174. Is My Life Analog or Digital? | 我的人生，是類比還是數位？
Musings of Dr. Jamie C. Hsu, 11.1.2025
Human knowledge has expanded so much that it is no longer easy to grasp. In the early days, quantum mechanics and the uncertainty principle showed us that matter can exist either as discrete particles or as continuous waves. More recently, astrophysicists and mathematicians have been discussing black holes, the expanding universe, and even the possibility of multiple universes that exist beyond our own universe, or maybe in our consciousness.
These observations, hypotheses, and theoretical proofs are beyond my comprehension. I will leave that to scientists, biologists, psychologists, philosophers, and religionists to debate and figure out.
As for me, I find myself wondering: do we exist as analog or digital beings? Our brain waves, our thoughts and feelings, and our bodily functions seem to be holistic and analog. But the neurons in our brain and body fire digitally to trigger various responses and functions. And oftentimes, we burst into emotional spikes and dips. We seem to be both analog and digital.
In the world surrounding us these days, more things and events are becoming digital. Analog watches and gauges have been replaced by digital devices. Society is being partitioned by marketers and pollsters into categories and discrete segments. We are polarized and pigeonholed into smaller and more extreme groups for the sake of analysis and information delivery. This trend is causing unnecessary friction, misunderstanding, and conflict all over the world.
I hope we come to understand that we are both analog and digital, living in a world that is both continuous and discrete. We share more in common—and overlap more—than the media, merchants, and politicians want us to believe.
We human beings occupy just a tiny part of the vast multiverse we do not comprehend yet. We are but one small dot in the universe. Let us be a unified, appreciative, and happy dot.
我的人生，是類比還是數位？(2025/11/01)
–作者 許俊宸博士
–中譯 薛乃綺
人類的知識實在擴張得太快、太廣了，已經不是那麼容易掌握了。早期的量子力學和不確定性原理就告訴我們，物質可以同時是離散的粒子，也可以是連續的波。到了近代，天體物理學家和數學家又在討論黑洞、宇宙膨脹，甚至是多重宇宙—那些可能存在於我們這個宇宙之外，或也許就在我們的意識裡。
老實說，這些觀察、假設、理論證明都超出了我的理解範圍。我就把這些問題留給科學家、生物學家、心理學家、哲學家和宗教家去研究吧。
對我來說，我更常想的是：我們到底是「類比的」還是「數位的」存在？我們的腦波、思想、情感、身體運作，看起來都很整體、連續，好像是類比的。但我們腦中與身體裡的神經元，卻是像數位開關一樣，一下「啟動」、一下「關閉」，產生各種反應與功能。有時候我們的情緒會突然高漲、或瞬間低落，感覺我們同時又是類比的，也是數位的。
放眼周邊世界，越來越多事情都變成數位化。以前的指針式手錶、儀表都被數位產品取代。市場調查和行銷人員把整個社會切割成一個又一個分類。人們被標籤、被歸類成越來越細、越極端的群體，為了方便分析與推播資訊。但這樣的趨勢，反而造成了許多不必要的摩擦、誤解和衝突。
我真心希望大家能明白：我們既是類比的，也是數位的，生活在一個既連續又離散的世界。我們其實有比媒體、商人、政治人物所說的，更多的共通點與重疊之處。
人類在這浩瀚、多重的宇宙中，只是極微小的一點。既然我們只是一個小小的點，那就讓我們成為一個團結、感恩、快樂的小點吧。
