. (A direct translation of this article by ChatGPT is included at the end.)

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馮達旋

我認識了方志豪同學

自從2012年之後，我有了臉書帳號之後，我與台灣極多的大學生交流，有機會深深的認識他們對人生的期許，對國家的希望，對自己的要求。假如沒有臉書為平臺的話，這是不可能的。在半年前，我認識了方志豪同學，他是2013年資工的畢業生，幾星期前，我們在臉書上談了幾句話。雖然是區區的幾句，我感到他是一不尋常的青年。我下意識的對他說「你不妨把此想法以文章的方式全面表達一下。」昨天他竟然寄給我他的文章。我讀後，深受感動，所以立刻要求他允許我廣泛的傳出去給全球華人看看優秀的台灣青年的「吶喊」！

與印度學生對話的反思?

方志豪 國立清華大學資訊工程系2013年校友

前幾天無意間在網路上遇到了一個印度學生，和他聊了一下，其中主要的內容是他對於自己的長期規劃。大二、主修電子工程（Electronics and Communication）、興趣是機器人和人工智慧領域（robotics & artificial intelligence），目前正在準備出國讀研究所。我和他聊的不多，但是從他的字句當中明顯地流露他對於自己長期計劃的熱情，他興奮地問我說：”Did you hear about new Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella ? He is from my school!” （薩帝亞•納德拉 (Satya Nadella)，於2012/2/4被Microsoft 委派為新一任執行長。）我當時感到非常震驚，我心中的疑問是：一位才剛進入大學兩年的學生，大約20歲左右，不是和朋友們一起出去玩樂、享受生活，而是已經明確的知道自己未來的目標並努力的實踐自己未來的藍圖。為什麼他會如此的努力？

他回答我：“In India major ppl r from poor backgrounds…so only education can help us shine!” (在印度大多數的人都很貧窮，只有教育可以使自己綻放光芒。)

我感到無比震驚，過了不久他說：“got to go…..hav an exam tommorow …..” （我要離開了，明天還有考試。）

我祝福他，並告訴他繼續堅持自己的目標不要放棄。這個對話讓我思考了許久。印度，在刻板印象中是一個貧窮的國家，種姓制度（caste hierarchy）使得貴族永遠的富裕，而底下的人民只有靠自己的努力才能溫飽自己，進而提升至更高的精神層面：自我實現。相較於台灣，處於相較於優渥的環境，學術與言論相較自由，但也許也因為如此，我們缺少了警覺性。

心理學家的行為主義理論（behaviorism）主張一個人的行為表現和特質的形成主要來自於環境因素(environmental factors) 和過往經驗（experiences）;社會的價值觀、家庭的教育、身處的天氣狀況、吃的食物無形地影響了人們的思考方式、相處模式。古希臘哲學家柏拉圖 (Plato) 曾經提出了一個洞穴寓言（allegory of the cave）的思想實驗：一群囚犯一出生就被枷鎖綁住背向洞口，再他們的背後有一個火把，他們一生中所能看到的人、動物等等都是經過火把投射在洞穴牆壁上的影子，因為他們也從未看過真正實體的牛、羊、雞等動物，於是他們也認為這些影子就是他們所認知的牛、羊、雞。 的確，我們的生活環境形成了我們的價值觀，但也相對地被自己的價值觀禁錮住。這位印度學生一生下來就注定了他的膚色、種姓階級，這些因素造就了他目前的樣子，而他跳脫了思想的框架，尋求一個管道（以他來說是出國），試圖脫離社會環境給他的枷鎖，離開他的洞穴。

反觀台灣，我們是否有這種警覺性？我們是否意識到活在的框架中的危險性？ 以新聞媒體來說，我們所吸收的知識是否有用？大多數的人們都知道，台灣新聞所報的內容大多充滿腥羶色，或者是八卦性質的內容：林書豪來台灣最喜歡去夜市、昔日當紅藝人今日在吃小火鍋等等。在我們吸收這些娛樂性質的知識的同時，是否意識到我們正因為這些新聞佔據了版面而喪失了更有意義的新聞？ 在最近這幾天烏克蘭的新聞在The economist, Time, The New York Times, NPR news 不斷更新，而台灣的yahoo奇摩新聞頭條卻是：“年前求婚凱悌被拒-藍鈞天氣到分手。” 更荒謬的是新聞內容謬誤層出不窮，在2012年時曾經有篇新聞：「億萬富翁神奇公式：1.4萬×(1+20%)×40年＝1.0281億」。此篇教人民如何投資，但是仔細端詳其複利公式，卻是錯誤百出。正確的計算方式並不是 1.4萬×(1+20%)×40年＝1.0281億，而是1.4* (1.2^41-1)/(1.2-1)=12 339.0812萬元。假如今日我們沒有矯正台灣新聞的品質，而讓更多不夠能力辨識優劣的閱聽者吸收到錯誤的知識，那麼將會導致閱聽者的知識與價值觀偏頗，日積月累下去後，我們的不但因此缺乏國際觀，更讓無法辨識新聞品質的人民無意識地吸收他們認為“有用的知識”，那將會對台灣人們有巨大的傷害。

以教育面來說，台灣的國高中的填鴨式教育使我們壓力倍增，進而缺乏興趣，最重要的是：缺少了獨立思考。每個學生一定都經歷過每天一上學就必須做完好幾份考卷，下課時還得去補習班進修。歷史課的考題可能是：「甲午戰爭賠款多少銀兩？」，但是仔細思考，我們記住甲午戰爭賠款多少錢的意義成分有多高？重要的是應該是：「甲午戰爭對於台灣的影響有多大？如果沒有甲午戰爭，台灣會變成什麼樣子？ 」但是這些問題並不會考，因此我們並不打算進一步思考這些問題。在美國，高中生必須學習寫essay，essay會提出一個議題，然後問學生同意或不同意這個議題，並進而用自己的想法和證據來支持自己的觀點。在寫essay的過程中，學生仔細地思考了這個問題，去網路或圖書館尋找資料，將內容內化為自己的觀點，進而有條理的闡明自己的論述。在這些過程中，他們學習到了如何獨立思考，而不是考卷考了99分，差1分要被老師打手心一下。在這裡並不是在吹捧西方教育有多麼成功，而是比較優缺，在未來的生活上、工作上、人際關係互動上，我們需要的是將自己的思想具體化，而不是比較考卷的分數和背了多少的公式，因此，我們必須要意識到獨立思考的重要性，不能被僵化的教育方式阻礙了我們的思考能力。 美國科學史家湯瑪斯•孔恩(Thomas Samuel Kuhn)一書科學革命的結構（The Structure of Scientific Revolutions）提到典範（paradigm）的概念，科學家在某一個時期會以一個科學基礎（書中稱作常態科學,normal science）為典範，此典範是當時科學家一致認同的，當異例(anomie)出現時，科學家會試圖將異例用典範的常態科學試圖解釋並消去異例，當異例危及到一定程度時，此時典範不再是典範，於是產生了科學危機，直到出現另一個典範能夠完全解釋異例時才會產生新的常態科學。 舉例來說：

在西方中古時代，亞里斯多德球狀有限宇宙觀和托勒密的地心宇宙論是當時的典範，以當時是毫無疑問的正確，哥白尼身處的環境和宗教因素，導致他猶豫了36年才將日心說提倡出來；伽利略運用望眼鏡看到了1.月球的凹凸不平。2.金星的盈虧的現象。3.太陽有黑子在其表面移動。4.銀河其實是由許多分開的星星所組成的。5.土星長了兩個耳朵 6.木星的4顆衛星。這些異例的出現才將原先的典範破除並成為新的相較正確的典範。 將此學說類比到台灣，台灣的社會風氣、媒體傳播方式、教育方式是我們所熟悉的典範，並且大多數認為此典範毫無問題，當我們觀察到異例出現（中國、印度等國家的崛起、媒體的國際觀、教育的彈性化），我們是否有足夠的勇氣質疑目前典範的正確性？我們應該要像被當時認為是異教徒的哥白尼一樣勇於更正錯誤典範，而不是像堅絕地支持地心說的保守派一樣，如果沒有像哥白尼一樣的人出現，我們將會永遠生活在中古世紀。 將問題移至個人層面，每個人生活中都有自己的問題，我們是否有足夠的警覺性的將自己身邊的問題提出來仔細思考？今天這位印度學生知道自己國家的種姓制度無法擺脫好幾代的貧困，他找出了一個方法來解決，這個方法給他帶來的是無止境的考試和熬夜，但是他心中知道這個管道在五年後、十年後可以將自己的困境解決。培根(Francis Bacon, 1564-1626)曾經提到人類經常具有種種習慣的思維，並被這些壞的思維套牢住，因此他提出人們必須打破心靈的四大「偶像」，其中一個偶像即是「洞穴偶像」(Idols of the cave)：人們往往會因為自己的知識極限給套牢住，而此知識或許是偏見或是錯誤的。培根曾說：「每一個人都有他自己的洞穴」。2002年諾貝爾經濟學獎得主丹尼爾•卡內曼（Daniel Kahneman）在他的書中「快思慢想」（Thinking, Fast and Slow）也提到：「What You See Is All There Is (WYSIATI)」來解釋人們的過度自信(overconfidence)導致判斷事情時產生錯誤或偏見。湯瑪斯•孔恩也曾經提到格式塔實驗(gestalt experiment) ，一開始人們會用一種角度看事件，直到外界的刺激後，人們開始用不同的方式對待同樣的事物。 人們一開始第一眼會看到圖中是個鴨子（或兔子），當換了一個觀點看此圖後，會發現其實也可以看成兔子（或鴨子）。相同地，我們今天生活當中，受到外界刺激後，是否要用不同的角度去破除原先的思想，進而使得自己、家庭甚至社會更進一步的改變？

微軟(Microsoft)的創辦人比爾•蓋茲(Bill Gates)不僅成為了科技界的巨頭，蟬聯了好幾年的世界首富，但他不止讓自己更加優渥，而是看到了各國的弱勢族群，並創辦了比爾與美琳達•蓋茨基金會（Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation）照顧各國需要幫助的人們;孫運璿榮譽講座教授李家同看到了台灣的弱勢學生缺乏競爭力，於是成立了博幼社會福利基金會，照顧弱勢學生，使得他們不會因此輸在起跑點。 當然也不是在責備過去，批評種姓制度、媒體品質、教育制度禁錮住我們的價值觀，史蒂夫•賈伯斯(Steve Jobs)在2005年史丹佛大學畢業典禮演講曾經提到：你無法預先把點點滴滴串連起來；只有在未來回顧時，你才會明白那些點點滴滴是如何串在一起的（you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards）。所以你得相信，眼前你經歷的種種，將來多少會連結在一起。並且不要被教條所侷限–盲從教條就是活在別人思考結果裡。不要讓別人的意見淹沒了你內在的心聲。最重要的，擁有追隨自己內心與直覺的勇氣，你的內心與直覺多少已經知道你真正想要成為什麼樣的人（have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become），任何其他事物都是次要的。 Try to think out of the box.

最後，在改變的過程中必定會有所掙扎，但是掙扎不一定是壞事，掙扎使得人們對於外界事物保有警戒心。轉變成另一個自己之後回頭看看過去，再比較現在與過去的自己，會發現自己心靈的成長。有一句John Stuart Mill的名言是我非常喜愛的，並且一直將它放在心中時時警惕自己： 「It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.」 作一個不滿足的人，勝過一隻滿足的豬；作一個不幸的蘇格拉底，勝過作一個滿足的癡人。 我相信在改變過後，回頭看看，一切都是值得的。

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Reflections on a Conversation with an Indian Student

Chih-Hao Fang, Alumnus of the Department of Computer Science, National Tsing Hua University (2013)

A few days ago, I unexpectedly encountered an Indian student online and had a brief conversation with him. The main topic of our discussion was his long-term plans. He was a sophomore majoring in Electronics and Communication, with a strong interest in robotics and artificial intelligence. He was preparing to study abroad for his graduate studies. Although we did not talk for long, his words clearly conveyed his passion for his future plans. With excitement, he asked me:

“Did you hear about the new Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella? He is from my school!”

(Satya Nadella was appointed as the CEO of Microsoft on February 4, 2014.)

At that moment, I was shocked. What struck me was that a 20-year-old student, only in his second year of university, was not spending his time simply having fun and enjoying life, but instead had already set clear long-term goals and was actively working towards them. What motivated him to be so diligent?

His response was simple yet powerful:

“In India, most people come from poor backgrounds… so only education can help us shine!”

I was deeply moved. Shortly after, he said:

“Got to go… have an exam tomorrow…”

I wished him luck and encouraged him to stay persistent in pursuing his dreams. This brief conversation left me thinking for a long time.

Reflections on Social Environment & Personal Drive

India, from a stereotypical perspective, is often seen as a poverty-stricken country. The caste system ensures that the upper class remains wealthy, while those at the bottom must rely on their own efforts to survive and achieve self-fulfillment.

In contrast, Taiwan enjoys a relatively privileged environment, with academic and social freedoms. However, perhaps because we do not face the same level of hardship, we lack the same sense of urgency.

According to behaviorism in psychology, an individual’s behaviors and traits are shaped by environmental factors and past experiences. Society’s values, family upbringing, climate, and even the food we eat subtly influence our thinking and interactions.

The ancient Greek philosopher Plato proposed an allegory of the cave: A group of prisoners are chained inside a cave from birth, facing a wall, with a fire behind them. The only things they can see are the shadows cast by real objects onto the cave wall. Since they have never seen the actual objects, they believe that the shadows are reality.

Similarly, our environment shapes our values, but it also imprisons us within those values.

That Indian student was born into a predetermined caste and social structure, yet he was actively breaking free from the limitations imposed on him. For him, studying abroad was a way to escape his cave.

But in Taiwan, do we have the same level of self-awareness? Do we realize the risks of being trapped in our own societal framework?

The Role of Media & Education in Shaping Society

Media Influence

Looking at Taiwan’s media, how much of the information we consume is truly valuable?

Most people know that Taiwan’s news is dominated by gossip and sensationalism—trivial headlines about celebrities rather than meaningful global affairs.

For example, in recent days, while international media such as The Economist, Time, The New York Times, and NPR News were actively covering the Ukraine crisis, Taiwan’s Yahoo News featured:

“Actor Blue Chun-Tian splits up with fiancée after failed proposal.”

Even worse, Taiwanese media often spread misleading or erroneous information.

In 2012, there was a news article claiming:

“A billionaire’s magic formula: 14,000 × (1+20%) × 40 years = 102.81 million.”

The article claimed to teach people how to invest. However, upon closer inspection, the compound interest formula was completely wrong. The correct calculation should have been:

1.4 × (1.2^41 -1) / (1.2 -1) = 12,339.08 million

If we do not improve Taiwanese journalism quality, those who lack the ability to critically evaluate information will blindly absorb misinformation, ultimately distorting public knowledge and weakening international perspectives.

Education System

Similarly, Taiwan’s education system is heavily exam-driven and rote-learning-based, leading to high pressure and a lack of genuine interest in learning.

For example, a typical history exam question might ask:

“How much silver did China pay in reparations after the First Sino-Japanese War?”

However, a far more meaningful question would be:

“What were the long-term effects of the First Sino-Japanese War on Taiwan? What would Taiwan be like today if it had not occurred?”

Because the education system does not assess critical thinking, students do not feel the need to think critically.

In contrast, American high school students are required to write essays where they must form an argument, express their opinions, and support them with evidence. This process trains independent thinking.

I am not here to blindly praise Western education, but rather to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches. In the real world, success is not about memorizing facts but about being able to articulate and defend ideas effectively.

The Paradigm Shift: Can We Challenge the Status Quo?

The philosopher Thomas Kuhn, in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, introduced the concept of paradigms.

When anomalies arise, scientists first try to explain them using existing theories.
But when anomalies accumulate to the point that they can no longer be ignored, a scientific revolution occurs, leading to a paradigm shift.

Looking at Taiwanese society, we rarely question our paradigms—whether in media, education, or societal norms.

Are we willing to challenge our own paradigms?

Breaking Free from the Cave: A Personal & Social Challenge

Each of us has our own mental limitations.

That Indian student recognized the caste system as a limitation and actively sought a path to break free. His solution was education, even though it meant years of relentless exams and sleepless nights.

The philosopher Francis Bacon wrote about the “Idols of the Mind”, including:

• “Idols of the Cave” → People are often trapped in their own limited perspective, unaware of broader realities.

Similarly, the psychologist Daniel Kahneman described the concept of:

• “What You See Is All There Is” (WYSIATI) → People are overconfident in their own knowledge, leading to biases and flawed judgments.

We must constantly ask ourselves:

• Are we willing to step out of our intellectual comfort zones?
• Are we willing to question our existing beliefs and paradigms?

Final Thoughts: The Courage to Change

Change is never easy—it involves struggle, uncertainty, and resistance.

But when we reflect on our past and compare it to who we are today, we will realize that growth is worth it.

As John Stuart Mill once said:

“It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.”

I firmly believe that when we dare to challenge ourselves,
When we embrace discomfort and growth,
We will eventually look back and realize—

It was all worth it.