2)幾年前,台灣的中華民國工研院轄屬的「國家度量衡標準實驗室」一直使用台灣習稱的『公制公約』(Convention du Mètre)名稱。只是,自從有人耳朵長毛以後,這個實驗室和經濟部標準檢驗局就將『公制』改稱強國的說法「米制」,公制公約」自此沉淪不復見,換來刺耳的「米制公約」。(http://goo.gl/cCctkU, http://goo.gl/ZrwlmO)
4)什麼叫做公制? 公制是度量衡單位制度,由 cgs(公分公克秒)制,mks(公尺公斤秒)制等逐漸演進而成。目前已成為國際度量衡大會(CGPM)所推行採用的國際單位制(International System of Unit),縮寫符號為「SI」,中文簡稱為公制,旨在統一世界各國對計量單位表達與使用之一致性。
數年前,苑老師送他編的 Scientific Reason by Ian Hacking 我只說 "從演講到出書苑舉正兄送書 已近一年半 我覺得可惜的是: 應該出中英文合版的書才好" 其實這本書在第一講第一頁就指出 ,2003年的現代物理評論Reviews of Modern Physics第 75卷 403-455 ,有篇 " The Fundamental Constants and Their Variation: Observational and theoretical Status"。
Credit for having calculated the speed of light with precision goes to Albert Michelson (USA) for which he would receive in 1907 the first Nobel science prize for his country.(Partner content via OpenMind)
Peter Drucker did not extensively use the specific term "meritocracy," which was popularized in a different context, but his management philosophy strongly aligns with its core principles, emphasizing
talent, performance, and individual responsibility over hierarchy or social status.
Key Alignment with Meritocratic Principles
Drucker's ideas inherently support a system where individuals rise based on their abilities and contributions.
Respect for the Worker: He believed employees were assets, not liabilities, and that a corporation should be a community based on trust and respect, which implies valuing individuals for their work rather than their background.
Management by Objectives (MBO): Drucker's concept of MBO, which became a cornerstone of performance management, required superiors and subordinates to jointly identify common goals and define responsibilities based on expected results. This focuses explicitly on what a person accomplishes.
Individual Responsibility for Career Management: In the "post-capitalist executive" era, Drucker stressed that individuals must take responsibility for managing their own careers and knowing themselves, as traditional corporate "stepladders" disappeared.
Focus on Effectiveness and Contribution: Drucker emphasized effectiveness over efficiency, focusing on "doing the right things" to serve customers and balance various needs, which requires individuals who can make meaningful contributions regardless of formal position.
Culture over Strategy: A culture that values talent and allows people to rise based on ability is a key element for success in an organization, a concept often associated with Drucker's famous quote, "Culture eats strategy for breakfast".
Potential Nuances and Considerations
While supporting the ideals of merit, Drucker's approach was holistic and recognized the complexities beyond a simple "merit-only" system.
The Paradox of Meritocracy: Modern studies on meritocracy have highlighted a potential paradox: companies that explicitly label themselves as meritocratic may actually exhibit more bias because individuals believe they are already impartial. Drucker was aware of the need for continuous self-assessment to avoid bias.
Teachable Humility: One interpretation of a workable meritocracy, building on Drucker's ideas, suggests the need for "teachable humility" in leaders, a willingness to be open to new ideas and constant learning, which guards against the arrogance sometimes associated with a rigid elite.
Beyond Just Brains: Drucker's work implies that merit involves more than just intelligence or technical skill; it includes "competencies" like empathy, character, and the ability to work collaboratively towards a common purpose.
Deming Philosophy and "Five Lies Our Culture Tells By David Brooks} 兩翻譯版本可比較:紐約時報 v.s Google 翻譯。大西洋月刊: 精英制度Meritocracy讓生活變成了一場永無止境、令人痛苦的競爭。這個制度已經不再對任何人有益了。
Meritocracy has made life an endless, terrible competition, Daniel Markovits wrote in 2019. The system is no longer serving anyone well. https://theatln.tc/0WStj6yL 丹尼爾·馬爾科維茨在2019年寫道,精英制度讓生活變成了一場永無止境、令人痛苦的競爭。這個制度已經不再對任何人有益了。 https://theatln.tc/0WStj6yL
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美國文化的五大謊言 Five Lies Our Culture Tells By David Brooks
美國文化的五大謊言
戴維·布魯克斯
四年前,奧巴馬擔任總統期間,我出版了一本名為《品格之路》(The Road to Character)的書。當時美國文化狀態似乎不錯,我關注的是個人如何深入自己的內心生活。特朗普擔任總統期間,我在這個星期又出版了一本書,《第二座山》( The Second Mountain)。很明顯,這段時間情況不是很好,我們的問題是社會問題。整個國家正在經歷某種精神和情感危機。
Four years ago, in the midst of the Obama presidency, I published a book called “The Road to Character.” American culture seemed to be in decent shape and my focus was on how individuals can deepen their inner lives. This week, in the midst of the Trump presidency, I’ve got another book, “The Second Mountain.” It’s become clear in the interim that things are not in good shape, that our problems are societal. The whole country is going through some sort of spiritual and emotional crisis.
College mental health facilities are swamped, suicide rates are spiking, the president’s repulsive behavior is tolerated or even celebrated by tens of millions of Americans. At the root of it all is the following problem: We’ve created a culture based on lies.
Here are some of them:
Career success is fulfilling. This is the lie we foist on the young. In their tender years we put the most privileged of them inside a college admissions process that puts achievement and status anxiety at the center of their lives. That begins advertising’s lifelong mantra — if you make it, life will be good.
Everybody who has actually tasted success can tell you that’s not true. I remember when the editor of my first book called to tell me it had made the best-seller list. It felt like … nothing. It was external to me.
The truth is, success spares you from the shame you might experience if you feel yourself a failure, but career success alone does not provide positive peace or fulfillment. If you build your life around it, your ambitions will always race out in front of what you’ve achieved, leaving you anxious and dissatisfied.
I can make myself happy. This is the lie of self-sufficiency. This is the lie that happiness is an individual accomplishment. If I can have just one more victory, lose 15 pounds or get better at meditation, then I will be happy.
But people looking back on their lives from their deathbeds tell us that happiness is found amid thick and loving relationships. It is found by defeating self-sufficiency for a state of mutual dependence. It is found in the giving and receiving of care.
It’s easy to say you live for relationships, but it’s very hard to do. It’s hard to see other people in all their complexity. It’s hard to communicate from your depths, not your shallows. It’s hard to stop performing! No one teaches us these skills.
Life is an individual journey. This is the lie books like Dr. Seuss’ “Oh, the Places You’ll Go” tell. In adulthood, each person goes on a personal trip and racks up a bunch of experiences, and whoever has the most experiences wins. This lie encourages people to believe freedom is the absence of restraint. Be unattached. Stay on the move. Keep your options open.
In reality, the people who live best tie themselves down. They don’t ask: What cool thing can I do next? They ask: What is my responsibility here? They respond to some problem or get called out of themselves by a deep love.
By planting themselves in one neighborhood, one organization or one mission, they earn trust. They have the freedom to make a lasting difference. It’s the chains we choose that set us free.
You have to find your own truth. This is the privatization of meaning. It’s not up to the schools to teach a coherent set of moral values, or a society. Everybody chooses his or her own values. Come up with your own answers to life’s ultimate questions! You do you!
The problem is that unless your name is Aristotle, you probably can’t do it. Most of us wind up with a few vague moral feelings but no moral clarity or sense of purpose.
The reality is that values are created and passed down by strong, self-confident communities and institutions. People absorb their values by submitting to communities and institutions and taking part in the conversations that take place within them. It’s a group process.
Rich and successful people are worth more than poorer and less successful people. We pretend we don’t tell this lie, but our whole meritocracy points to it. In fact, the meritocracy contains a skein of lies.
The message of the meritocracy is that you are what you accomplish. The false promise of the meritocracy is that you can earn dignity by attaching yourself to prestigious brands. The emotion of the meritocracy is conditional love — that if you perform well, people will love you.
Technology has made our lives easier. But it also means that your data is no longer your own. We'll examine who is hoarding your information — and give you a guide for what you can do about it.
The sociology of the meritocracy is that society is organized around a set of inner rings with the high achievers inside and everyone else further out. The anthropology of the meritocracy is that you are not a soul to be saved but a set of skills to be maximized.
No wonder it’s so hard to be a young adult today. No wonder our society is fragmenting. We’ve taken the lies of hyper-individualism and we’ve made them the unspoken assumptions that govern how we live.
We talk a lot about the political revolution we need. The cultural revolution is more important.
David Brooks has been a columnist with The Times since 2003. He is the author of “The Road to Character” and the forthcoming book, “The Second Mountain.” @nytdavidbrooks
Mr. Peter Drucker (1909~2005,德魯克/杜拉克先生):台灣博雅出版社出版多本 Peter Drucker的書:彼得‧杜拉克 全著作指南 上田惇生 ATSUO UEDA;彼得˙杜拉克與管理;創新與創業精神;彼得‧杜拉克 超越時代的語言:培養洞察力的160則睿智箴言;杜拉克對工商企業的貢獻;杜拉克印象:懷念我的老師、顧問和朋友。 預見巨型教會在美國社會中日益增長的作用的。 "目標高於人氣:他強調,真正的領導力,尤其是在教會中,必須源自於清晰的神聖目標,而非僅僅追求商業成長或行銷策略。他曾與里克·沃倫等領袖深入探討這個理念。" 。對巨型教會在美國社會中日益增長的作用的預見性,可以與這些訃告中記錄的其他洞見並列。經濟學人:美國巨型教會最大的吸引力並非耶穌的任何教誨,而是更容易理解的東西:美國資本主義的福音。
The biggest draw to America’s megachurches is something easier to follow than any of Jesus’s teachings: the gospel of American capitalism
美國巨型教會最大的吸引力並非耶穌的任何教誨,而是更容易理解的東西:美國資本主義的福音。
Many obituaries did mention that for decades Mr. Drucker, who would have turned 96 today, devoted much of his energy to analyzing and advising nonprofit organizations and charities. A few obituaries even mentioned churches. In fact, Mr. Drucker's prescience about the growing role of megachurches in American society could be placed alongside other insights those obituaries recorded: his anticipation of Japan's economic emergence, for example, or his attention to the rise of "knowledge workers" and the uses of "privatization."
Peter Drucker, management guru and Christian thinker, saw megachurches as a significant societal shift and a complex leadership challenge, calling them perhaps the most important social phenomenon in America, but stressed that their immense scale demanded disciplined management, ethical character (integrity, humility, generosity), and a focus on true purpose beyond mere marketing, warning against corporate pitfalls like power lust and shallow goals, advocating for principles like federalism and servant leadership to build functional, meaningful communities.
Key Drucker Insights on Megachurches:
A Major Social Phenomenon: He recognized megachurches as crucial developments in modern society, reflecting changes in community and belief.
Extreme Leadership Challenge: Drucker considered megachurch pastorates among the hardest jobs, requiring leaders to wear many hats and meet diverse expectations, similar to hospital or university leaders.
Purpose Over Popularity: He emphasized that true leadership, especially in churches, must stem from a clear, divine purpose, not just business growth or marketing tactics, a concept he discussed extensively with leaders like Rick Warren.
Beware of Corporate Traps: While applying management principles, Drucker warned against adopting business methods wholesale, cautioning against the "lust for power," ethical compromises, and organizational structures that prioritize size over spiritual depth.
Character & Responsibility: He believed effective church leadership required integrity, humility, generosity, and a focus on responsibility, viewing power as service, not privilege.
Structure & Division of Labor: Drucker understood the necessity of sophisticated organization (like Jethro-gation mentioned in Big Think), but this structure must serve the core mission, not become the mission itself.
Drucker's Influence:
He advised prominent megachurch leaders like Rick Warren (Saddleback Church) and Bill Hybels (Willow Creek), helping them apply principles of purpose and management to build large, effective congregations.
In essence, Drucker saw megachurches as vital, challenging, and potentially transformative institutions, but only if guided by deep ethical purpose, strong character, and sound management principles that serve the church's fundamental mission, not just its scale.