What is the "purpose" of our universe?
I suppose you have read the following article before reading this.
For the cultures in this universe, I thought they are in 8 types. From the wisdom of the Greek culture, to the "well behavior(乖)" of the Chinese.....
This morning when I read this article again suddenly something appeared in my mind:
What is the real purpose of this universe?
It occurs to me a special situation:
What is the "thought" of the universe before life has begun?
If there was no life in the universe, how would the situation be?
It was my imagination to design a "thought" for this universe. The universe may or may not have a thought like I can imagine.
Why it needs life?
If the universe doesn't need a life, then there will be no life in this universe.
The question is: why the universe needs life?
It is interesting and it is arguable but it's meaningless to argue.
Why the universe needs life to sustain himself? or to sustain "herself"?
(In Chinese culture, you don't need to separate him or her. the word "他" can express both.)
( And the universe might be a life already, its only annoying if the concept is too clear to discuss any question)
Now let's get back to the question: why the universe needs a life ?
There's one answer:
The universe doesn't know its purpose too, so the universe needs to create more lives to help him understand.
And this is only my imagination.
I hope it is useful.
note:
a story for your reference
The discussion here is about the "path" problem in culture.
This story was told by the Japanese entrepreneur Konosuke Matsushita. He used this story to illustrate the importance of perseverance.
I have repeated this story on various occasions over the years. But it was only today, after many years, that I truly understood its cultural significance. It is far more important than merely exhibiting a "perseverance" spirit. Because this story can also inspire us to compare different cultures, such as Greek culture, Christian culture, and even Islamic culture.
The story goes like this: In the old Edo Castle, a young dyer’s apprentice happened to see a famous courtesan of the time, and was struck by her beauty. When he returned to the dyeing factory and told his colleagues, one of them advised him to give up that idea. Because, visiting that courtesan once would cost thirty gold coins—about two years’ wages for the young apprentice. The young apprentice was undeterred, and from that moment, he started saving money. Two years later, he had indeed saved up thirty gold coins, and went to the courtesan’s house to find her.
The courtesan did her best to entertain him. The next morning, when he was leaving, she saw him off at the gate and said as usual, “Please come again.” But the young apprentice said he would have to wait two more years before returning. Confused, she asked why. The young apprentice then honestly explained that he had been saving money for two years just to be able to come. Hearing this, the courtesan was deeply moved. After thinking for a moment, she told him, “No need to wait two years. Marry me.”
After their marriage, the young apprentice worked very hard. Eventually, he became the owner of a dyeing factory in Edo.
What lessons does this story teach?
Konosuke Matsushita said that no matter what you do, as long as you put in your best effort, you will succeed (roughly).
And indeed, it seems to be true. Saving money for two years is extremely difficult. And this young apprentice was pursuing a simple goal with all his heart — he had done his very best. The courtesan, just by this single act of perseverance, recognized that the young apprentice had potential. Her quick decision was not because she was particularly clever, but because she was rooted in the core values of Japanese culture.
This small story, at most, has a bit of motivational power. But what is its significance?
From a cultural perspective, the depth and perspective are different.
Human cultures each emphasize different aspects. Some of these include:
Intelligence, Love, Faith, Money, Emptiness, Obedience, Hatred, Ruthlessness, ...
Intelligence:** Greek culture
Love:** Christian culture
Faith:** Islamic culture
Money:** American and Jewish cultures
Emptiness:** Buddhist culture
Obedience:** Confucian culture
Hatred:** Nazi culture
Ruthlessness:** Japanese culture
For example, American culture emphasizes money over love. Confucian culture values obedience (obedience over intelligence), while Buddhist culture pursues emptiness and looks down on material wealth.
Particularly noteworthy is the Greek emphasis on "wisdom."
Wisdom is different from science. Many other cultures that seek to learn from the West assume that Western culture is mainly about technology. That is a grave misconception. Western culture originates from Greece, and its core is wisdom. Wisdom and technology are entirely different concepts. But this issue is not the main point of this article, so I will leave it for future discussion.
The main focus here is the story of the young apprentice in Edo. This highly praised story shares the same cultural significance as the recent story about a female college student who, after cleaning a restroom, wanted to drink a mouthful of toilet water.
Balancing culture is not easy.
When one element of culture is overly emphasized, others tend to be neglected.
For example, placing too much importance on external material things (like money) can lead to ignoring human love. Conversely, focusing too much on spiritual values (like emptiness) might cause neglect of external material needs. Confucianism emphasizes obedience (obedience over wisdom), which can prevent exploration of the universe as Greeks did.
Some might argue: Isn't Confucianism about promoting wisdom, benevolence, and courage?
But studying culture isn’t just about words. Both Japanese and Indian cultures, for instance, emphasize wisdom in their language. Yet, their cultures did not necessarily follow that path. Culture should be judged by what they actually do, not just what they say.
The samurai spirit in Japanese culture can be summarized as ruthlessness. Ruthlessness, or a Spartan-like view of bravery, does not include wisdom or compassion. This kind of martial valor emphasizes persistence. Persisting with a steadfast belief means not wavering. Saving money for two years with the goal of visiting a courtesan once is an example. But Japanese culture doesn’t care what he does; it only values persistence.
Excessive persistence can lead to mistakes, as well. Therefore, the Japanese right-wing’s insistence that the Second World War was justified reflects this cultural trait.
The eight cultural elements listed above do not represent the entire culture but highlight certain tendencies. These tendencies often overlap or are ignored altogether. The Chinese saying “Greatness lies in tolerance” suggests that future Chinese culture, or universal culture, will adopt the strengths of various cultures, rather than just focusing on a Japanese “harmony of spirit and Western technology” or the late Qing’s “Chinese essence with Western means.”
Additionally, it’s important to clarify: cultural elements are different from the ultimate purpose of culture.
Culture is like a road. The road itself is not the destination.
Long-term goals are hard to see clearly. In contrast, short-term goals are easier to identify.
For example, the Jewish goal of escaping Egypt was a short-term objective. The Chinese resistance during the eight-year war was also a short-term goal. But what happens after escaping Egypt? What after the victory in the resistance? These questions relate to your long-term purpose. And this is also the highest expectation from the universe — whether humans can truly understand the fundamental purpose of life.
Cultural elements are not necessarily the ultimate purpose of life. Even love might just be a way of life; love itself may not be the goal. This insight comes from Aristotle. But this is a vast and very important topic that deserves detailed future discussion.
「江戶小工訪妓事件」有何文化意義 ？
本文討論的，是文化的「路」問題。
這一故事，傳出來的人是日本企業家松下幸之助。他用這故事，說明堅毅精神的重要。
這故事，我也曾在不同的場合一再覆述。但亦是要到了多年後的今天，才明白其中的文化意義。那是遠遠比一種單純的「堅毅」精神，更加重要的。因為，這故事亦能啟發我們去比對不同的文化，例如希臘文化，基督文化，甚至伊斯蘭文化之間的不同。
故事說，從前的江戶城，有一個染廠小工，偶然有機會看到一位當時的名妓，驚為天人。回到染廠跟同伴說起，同伴對他說，不如息了這心吧。因為，光顧這名妓一次，需要三十金，大約是小工兩年的工資了。小工不為所動，就從這一刻開始儲錢。兩年之後，果然儲滿了三十金，就去藝妓館裡，尋著了那位藝妓。
藝妓亦盡了一己之所能，去招呼他。次晨，當他離開的時候，藝妓送到大門，如常地對他說：「請再光臨。」但小工說，再來要等兩年了。藝妓不明所以，問他，為甚麼這樣說。小工於是坦白告訴藝妓，自己是儲了兩年錢，才能夠來的。藝妓聽了十分感動，思量了一會，就對小工說：「不用等兩年了，我嫁給你吧。」
兩人婚後，小工非常努力工作。後來，果然成為江戶城的染廠大老闆。
這故事，有甚麼教訓？
松下幸之助說，不論所做的是甚麼事，只要盡力做去，就一定成功(大意)。
而事情亦真的好像是這樣。儲款兩年，其實極不容易。而這位小工，一心只追求一個簡單目的，他已經盡了全能。而藝妓就是單憑這一點堅毅的精神，就知道了小工是有前途的。藝妓能夠在一瞬時間抉擇，並不是藝妓特別聰明，而是她依據了日本文化的核心價值。
這一件小事，充其量是有點激勵人心的力量，有甚麼意義？
從文化的角度看，深度和觀點都會不同。
人類文化，各有不同的偏側重點。大約是有下面這幾樣：
智、愛、信、錢、空、乖、恨、狠、、、，
智：希臘文化
愛：基督文化
信：伊斯蘭文化
錢：美國文化、猶太文化
空：佛教文化
乖：儒家文化
恨：納粹文化
狠：日本文化
例如美國文化是有錢而無愛。儒家文化是只要乖不要智，而佛教文化則追求空虛，鄙視金錢。
特別值得重視是希臘人的「智」。
智是跟科學不同的兩回事。世界上許多其他文化想學西方，都以為西方文化就是科技。那是大錯特錯的想法。西方文化來自希臘，而希臘文化的重點是智慧。智慧是跟科技完全不同的兩種概念。但這問題，並非本文重點，容後再論。
本文重點，是江戶小工的故事。而這被人高度評價的故事，與日前所述，女大學生洗完廁所要喝一口廁水的故事，有相同的文化意義。
文化的平衡，是不容易的。
當一種文化元素被過度肯定，其他元素，就會被忽略。
太看重外在的物質（例如錢）就不會重視人與人之間的愛。而太重視追求心靈價值（例如空），就不會留意到外在的物質。儒家文化重視服從（例如乖），就不會重視智，不會像希臘文化那樣，對宇宙萬物全面探索。
或者有人駁斥：儒家文化不是提倡智仁勇嗎？但研究文化，是不能從字眼看的。日本文化也好，印度文化也好，提倡智慧的字眼，也必定不少。但他們的文化，確實是沒有走上這一條路。文化要看他們走甚麼路，而不是看他們說甚麼話。
日本文化的武士道精神，大約可以化為一個狠字。狠，或者一種斯巴達式的勇武觀念，是不包含智慧，亦不包含愛之類情操的。而這種勇武觀念，重視的是堅持。堅持一貫的信念，就不會動搖。儲款兩年，目標就是訪問妓女一次。但日本文化就是不理他所做的是甚麼。日本文化只重視堅持。
堅持之心過度熾熱，就不能想像，堅持也會錯。所以，日本右翼堅持二次大戰沒有做錯，也是這種文化的反映。
以上的八種文化元素，並不等於就是該文化的全部，而只是一個傾側的重點。而這種傾側，是互相重疊，或者互相忽略的。中國人講究的是「有容乃大」。未來的中國文化，或者是普世的文化，必定會盡採各種文化的長處，而不是只搞一點日式的「和魂洋技」，或者是滿清末年的「中體西用」。
此外，尚要說明一點：文化元素，是跟文化的目的不同的。
文化好比一條路。而路並不是目的。
長遠目的，是不容易看到的。相反是短期目的，較為容易。
例如，猶太人要逃出埃及，就是一個短期目的。而中國人八年抗戰，也是一個短期目的。至於出埃及之後怎辦？ 抗戰勝利之後怎辦？就要思考，自己的長遠目的是甚麼了。而這一點，亦是宇宙主宰對於人類的最高要求，就看人能否真正知道，生命的根本目的是甚麼。
文化元素，未必就是生命的根本目的。甚至是愛，也只是一種生活上的行為風格，愛本身，未必是目的。這是從亞里士多德處得來的啟發。但這又是一個極大的，而且是極重要的題目，要另外詳細探討了。
