10月30日主題

江子翠 10月30日星期二

各位親愛的會員: 10月30日將討論兩個主題: 台灣奇怪的食物 /2045年後將長生不死

台灣奇怪的食物 (欣傳媒記者洪釧瑜)

先前國際媒體，包括美國CNN、美國富比世的全球最噁心食物評比中，都有一些台灣的食物上榜。究竟，對外國朋友來說，台灣有什麼奇怪的食物讓他們很不能接受？原因又是什麼？

晶華酒店西點法籍行政主廚羅倫（Laurent Delcourt）表示，臭豆腐是他覺得最匪夷所思的台灣食物，因為豆腐經過發酵後的臭氣實在令人無法恭維，但是這種奇特的味道竟然在入油鍋酥炸或清蒸調味之後，口感與風味完全轉變，並成為國民小吃美食，讓他覺得台灣人非常有創意。

而來自菲律賓的Yoyette，和羅倫也有相同的想法，光聞到臭豆腐的味道就讓她嘴巴周圍出現類似過敏現象的搔癢感，因此她到現在都還沒有勇氣嘗試。

此外，台灣人常吃的牛雜，對她來說也很不可思議。「雖然菲律賓也有類似的食物，不過我還是到台灣才第一次看到，除了有點重的腥味外，也擔心有內臟處理不乾淨的問題，所以不敢吃。」Yoyette說。

有異曲同工之妙的豬大腸，QQ軟軟的口感也讓西班牙人羅宜家不喜歡，而看起來有點可怕的雞爪，也讓怕髒的她敬謝不敏。「在西班牙，我們不吃動物的腳，因為腳在地上行走，感覺很髒。」羅宜家說。不過，她反而覺得台灣的臭豆腐、皮蛋、豬血糕、鴨血…等食物很好吃。

而來自文化及飲食習慣與台灣較相近的日本的齊藤力，則有一個很不一樣的思維。「我覺得台灣的月見冰非常奇怪，將雞蛋打在冰涼的挫冰上，蛋白很難凝結，所以口感會變得很黏糊，感覺非常不協調。」齊藤力說。

或許因為文化與飲食習慣的差異，讓外國人覺得台灣有很多奇怪的食物，但其實有不少外國人因為愛上台灣的美食而在此定居，如在台灣住了11年的龔向華(Dimi Tri Bruyas)。他以開放的心態去嘗試各式各樣的食物，對他來說，沒有不能吃的東西，反而是環境衛生問題，才會成為讓國外觀光客止步的原因。「外國人很重視環境衛生，像台灣人喜愛的夜市，環境整潔度就有很大的進步空間。」

Six Delightfully Bizarre Foods to Try in Taiwan (Hotelclub travel blog)

The Republic of China has a wonderful culinary landscape, with dual inspiration from mainland China and native Taiwanese cultures. Foreign visitors to the night markets of Taipei and Kaohsiung may find some dishes relatively familiar. Others, on the other hand, may prove more difficult to identify. Here then, are six delightfully bizarre Taiwanese foods.

Century Egg

Also known as a “thousand year” or“millennium egg”, Century Egg is a traditional Chinese delicacy very popular in Taiwan. Unlike the name suggests, the duck, quail or chicken egg in question is not really a thousand years old. The eggs are actually preserved in an alkaline mixture of lime, tea, salt and wood ash for several weeks or months. The preparation method makes the shell look aged and the egg-white shiny amber. The gray yolk develops rich, pungent flavor compounds, often reminiscent of strong cheese or even ammonia. Myriad condiments, sesame oil and soy sauce help to round out the powerful, distinctive taste of the eggs.

Pig Blood Cake

One of the most popular snack foods in Taiwan is a native take on blood sausage. Like sausage traditions in Eastern Europe or traditional “blood pudding” for example, Pigs Blood Cake features pig’s blood prominently of course, with sticky rice as the glutinous binder. A layer of peanut powder and cilantro provides lovely nuance to the sanguine, porcine snack. Taipei’s Gongguan Market is definitely a great spot to sample the piggy delicacy.

Chicken Feet

As far as bizarre foods go, chicken feet rank as pretty tame. After all, from Ashkenazi Jews to tribes in Sub-Saharan Africa, countless cultures have found ways to render the less manageable parts of fowl edible … and even delicious.

In Taiwan, street vendors work magic with chicken feet. The popular snack is ubiquitous in night markets and even as cineplex fare to complement that tub of popcorn and bucket of soda. Slightly gelatinous, fatty and with or without nails (inedible of course), chicken feet can be pretty tasty.

Stinky Tofu

The heady, rank odor of stinky tofu is unmistakable. The Taiwanese delicacy is the result of a delicate process that involves the fermentation of regular tofu in a vegetable, shellfish, milk or meat brine (or combination of several) for a few months. Herbs and mustard greens impart special flavors to the party. To connoisseurs, the art of stinky tofu is not unlike high-quality cheese production in France or Italy. Indeed, the final product may remind some of a ripe Roquefort or Gorgonzala, often with a delicate goose liver-like texture.

Duck Tongue

Another delicacy born from necessity is duck tongue. In Taiwan, night market and restaurant cooks commonly prepare the tongues with soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil and basil. Hey, every New York deli serves beef tongue with mustard on rye, so why not?

Duck of course, is one of the most luxurious ingredients in the Chinese culinary arsenal and “All Duck” banquets that feature the bird make delectable use of every part. In Taipei, a plate of grilled or stewed tongues is just about the best bar snack you can find.

Intestines

Tripe may seem delightfully bizarre to some. Others however, consider intestines humdrum everyday fare. Again, this is classic peasant comfort food – scraps made edible and certifiably soulful in every corner of the globe. Night markets in Taiwan feature offal buffets where you can choose different barnyard animal intestines and hand them to a vendor for a wide range of preparation methods. The cook may boil, deep fry or stir fry the tripe and of course, copious condiments abound.

Questions:

1. What do you think of Taiwanese night markets custom?

2. What do you think of Taiwanese local food?

3. Do you think these foods are weird foods?

4. What are your favorite traditional foods?

5. What Taiwanese foods will you recommend to foreign visitors?

6. Recommend some best Taiwanese food?

2045人類得永生時代：人類透過與機器結合獲得永生(國際中心／台北報導）

2月份時代雜誌，封面故事為「2045年－人類獲得永生」。

人腦與電腦近最近再啟戰端。IBM超級電腦「華森」(Watson)日前參加美國益智問答節目，與兩名人類對手大戰三回，最終戰勝人腦；而在即將出版的2月份時代雜誌當中，封面故事「2045年－人類獲得永生」當中提及，美國作家科茲威爾（Raymond Kurzweil ）曾表示，2045年，人類將會透過與機器結合而獲得永生，電腦的智慧將取代人腦，永久改變人類的命運。屆時，人類和電腦智慧將無法區分。

科茲威爾除了為作家外，同時也是一位發明家，比爾蓋茲（Bill Gates）曾稱讚他是 「人工智慧未來的最佳預測家」；他早在其2005年著作「奇點迫近：當人類超越生物學限度」（The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology）中就做出2045年人類獲得永生的預測。

時代雜誌在文章中指出，電腦的發展速度越來越快，它們的計算速度也越來越快。隨著這一趨勢的延續，最後電腦可能從思想緩慢的人類手中接管自己的發展。電腦的能力即將代替人腦，它們不僅能快速計算，還能譜寫鋼琴曲、開車、寫書、做決定、欣賞藝術品，甚至參加社交聚會。

電腦智慧將與我們共享地球，屆時，人類也不再是人類，而是與機器融合成為另一種物種，聽起來雖然像科幻小說的劇情，但是越來越多人開始認真假想這個可能性。

當人類需要與電腦分享地球時，若想和平共處，人類需要與電腦一樣聰明。為此，未來人類可能需要與電腦融合，以變成超級聰明的「半機械人」，利用電腦擴展人類的智慧。

人工智慧可能可以幫助人類延長壽命，甚至擺脫生老病死；或許人類還可將自己的意識掃描進入電腦，人類就可以永遠生活在其中，達到永生的境界，但是這些做法都有一個共同點，那就是人類將不再是人類，不再是2011年的有機生命體。

科茲威爾預測稱，到了2020年，我們將成功透過逆向工程製造出人腦；到2030年，電腦智慧將趕上人類；到2045年時，科技發展將由電腦接管。機械化的人類掌握了全世界，而每一代的人工智慧都會越來越快，科技將呈爆炸性發展，但因為人類文明已經被機器所掌握，所以之後的科技發展已無法精確預測。

Human immortality could be possible by 2045, say Russian scientists

(by Lauren O'NeilPosted)

A strategic social initiative in Russia is making waves with its cybernetic immortality project. (2045.com)If Dmitry Itskov's 2045 initiative plays out as planned, humans will have the option of living forever with the help of machines in only 33 years.

It may sound ridiculous, but the 31-year-old Russian mogul is dead serious about neuroscience, android robotics, and cybernetic immortality.

He has already pulled together a team of leading Russian scientists intent on creating fully functional holographic human avatars that house artificial brains which contain a person's complete consciousness - in other words, a humanoid robot.

Together, they've laid out an ambitious course of action that would see the team transplant a human brain into an artificial body (or 'avatar') in as little as seven years time.

Now, Itskov is asking the world's richest people for help in financing the project.

In exchange, he's offered to coordinate their own personal immortality projects for free.

"I urge you to take note of the vital importance of funding scientific development in the field of cybernetic immortality and the artificial body," he writes in an open letter to members of the Forbes World's Billionaires List.

"Such research has the potential to free you, as well as the majority of all people on our planet, from disease, old age and even death."

Itskov goes on to offer skeptics a meeting with "a team of the world's leading scientists working in this field " to prove the viability of the concept of cybernetic immortality.

And while many are skeptical that such a plan could ever come to fruition, Popular

Science Magazine points that phase one --creating a robot controlled by a human brain -- is already well within reach.

"DARPA is already working on it via a program called "Avatar" (which, incidentally, is also the name of Itskov's project) through which the Pentagon hopes to create a brain-machine interface that will allow soldiers to control bipedal human surrogate machines remotely with their minds," writes PopSci's Clay Dillow.

"And of course there are all the ongoing medical prosthesis projects that have shown that the human nervous system can interface with prosthetic enhancements, manipulating them via thought. Itskov draws a clear arc from what we have now to the consciousness-containing holograms that he envisions. All we have to do is attack the technological obstacles in between, one at a time, until we get there."

Discovery's Alyssa Danigelis takes an opposing stance to the very idea.

"There's a world of difference between pursuing a brain-controlled exoskeleton to help paraplegics regain control and wanting to essentially upload a human brain into an artificial body," she writes.

"I read a sci-fi novel involving disembodied live brains once. It didn't turn out well"

What's your reaction to this pursuit? If you had the opportunity to live forever - albeit cybernetically - would you do it?

Questions:

1. Is Human Immortality Possible?

2. Will immortality be an option for you?

3. If you were immortal - with infinite extra time - What Would You Do?

4. What would happen if immortality for man was possible?

5. Problems of immortality? The Price of Immortality?

CONVERSATION

Sherry: Hello, office of Charlie, Sherry speaking.

Billy: Get me Charlie. This is Billy.

Sherry: I’m sorry, he’s not here.

Billy: Where is he? I got a bit of a legal problem.

Sherry: He’s out of town until tomorrow afternoon.

Can I take a message?

Billy: Yes, could you tell him to call me back, please?