Sauro Succi 在《Sailing the Ocean of Complexity》這本書，深入淺出地以科學家的角度，介紹了我們所處的複雜世界，最後有感而發，提出了他個人的看法：
1. 科學是眼見為憑(see to believe)而信仰是信以為真(believe to see)。不管科學如何發展，尤其是物理及化學，這個世界總是有我們無法理解的因素在運作著複雜的系統，我們看不見不明白並不代表不存在。他個人不認為信仰是盲目的，而認為應該視為看待複雜事物的一個額外的維度。
2. 天地不仁，以萬物為芻狗。天地對於人類，也是如此。但是，我們不必因為不完全理解這個複雜的世界，而宿命消沈。他舉他個人在(學術)工作的領域所抱持的態度為例，總是戰戰兢兢，盡力而為，他認為那是一種自愛自重(respect for yourself)。
3. 複雜的系統，往往令我們不知如何著手。他總是抱持著can-do的態度，他認為人是有潛力的。他引用義大利聖哲法蘭西斯的名言來總結，面對複雜世界的挑戰：「先做必須做的，然後試著做可能做的，然後突然會發現居然開始做到了原本以為不可能的」(“Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” ~ St. Francis Of Assisi 1181-1226)
4. 以完美演奏莫札特的音樂為例，我們認為是藝術。而琴弦震動透過聲波傳遞，則是科學多少可以解釋的，唯總是有理解不足的部分，那就是作曲家、演奏者投入的感情，以及一些我們無法解釋的玄妙，所以「此音只有天上有，人間難得幾回無」，而「餘音繞樑，三日不絕」(《列子·湯問》)則是饑餓的聲音，但不只是饑餓的聲音。
部分原文抄錄於后，供大家參考：
… A Russian-Jewish colleague of mine once commented to me on the piece of the Gospel, inviting us not to over worry, since the Father takes care of sparrows in the sky and lilies in the fields so He would take care of us.
To him, this sounded like an invitation to a party of laziness and anti endurance, surrender to weakness and sloppiness, another recipe for failure. Again, I really don’t see it this way, one must dig a bit deeper: the invitation is not to laziness but to a state of inner lightness of mind/spirit. Strive to be the very best version of yourself, but always keep your spirit light, never let it be held hostage by your ambition. Play the game, don’t be played by it: when you find yourself systematically eating and sleeping in front of your computer screen, it is probably time to take a step back. I always made a point of following this habit: I am always out for my best and my job is done when it’s done, not by the hours I spent on it. It is a matter of respect for myself, before it is for my peers, for I am here to succeed and not to fail. But I still need to keep surveillance of the fact that some jobs might be beyond me (harness the hybris) and when I know I have done all I possibly could, and perhaps a bit more, that is it: que sera sera. With the sparrow and lily parable on my mind…
The impossible is my no-fly-zone, when/if it comes, it comes by itself, but not unless you prepare for it, i.e. by working hard, precisely as per Saint Francis’s statement in the heading of this book: first do what is Necessary, then do what is Possible and soon you will be suprised to be doing the Impossible. Now I hope you see that ‘Hallelujah’ is by no means a commitment to uncommitment or an endorsement of flat-Earth views, but just the opposite!
Incidentally, this fully resonates with human greatness: minor characters (!) such as a certain Michelangelo or Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, made it crystal clear that they were not in control of the wondrous processes that gave birth and shape to their masterpieces. They rather felt as if they were instruments vibrating to some stronger breeze. And if you think that this is art and not science, please think twice: even on my little scale, I know for a fact that there is no good science without emotions, where emotion means that you ‘known’ it’s gonna work even though you really cannot explain why.
這個世界太複雜了，有時候會令人感到無力。
聖嚴法師的「面對它、接受它、處理它、放下它」，還原這個複雜世界的「本來面目」，不失是一個簡單的好方法。
蘇格拉底說：「我唯一知道的就是我一無所知」(All I know is that I know nothing)。
因為知道自己不知，所以對自己不知的複雜世界，譬如大自然，總是要心存敬畏，謙卑以對。
人不勝天，人定不勝天，如是而已。
「順乎天而應乎人」)《周易·革》，可矣！
陳之藩說，要感謝的人太多了，不如謝天吧！
我要說，要感謝的萬事萬物太多了，不如謝天吧！謝謝它給了我們一個世界，而且最後還不忘了把我們「吃乾抹淨」呢！
有人建議，在碰到挫折處於低潮的時候，打掃一下自己的環境衞生，譬如刷刷廁所吧！這不就是義大利聖哲法蘭西斯do what is necessary 和do what is possible 嗎？
世界的道理都是一樣的，差別在於有人坐而聽，有人起而行。
這個世界固然困難複雜，我儘量隨意簡單，就這樣吧！
P.S. 相片2024/11/8 攝於白姑大山登山步道的稜線上，高大的植被主要是根深盤踞 在岩石上的台灣鐵杉 Tsuga chinensis var. formosana
*: Sauro Succinct, Sailing the Ocean of Complexity, 2022, Oxford University Press
2024/11/13 複雜的本來面目 Damakey
