Ep32. 記2020年 + 還有數據辦不到的事嗎?

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踏入十二月尾聲,大家都開始放假未呢?今集會係我哋2020年最後一集。今日嘅天空好藍,一嚿雲都無,唔知有幾啲多人去咗行山呢?一年嘅總結之前都好似講過。我覺得今年最開心嘅係開始咗呢個podcast同一開始就得到朋友、同事嘅支持,因為通常我唔希望朋友睇到我工作以外喺社交媒體嘅作品,總之我覺得好尷尬啦,因為我覺得佢哋會笑我!但係今次嘅podcast唔同,身邊有好多好多朋友都好支持,除咗口講,仲有主動喺社交媒體幫我宣傳,甚至逼自己老婆老公、男朋友、阿妹聽,提我隔咗成個禮拜冇交功課,長咗幾多分鐘等等。多謝😭。唔經唔覺原來instagram已經有一千幾個朋友,slack又有130個想十二點前瞓覺嘅書友!嚟緊新嘅一年,希望可以喺我嘅patreon、slack channel或者instagram認識大家,亦都希望有朝一日我哋未被肺炎同政權玩死,有除罩相見嘅一日,可以喺offline嘅世界相見!

今次想分享嘅係好特別嘅一個概念--事緣我喺YouTube上面睇緊點樣用Notion(極度建議同我一樣有思想OCD嘅朋友試用)嘅時候推介我睇嘅一條片,題目叫《How to read a book properly》[1]。我心諗搞錯連點睇書都要講?佢嘅內容係reference一本1940年寫嘅書《How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading》by Mortimer J. Adler, Charles Van Doren [2]。我都知大家唔會咁好心機睇一本教你點樣睇書嘅書架喇,因為我都係,但係我搵到一篇文章節錄咗大概嘅內容[3]。我會喺文章放條link你哋自己睇啦!其中,文章引用Francis Bacon嘅說話:「some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.」將書比喻作食物,有啲純粹係為味道,有啲用嚟吞,有啲係要咀嚼同消化。閱讀有份四個level,由低講起:Elementary Reading → Inspectional Reading → Analytical Reading → Syntopical Reading。呢四個level係一級一級build上去嘅,但係咁唔代表你要次次都用晒四個level去睇一本書。因為例如睇一本小說同睇工具書需要嘅level就唔一樣。

Elementary reading就係簡單閱讀,基本上小學開始教嗰啲識字。Inspectional reading就係我哋喺書店點樣決定買唔買一本書嘅方法,例如:用好快嘅方法去大概知道發生緊乜事,例如睇本書嘅序、目錄、書背等等,又或者係好快睇晒一邊文章,唔理明唔明晒入面每一隻字,純粹想最快令到個大意。Analytical reading就係我哋平時一般認知嘅,例如要講得出佢嘅大綱、作者想講啲乜;最後就係最難嘅Syntopical reading,亦都可以叫comparative reading,即係睇好多同一個topic嘅書,然後歸納得出自己嘅見解,呢個最難嘅係因為睇一本書靠嘅係作者點樣define個問題、故事,但係睇幾本書就需要我哋幻想如果幾位作者可以隔空對話,大家嘅意見有咩異同,同埋要靠自己去釐定究竟你睇完想解答到啲咩問題。唔覺意將我嚟緊嘅book club set做syntopical reading添!嘿嘿 呢兩本書係Neil Postman嘅《娛樂至死》同Christopher Wylie嘅《Mindfuck心智操控》。因為兩本書嘅背景係唔同嘅年代,所以話題取捨就尤其重要。我想探討嘅係點樣做就文化、乜嘢係新聞、究竟我哋點樣喺被遺忘同被記得嘅自由之間遊走?今次參加唔到book club嘅朋友,我希望嚟緊呢一年會搞多幾次。

另外,有冇人都似我咁鍾意喺本書入面寫字、間書嘅呢?一路以來我仲以為自己好唔錫書,同埋佔有慾超強,但係終於有人為我平反啦!文章亦引用Adler & Van Doren嘅書,講到the necessity of marginalia [4],意指我哋係文字隔離嘅空白寫嗰啲notes、感想係必要嘅!「Full ownership of a book only comes when you have made it a part of yourself, and the best way to make yourself a part of it— which comes to the same thing— is by writing in it... Reading a book should be a conversation between you and the author. But understanding is a two-way operation; the learner has to question himself and question the teacher. Marking a book is literally an expression of your differences or your agreements with the author. It is the highest respect you can pay him.」

講到Syntopical reading,我覺得可以係靠睇唔同嘅書,亦都可以係靠睇唔同嘅媒介,例如紀錄片。最近為咗Book Club睇《Mindfuck》[5],亦都可以算係Netflix上面嘅紀錄片《The Great Hack》嘅延伸。兩者有咩分別呢?首先我覺得兩個作品都好值得睇,而前者比後者更值得睇。《The Great Hack》因為係影像同埋時間短嘅關係,其實講嘅嘢都係流於表面。當然你哋都知我好憎《Social Dilemma》啦,因為太簡單,但如果要根據深入程度,我會覺得《Social Dilemma》係幼稚園,跟住到《The Great Hack》,跟住就係《Mindfuck》。

《The Great Hack》講嘅係技術層面上,前身為國家軍事目去摧毀極端思想嘅SCL演變出來嘅Cambridge Analytica,點樣非法透過Facebook取得嘅用戶資料,為世界各地嘅政權服務(例如澳州、肯亞、Malta,甚至Brexit、Ted Cruz、Trump campaign)。佢頂多係講緊how a lack of privacy and how data fucked us up。但《Mindfuck》講嘅除咗係SCL到CA嘅前世今生點樣由軍用去到用於政治,亦都係我哋好多人都睇漏咗嘅:有data都要有人識用,先可以fuck people up。Data只係基本,但更重要嘅係點樣摧毀一個群體。由摧毀、分化犯罪集團,到點樣為極右思想埋下根基,呢本書都可以為你提供答案。最近美國大選,大家都對Trump、民主共和兩黨嘅權勢之爭,到佢嘅ex-Chief Strategist Steve Bannon嘅名都有啲認識。你知唔知原來Brexit同Trump election係有關係嘅呢?“Win the Brits, and so falls America, Bannon later told me, as the mythologies and tropes of Hollywood had crafted an image of Britain as a country of educated, rational, and classy people.”

我覺得特別嘅係作者Christopher Wylie用好淺白嘅語言解釋點樣操控心智。如果我哋有辦法摧毀極端思想,我哋就有辦法製造極端思想。個秘訣唔係單純有data,而係點樣從中揀選一啲被社會遺忘、邊緣化嘅一群,唔一定係根據膚色、國籍、財富,而係思想上被邊緣化,然後令佢哋覺得confused、受威脅、激化憤怒等等。人類演化過程入面,其中對survival好重要嘅係我哋特別留意恐懼、危險,亦容易令我哋喪失理智。係今時今日嘅香港,呢本書或者會為我哋帶嚟一啲啟發,或者能夠解釋點解某一啲人對自己嘅政見咁深信不疑,即使完全反智,又或者同一原理,我哋亦都可能遭受過、甚至面臨緊分化,Wylie講嘅都係瓦解一個共同思想嘅方法。

你可能覺得,睇完呢本書會好depressed,但係其實我睇完係非常開心,覺得對未來充滿希望😂。唔係我心理變態,聽我講!

一)咁多個scandals都唔係一個人嘅「功勞」,而係要經過好多好多嘅人先做到。Wylie剖述自己嘅心路歷程,其實你會睇到有好多個位都係有一個gatekeep嘅位係度。Mindfuck成個國家,成件事係好長嘅過程,有好多個位係會有漏洞、有痕跡。正因為成件事唔係普普通通click兩click,就即係個system會有flaw, weak point。根據Wylie嘅講法,“THE GOAL IN HACKING is to find a weak point in a system and then exploit that vulnerability. In psychological warfare, the weak points are flaws in how people think." 同樣地,我相信呢個mindfuck system都有weak point,就係一定有識得辨別是非嘅人。

二)Data並不是王道。Data只不過係input,但個hacking system並唔係data,而係靠人起出嚟嘅。而家成日講嘅大數據,無咗人嘅直覺、感知,根本唔能夠運用呢一啲data。你知唔知原來咁精密嘅social targeting,原來靠嘅係呢一班engineers去做最傳統嘅focus groups,用年年月月去聆聽唔同嘅角度,然後建立唔同嘅假設,去諗點樣可以用最無恥嘅方法寫唔同嘅content去擊中要害。成件事係好marketing嘅嘢。原來對家用嘅方法係咁原始,並唔係有啲咩超乎常人嘅能力。由此,我反而覺得relieved。可能資源上我哋唔夠,心態上亦都無咁無賴,但係對人性嘅洞悉能力原來大家不相伯仲。

三)似乎咁多個scandal都係根據一個共同嘅formula,就係恐懼可以分化我哋。知道咗點解,我哋就可以防備。

四)雖然有好多人一齊做壞事,但亦都有好多人鋌而走險講事實出嚟。The Guardian、New York Times、Channel 4嘅記者冒著法律嘅風險、幾個月嘅籌謀,就算唔係獨家,都合作一齊報導呢件事。亦都有唔少人從中幫助過Wylie。我到咗今日都係相信人性本善嘅。

最後,Wylie形容Facebook係完全唔理用戶私隱被利用,其中一句佢形容官方嘅反應係近乎"Orwellian"地否認事實,間接亦都響應咗其實我哋係生活喺《1984》而唔係《美麗新世界》。最近Apple更新咗佢哋嘅私隱設定,令到Facebook好大反應喎,如果想知多啲可以聽下另外一個香港podcaster Madchun嘅新一集(link在下面)[6]。雖然Wylie同《娛樂至死》嘅結論唔一樣,但我相信佢都會同意《娛樂至死》入面嘅觀點,就係提倡用text-based medium(即係書)去詮釋概念,畢竟佢嘅啟發、真確性真係大過一套走馬看花嘅紀錄片好多。所以話,無論我哋喺數碼版嘅《1984》定係充滿娛樂嘅《美麗新世界》,閱讀都係非常非常重要嘅。希望嚟緊呢一年,我可以陪到大家睇多啲書,喺現實生活中搵到大家。祝2021年大家都喺亂世中平安,我哋未來見。

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht63rOvSNb4

[2] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/567610.How_to_Read_a_Book

[3] https://fs.blog/how-to-read-a-book/

[4] https://fs.blog/2015/01/marginalia/

[5] https://sfpl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/3879525093_mindfck

[6] https://open.spotify.com/episode/3YvABzwLRCdUIZppWzYBr5?si=WHYAdKrAQUOACKuOcqJQ4A