Sophie Lu's Public Library

31 Oct 08

The year began slowly, as I explored the available software. The first software application I discovered was FreeMind. This open-source product was a good place to start, but its weaknesses left me wanting more. Next was ConceptDraw’s MindMap 4, which was a big improvement over the no-cost FreeMind. Then I installed MindJet’s MindManager 6 and things were looking brighter. Of course, it wasn’t long before the new, updated versions were released.
Online mind mapping came to the forefront in 2007, also. MindMeister, Mindomo, Mind42, Bubbl.us, and comapping came online to a receptive audience
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- I was excited about them too, but ultimately was disappointed in their limited functions.
- onceptDraw released MindMap 5, fixing many of the issues I had with version 4. A vastly improved product, I used MindMap 5 exclusively for several months, having only a few issues with the operation of the product.
- Then MindManager Pro 7 came out. This release by MindJet took the already industry leading mind mapping software well past the competition and straight into my computer. MindManager Pro 7’s new ribbon interface took some getting used to, but the advanced features were the big selling point. The bar had been raised.
- I now use MindManager Pro 7 daily. In fact it’s hard to remember doing without mind mapping as part of the daily routine.

Hack Attack: Control multiple computers with a single keyboard and mouse

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If you'll be running one or more Windows PC's in your setup, download and install the Synergy Installer for Windows on each PC. (On the SourceForge page I've linked to, the current version is labeled SynergyInstaller-1.3.1.exe.)

If you want to run one or more Macs on your setup, download and install SynergyKM on each Mac you want to use.

Apple keyboard, windows XP and even synergy

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The first challenge was just about finding the proper drivers. Apple, for some reason, do not make the necessary drivers easily available. The only way to get them is to extract them from boot camp. Luckily someone have already done this. You will need the KeyboardInstaller.exe and BootCamp.msi.
most of your keys work as expected, except (at least in my case) ⌥ and ⌘, both left and right. Well, they work, but they are swapped
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- After remapping your keys, which is really easy, you just reboot and everything works as expected. Keep in mind that you have to map both ways, Left Alt to Left Windows, and Left Windows to Left Alt. Do the same thing for the Right Alt and Right Windows too.
- I just want to mention that this works exactly as expected over synergy too. Even if you have your keyboard connected to the windows machine and use synergy over to OS X, it feels like it’s connected to the Mac because all keys work exactly like the native OS X keys.

Living Digitally: Using an external display with a MacBook

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Using an external display with a MacBook
but you can't switch to using only the external monitor. Very strange.
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- If you close your laptop, you can actually get the full resolution of your external display. Put your MacBook to sleep, connect your external display and an external monitor, and wake the computer up by pressing any key. You will have full use of your external display while your laptop is closed.
- the MacBook's keyboard and trackpad. Why you can't get into this mode using F7, I have no idea. This is a good technique for allowing some heat to dissipate while still using an external display so the lid of your MacBook doesn't melt or warp.
- don't forget to buy a mini-DVI to standard DVI adapter. The MacBooks don't have standard DVI port -- just the mini.

27 Oct 08

北京中关村青年科技创业投资有限公司

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北京中关村青年科技创业投资有限公司由北京中关村科技发展股份有限公司、中华人民共和国科学技术部火炬高技术产业开发中心、北京清华科技园发展中心、北京市新技术产业发展服务中心等共同出资设立的风险投资机构。公司首期注册资本为8000万元人民币，首家采用"孵化器＋风险投资"的运作模式，并与华夏银行等建立长期合作伙伴关系。

23 Oct 08

持有国内主要创投公司股权的上市公司一览表|股市纵横 - 第三频道商务娱乐影音休闲社区 - powered by phpwind.net

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央企及控股上市公司一览表_网易财经-中国的投资门户

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22 Oct 08

Software for Social Network Analysis: Pajek and Friends « Political Science & Politics

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Some canned solutions (Wos2pajek, network workbench, bibexcel) are available for free,
Pajek for doing the analyses and producing those intriguing graphs of cliques and inner circles in Political Science. Pajek is closed source but free for non-commercial use and runs on Windows or (via wine) Linux. It is very fast, can (unlike many other programs) easily handle very large networks, produces decent graphs and does many standard analyses. Its user interface may be slightly less than straightforward but I got used to it rather quickly, and it even has basic scripting capacities.
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- Pajek’s creators have written a very accessible introduction to social network analysis that doubles up as documentation for the program (order from amazon.co.uk, amazon.com, amazon.de. However, Pajek has been under constant development since the 1990s (!) and has acquired a lot of new features since the book was published. Some of them are documented in an appendix, others are simply listed in the very short document that is the official manual for Pajek. You will want to go through the many presentations which are available via the Pajek wiki.
- Amongst the stand-alone programs, visone stands out because it can easily produce very attractive-looking graphs of small networks
- Here is a rather messy collection of links to sna software. Generally, you will want something that is more systematic and informative. Ines Mergel has recently launched a bid for creating a comprehensive software list on wikipedia. The resulting page on social network analysis software is obviously work in progress but provides very valuable guidance.

21 Oct 08

深圳创新投逆市加速董事长靳海涛称本土创投面临洗牌 - 投资资讯 ·ChinaVenture投资中国网

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深圳创新投逆市加速董事长靳海涛称本土创投面临洗牌
已上市企业的投资收益降低，投资项目通过上市退出的计划推迟；另外，“以前拼资源、拼消耗，依靠国内劳动力和主要面向外销市场的的项目”，企业发展速度出现了减缓甚至负增长。
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- 仅10月13日，深创投就签下了河南新郑奥星、深圳北科生物以及北京康乐卫视三个投资项目，涉及资金1.1亿人民币；同时也举行了和温州中瑞财团以及北京杰出华商投资顾问有限公司1亿人民币和5亿人民币两只商业计划基金的合作签约仪式；深创投还将与以色列最大的VC基金Pintango通过中以基金的平台进行战略投资合作。
- 深创投提供的资料称，2年间其已经建立和运营的政府引导基金有17个，还有5个已经签约但在筹建中。
- 而13日当天又有包括北京、湖北、吉林、哈尔滨、无锡和兰州6个地方政府和深创投建立了创投基金，涉及资金近8.6亿元人民币。
- 　靳海涛：中国企业有两种选择：要么在国内上市，要么去海外挂牌。大多数中国企业会选择在国内上市，但不可否认的是海外市场对一部分企业来说仍会是更好的选择。我们对境内外上市路径有过比较，首先是各有利弊，其次对不同企业来说有特殊的利弊。这意味着境内外两个市场不同都各有机会。不是说所有的企业都得在国内上市，有些企业就适合在海外上市，或者在某个发展阶段海外资本市场更适合它们。
- 中国应该为中国企业海外上市提供良好的法律、政策环境。有一批中国企业在海外上市，有助于其利用国际资本市场来发展自己、进入国际资本的大循环。当下境内上市公司做国际购并有很多困难，而海外挂牌公司相对就容易得多。
- 您刚刚讲到，创投现在正经历“退出的寒潮”。结合您2004年对创投业的认定：创投的核心是卖，研究卖比买更重要，未规划好如何卖，就不要买，深创投内部有怎样的举措来确保投资退出呢？
- 靳海涛：上市仍然是国内创投的主要退出通道，这就需要好的市场来支撑。
- “橄榄形”投资结构
- 形势不好对创投会有挑战，退出的渠道减少了、退出的收益减少了；但同时也有低成本进入的机遇。
- 我认为总的趋势是投资阶段不断前移，但永远不会出现只投早期的状况，始终是在“种树”和“摘果子”之间进行平衡。
- 从深创投9年的投资实践来看，目前我们大概有65％左右是投在成长期的，成熟期的投资占到20％左右，剩下15％是初创期的。深创投创立初期，认真研究了国外创投机构所走过的路。那时就确定了以投资成长期项目为主，兼顾早晚两头的战略。一路走来都是“橄榄形”——中间大两头小的战略。在战略实施过程中，资本市场比较火爆时可能会加大晚期项目的投资，而在资本市场比较低迷时对早期项目会放更多的精力。
- 在前几年投资热时，大量机构和资金涌入了创投领域，而且拼抢的都是Pre-IPO项目。因此您认为中国创投领域在未来2-3年会进入重整阶段，目前这个阶段来临了么？
- 这个过程首先是使一些创投机构通过经验、教训的总结，更坚持以投成长期企业为主这样一个路径；其次是促使创投机构更追求企业成长的溢价而不是资本市场的溢价；第三是不光重视投资，更重视投资后的服务。
- 我举个例子，我们投的一个企业，在经济发展高潮时其商业模式已经证明是成功的。但是经济环境发生变化后，其原有商业模式的运转就非常困难了。作为股东、投资人，我们就帮助这个企业去找一个新的商业模式。庆幸的是不仅找到了，且还为他实现这种新的商业模式找到了一个商业伙伴。新的模式确立之后，我们再增加投资，使他能摆脱困境。
- 服务不光是资金问题，而且是资源整合问题。由于宏观环境变化、上市变得困难，因此需要投资人对投资项目有更多的资金支持。低潮时由于融资相对困难，我认为可以通过减少新投项目的量，帮助已投项目来度过艰难期。
- 我们要求团队不管高潮还是低潮都要有50％的精力做投资，50％的精力做服务。低潮时投资上精力相对花的少了，那更要加大做服务的力度。而团队里的每个人都被要求有服务能力；其次我们也建立了各种投资的体系，不是说投资高潮时我们就不服务了。只是说投资低潮时，可以腾出更多的精力来做服务。

What it takes to be a successful investor (Part 1) « Technology, Venture Capital, Private Equity

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1. Insight: This is perhaps the hardest skill to acquire (if it can ever be “acquired” at all) or even measure. Ultimately, it is also what differentiates a John Doerr or a Warren Buffet from other ordinary investors.
2. Social capital: By this I refer to your people networks. It begins with something as basic as being connected with investment bankers and other agents, who will show you “deals” and opportunities. To make an investment, you need to learn about the opportunity in the first place - as simple as that. It could also extend to your ability to make relevant introductions to your portfolio companies (to potential employees, partners, customers etc.) post investment.
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- 3. Industry knowledge: Have already discussed this at length in my previous post.
- 4. Brand of the investor: Everyone loves association with coveted brands, and entrepreneurs are no different. All things being equal, a tech entrepreneur would love to brag that he is a Mike Moritz investee or a KPCB portfolio co rather than that of a “lesser brand”. And its not only for ego’s sake that this is so. It also adds instant credibility to a startup, which is so essential for a variety of stuff such as - the ability to recruit talented employees to landing follow on investments to gaining traction with customers etc.
- 5. People skills:
- 6. Luck: Finally, the greatest imponderable of them all. The X-Factor, the Midas touch, whatever you want to call it. It seems like an undeniable fact. On the other hand, may be, like they say - luck is the residue of design.

TopCapital

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vc article

朱立南：打造中国TOP·VC
2001年在联想成立伊始，朱曾对外宣布联想投资的平均年收益率在5年中要达到30％。而在美国硅谷风险投资界有一这样一个定律，就是一个基金如果能够达到每年30％平均收益率，那么它将进入众多VC基金的第一序列之中，在这个序列中全美的VC基金数量不会超过60家。那么，5年过去了联想投资的收益到底如何呢？
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- 联想投资已经基本完成了两期基金的投放，目前正在募集第三期基金。
- 2004年，联想将卓越网作价7500万美元卖给电子商务巨头亚马逊，投资回报高达13倍。同年，在香港主板上市的软件外包公司，中讯集团为联想投资带来了6倍的回报，加上主动让网通集团回购的重庆网通，仅这三个项目，联想投资已经收回3500万美元的一期投资基金。在其第二期基金里，无线增值服务公司深圳讯天在一年内被售予日本上市公司Index，回报率为近4倍。
- 我们前两期运作资金超过1亿美元。首期基金是在2001年完成的募集，有3500万美元，全部由联想控股投入；二期基金于2004年中完成最后募集，金额超过7300万美元，主要投资人是联想控股有限公司，以及另外引进的四家海外机构投资人，按照国际风险投资规范进行。有关投资回报率的问题，因为一个基金的周期大约是7到8年，而我们的第一期基金到现在也才仅仅5年多的时间，所以无法进行计算。我只能说，首期基金总共对16家企业进行了投放，其中，仅卓越、中讯与重庆宽带三个项目，就已全部收回本金。二期的项目目前看起来更好一些，比如展讯、文思创新等，目前已经退出的一个项目叫深圳讯天，是基于WAP应用的SP公司，单个项目的投资回报也很高。从今年开始募集的三期基金在1.5亿至2亿美金左右。”
- 到今天，联想投资运作了5年以后，已经成为本土VC的佼佼者。一期基金不但没有用来交学费，反而取得了不错的业绩，已经进入收益期。朱对此感到非常欣慰，同时对目前即将管理的三期基金充满了信心。现在联想投资管理和运作的基金规模，接近3亿美元。
- 联想投资自成立起，就把投资目标锁定在大IT领域为主，关注创业期和扩展早期；兼顾非IT领域的机会。大IT领域重点投资互联网应用与服务、无线应用与服务、外包、数字媒体、芯片设计及关键元器件。首次单笔投资规模为200-1000万美元
- 我们在一期基金投放的时，基本上是百分之百的IT；二期基金上90%是IT，我们只做了一个非IT的项目；三期基金我们还是会在IT上的布局多一些，但是会有30%资金关注能源、消费品等IT以外的领域。”
- 我们通常判断项目的‘纬度’其实很简单，就是人和事。‘事在先，人为重’，就是看这个行业以及商业模式能不能成立，然后在看人，能不能把事做成。尤其是在判断人的时候，就很难有量化的标准。所以只能去通过一些方法去观察，一个是、个人背景、另一个是、别人是如何看待他的、还有就是面对面的交流，来感受他对企业的理解以及执行力如何等等。在对项目的判断我们也没有一个具体标准，做为早期投资者有时是很难判断的，他不同与晚期投资可以有一些具体的标准，比如行业里的地位是否前三名，赢利要到达多少等等。但是，早期投资很难判断，早期投资也许这个项目是完全创新的一个商业模式，还要经过市场的验证是否能够通行的商业模式。或者是目前这个项目还不是行业第一，但是第一和第5差距不大
- 2000年时，卓越在网络界已经略具名气。因为看不到赢利模式，朱立南和其它伙伴将其从金山内拆分出来，定位为电子商务网站。这就意味着，朱及其团队要花大量的时间在对卓越的管理上。在卓越转型后的最初两年，朱立南甚至通宵达旦参与到管理细节的讨论之中，精耕细作之下，卓越不仅确立了其在电子商务领域的口碑，毛利率也达到了25%，只是仍在亏损。当卓越与联想投资共同仔细研究美国同类巨头亚马逊的案例，有两个问题被摆上了桌面：美国任何一个州都拥有健全的产品配送系统，可以迅速将网站的规模做大，但在中国，只有京、沪、粤等少数区域可以实现有效配送。其次，亚马逊在收入达到30亿美金时才取得盈利，卓越只有2000万美金的规模，离赢利可能颇有一段距离。这最终促使联想投资找到亚马逊，将卓越出售，获得了高达13倍的投资回报。
- 从2005年到2006年中国的风险投资行业，发生了一个很大的变化，大量的海外VC大举进入中国使得国内的VC行业投资持续升温，根据记者所掌握的有关数据显示2006年上半年VC在国内完成投资已达7.72亿美元，与2005年完成投资的3.39亿美元相比，增长了128%，预计2006年全年将超过15亿美元，成为历史最高的水平，与此同时，2006年上半年VC新募集基金18亿美元，比去年同期增长42%。由此可以看出VC行业的竞争在不断加剧，一个好的投资项目会同时出现几家VC相互竞价的场景，业内已有专家指出大量的资金进入会导致某些行业合领域的发热，从而导致了部分项目的估资严重过高。
- 那么，面对这样竞争态势，联想投资会有什么样的压力以及在战略上有什么样的调整呢？
- 策略就是你看到好的项目如何去把它抓在手里，还是要采取何种方法。但是，我绝对不会因为一个项目而去竟标价格，每一个项目我们都会经过详细的调研才作出决定，我们时刻保持者冷静和理性。在我看来这种情况不应该长期存在。第二，市场很大，中国还有很多非常好的中小企业还没有被发掘出来，并不是仅仅在几个热门领域。第三、作为VC就是要真正挖掘出一些还没有太多人知道，但是很不错的早期案子。我们有过这样的案子，一年前投资100万美元占了25%股份，但是，一年后第二轮投资者近来就需要1000万美元。那么，你最好是一年前来投入，不要一年以后来竞标。所以我不会随波逐流，我会正确的去理解这个竞争，和采取一些合理的手段。”
- 联想投资文思创新这家软家外包企业，是联想投资最先发现的这个项目，但是联想投资并没有独自投资，而是拉上了美国顶级的VC，DCM和Sequoia做为合作伙伴共同对文思创新连续的投资了两轮；共计4000万美元。
- 同业竞争的问题
- 这个行业讲究的是优势互补，其实这个行业是一个竞合关系的行业，不知道为何最近突然就变成了竞争的行业。我觉得主要是确实有很多钱，造成了全行业的浮躁
- 我们跟DCM投资的文思创新，我们为什么跟他们一起来合作呢？我们的优势在于，通过我们在本土资源能够很好的帮助文思成为本地很强的企业，比如说，我们可以帮助他招聘很多软件人才，人员的管理、激励机制的设计，公司内部管理流程等等方面我们都会帮助他们。但是，文思创新在发展的过程当中，首先需要的是国际化的客户，而DCM会带来很多美国的客户，我们两家正好可以为这个企业提供一套很完整的发展方案，从而使企业能够作大。所以，我看来VC同行是一个竟合的关系。”
- 都会发现在他投资的近40个项目中，将近有20多个项目都是几家VC合作投资的，从这一点不难看出朱立南在面对同业竞争的高明之处。
- 朱的另一个高明智举，就是放弃成为“坐收渔利”的被动投资者，朱立南坦言好的项目必须去主动发掘，很少有好的项目自己找上门来。中讯就是一个很好的案例，联想投资很早就把软件业务定为其投资主题，用了一年时间看遍所有北京大连总数超过50家的外包企业，中讯软件让其印象最为深刻。其管理层熟悉日本，深谙项目管理和日本客户管理之道，且每年保持超过50%的增长。投资仅一年，中讯就得以登陆香港股市，且至今其股价已经翻了几倍。
- 2001年，联想集团拆分，出任联想投资总裁。从朱的履历中可以看到他职业生涯的一个轨迹；工程师——公司高管——创业者——风险投资家，这4个阶段。
- 当记者提到，现在做投资和做企业那个更适合，朱表示；“如果非要我自己评价，我觉得做投资还是我更喜欢，这也比较合适我的一个工作，主要不仅仅是我的背景，经历过什么事情，更多就是做投资是个跟人打交道的。而做制造业，或者做某个产品销售，必须要和公众去打交道，我跟个体的人打交道相对来说更加适合，我能够很快地跟他们建立很好的信任，这很重要，投资重要的不就是和创业者沟通吗。但是你要说去怎么推广公司如何做广告，这不是我擅长的”
- “我们拥有联想这块，很有价值的品牌，这就意味这我们具有很强的社会资源，比如，政府，行业等等，通过这些资源去帮助这个被投企业。而我们的合伙人都具有很强的行业背景，来帮助被投企业处理一些问题。认真负责是这个行业应有的规矩，比如，被投企业上市之后，你在卖出所持有的股票时，是不是能和创业者很好的协同，而不能为了自己的利益牺牲创业者的利益。因为我们始终都有一个目标就是要做顶级的VC所以，我们一直在用这样的理念在做投资”。
- 在IT行业有超过十七年的业务经验和广泛的人脉；在企业的业务发展、投资管理、财务、人力资源、信息化建设等方面有丰富的管理经验；有成功的创业经历和创业管理经验。上海交通大学电子工程学硕士，高级工程师，现为享受国务院政府特殊津贴的专家。

Your friendly neighbourhood VC « Technology, Venture Capital, Private Equity

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vc article

some of the changes that are taking place in the VC world and how VCs and VC models are evolving in response to those changes
location of portfolio companies that VCs like to fund.
12 more annotations...
- He was talking about the importance of an eco system and how KPCB, which he described as the pre-eminent VC firm had a motto that read - “We don’t fund companies which are more than an hour’s drive away from our office.”
- We don’t fund companies to which we can’t fly down to in a couple of hours.
- partners tarveling across the globe to sniff out interesting opportunities - think KPCB’s Ajit Nazare, who was an active investor in Infoedge.
- Modern communication technologies notwithstanding, there’s nothing to beat a face to face meeting or direct personal interaction.
- proximity to portfolio companies helps
- I guess there are a few things that have happened, which have led to VCs going beyond the hallowed precincts of Sand Hill Road and “venturing” into newer geographies (India and China being the most prominent ones).
- The most obvious one is that VCs are following the old principle of any business, which is to be where the market is
- Blockbuster hits like Baidu and Focus Media in China or Bharti Telecom in India, which were all built with VC/PE money, demonstrate the potential of such emerging technology hotbeds as India/China. Apart from that, there are few other things, which are also leading to the globalization of the VC industry.
- Competition in domestic markets:
- Offshore phenomenon:
- offshoring going mainstream to the extent of even startups wanting to embrace it, VCs have no option but to also globalize their operations in order to support their portfolio companies
- Supplementary ingredients: The other two key components of an entreprenurial ecosystem viz. - entreprenurs willing to take risks and qualified mentors to hand hold them are now becoming more available in these emerging markets. Hence, it was only a question of time that the third component - risk capital would find its way here too.

20 Oct 08

Wiley InterScience :: Article :: HTML Full Text

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Dixit and Jayaraman (2001) suggest three models of internationalization. These are identified as a specialized fund model, whereby funds are specialized by stage of investment and geographical region, the organic growth model, based on an integrated approach that involves the transfer of expertise from the domestic market, and the affiliate model, based on co-investment with a local domestic partner.

Wiley InterScience :: JOURNALS :: Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice

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How venture capitalist functions in environments that differ so fundamentally from those of the mature markets where venture capital was initially developed has only begun to be addressed.
the impact of networks in the model, in particular, how networks and other informal institutions can act to supplement or replace formal institutions when they are weak.

15 Oct 08

PC World - Willing to Pay a 'Mac Tax'?

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On Sept. 29th, Morgan Stanley noted: "PC unit growth is decelerating and the remaining source of growth is increasingly the sub-$1,000 market where Apple does not play."

08 Oct 08

{800Bu} - 800bu - 网易博客

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productivity 中文博客

06 Oct 08

Inspiration, Motivation and Drive | Reaching A Better Place

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As with happiness, that feeling of ‘let’s do this!’ has different names to describe different nuances of the psychological state. Yet people (including me) use the words interchangeably.
In personal development everything comes down to motivation, or what’s better described more generally as that ‘let’s get on with it’ feeling. There is so much literature on cultivating that state of mind, but we’d all be a lot closer to understanding motivation if we just understood it and analysed it in more specific terms, the same as I’ve done with happiness. This article does just that.

What’s Really Bothering You? | Reaching A Better Place

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For a long time I was frustrated. Not depressed, not particularly anxious – just frustrated. Why? Well, that’s what this article is about. Or rather, isn’t about.
I used to unhappily wrestle with big doubts about anything and everything, but largely about people and life. A few weeks before this blog began I cathartically purged myself of doubt, and the effects lasted a good while. In the space of about twenty minutes I typed over 50 difficult and fairly important questions that I didn’t have answers to.
7 more annotations...
- Does our use of language really affect/control the way we think?
  
  Can we be true to ourselves and the world by choosing beliefs?
  
  Is there any security for an individual?
  
  Is success in an endeavour dependent on commitment to that endeavour and if so how much commitment?
  
  What exactly is logic?
- I still didn’t have any answers once I’d typed them all up, but it did me good to put them in a Word document, shove it into the personal development folder and leave it be. Today I can answer many of them, but this isn’t exactly what the article is about.
  
  If you often find yourself feeling down and frustrated and you think it’s because of the ultimate cosmic, psychological and philosophical uncertainty of everything…is it really? I mean, really?
- The Writer Suicides
- Of course while my frustration was just annoying and on rare occasions quite paralysing, it was nothing compared to what your average Nobel Prize for Literature nominee can go through.
- Yeah…but could it be, gosh I don’t know, that writers spend many hours every day by themselves doing something which is frustratingly difficult, for which they only get appreciation once it’s done, and often for very little money?
- Could it also be because creative writing (especially novels and poetry) seems almost designed to make a person miserable? The writer has to critically judge her work too, do 99% of the editing as the manuscript goes through several drafts and then it will probably get rejected by a dozen publishing houses before someone takes it on. And the work itself often requires the writer to be abnormally introverted especially for literary works.
- The cognitive overlap stuff is insightful but I think common sense has this phenomenon covered. Writing novels and poetry can be enormously fulfilling but there can be plenty of crap to wade through to get to there.

Happiness and the Answers to the Big Questions | Reaching A Better Place

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‘To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation.’
‘According to the scriptures, in his lifetime, the Buddha refused to answer several metaphysical questions. On issues such as whether the world is eternal or non-eternal, finite or infinite, unity or separation of the body and the self, complete inexistence of a person after nirvana and then death etc, the Buddha had remained silent. One explanation for this is that such questions distract from practical activity for realizing enlightenment. Another is that such questions assume the reality of world/self/person.’
3 more annotations...
- Western psychiatrists, studying western people, have found that the religious ones tend to be happier than the secular ones. So couldn’t we logically go against the Buddha’s view and find a religion with all the answers that we like and, thus, become happier?
- Some zealously oppose them and become very confrontational atheists and others see them as useful allegories and still have a stake in religion while maintaining healthy scepticism about at least some of their religions’ scriptures.
- and as I grew older still I gradually dismissed all the Christian beliefs – except one: the belief in a supreme being. I became a deist, without knowing the word for it. I believed a God had created the universe, and I believed he was still around (unlike some deists) but I didn’t think he listened to our prayers, cared in the slightest about our welfare or had anything more to do with the universe beyond its creation.

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2007—Year of the Mind Map

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北京中关村青年科技创业投资有限公司

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What it takes to be a successful investor (Part 1) « Technology, Venture Capital, Private Equity

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Your friendly neighbourhood VC « Technology, Venture Capital, Private Equity

Wiley InterScience :: Article :: HTML Full Text

Wiley InterScience :: JOURNALS :: Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice

PC World - Willing to Pay a 'Mac Tax'?

{800Bu} - 800bu - 网易博客

Inspiration, Motivation and Drive | Reaching A Better Place

What’s Really Bothering You? | Reaching A Better Place

Happiness and the Answers to the Big Questions | Reaching A Better Place

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