乓夫-未来的工作 电算盘实现了自动化。但它需要乓夫才能顺利降落在 地面上。 电算盘已经通过将所有知识产权和自动化工具转移入 共产领域来防止自动化可能带来的大灾难。但是,当 机器人和其他自动化机器代替了人工,这终结了工作 的存在。我们需要找到一种新形式和普及化的"工作"。 那就是乓夫。 乓夫代表乒乓和功夫。乒乓球是世界上被实际参与最 多的运动。乓夫是将乒乓经过修改成似于功夫后的产 品,因为功夫有被亚洲所有人普遍接受的经历。 乓夫,作为一种新自动化时代的工作,将全神贯注于 让每个人都可以认同,并称之为之己有的东西。 通过 使我们保持健康,而不是像现在的工作那样使我们做 累到老年退休而最后生病死亡,乓夫将延长我们的青 春活力。 当乓夫要求我们所有的身心能力去执行,那 挑战性将把那份工作变得有意义。 当然,它不应像当今的体育运动那样偏向任何一个群 体,特别是轻视妇女和其他身体上处于不利地位的人。 不论男女老少,身材高矮,甚至强弱,都应享有公平 的竞争环境。而且,最重要的是,它应该伴随我们一 生。 我刚刚描述了乓夫球可以为我们个人做些什么。但是 乓夫能为社会做些什么? 在即将到来的自动化时代, 一个巨大的问题是如何分配自动生产的物品?我们需 要一个衡量每个人所"应得"的工具。自然,在一个没有 任何恶性竞争的世界中,这种"应得"的标准应该基于品 德和性格。 这里值得一提的是,功夫在亚洲鼎盛时期象征着武林 正义。今天有了电算盘的聪明才智,但没有乓夫的正 义感,新的伟哥大脑对社会反而会是一种威胁。 在打了50多年的乒乓球之后,我发现这项运动通常会 使一个人表现出他最坏的一面,但却需要他最好的一 面才能获胜。我还分析了职业选手,并得出的结论是, 冠军所具备的最重要素质是好的人格。因此,这里就 是我们衡量每个人所"应得"的工具。而且,它还可以充 当,迫使每个人保持健康的击打棒。 我已能听到其他体育界和 另外潜在可当"工作"的候选 项目,对乓夫垄断的强烈抗议。在此,就让我们来看 看是否别的东西也可以满足乓夫所提供的所有功能: 1. 乓夫已被规划成一项主要是自我练习的运动。击球 的回弹板也已被设计和测试过了,可以使人达到进专 业水平。 2.与传统乒乓球不同,乓夫,通过将桌子的尺寸缩小到 符合标准的4x8建筑板,已可让所有人都可以负担得 起一台乓夫桌子。而将 那两个4x4桌面分开一英尺, 则就不用网了。在这个较小的桌子上打球,所获得的 技能完全适用于标准乒乓桌子。这样,乓夫消除了任 何形式的经济上的短板。 3.上面的乓夫球桌可以放在一个标准的房间里玩,因为 在没有网的情况下,球可以打到内角,这样可以防止 玩家退得太远,因此而需要很大的游戏空间。 4.这个桌子也可以用汽车携带。乓夫运动有明确的意图 去取代马拉松成为最大的运动项目。有一天,我们将 举行数以百万计的乓夫球比赛,选手们将自己带桌, 整个比赛可在户外进行。 5.乓夫球桌的另一个优点是,当整个人口对乒乓球变得 越来越认真时,我们将在最小的年龄开始训练。为了 这个,桌腿的设计是通过将支撑转好再放下,并使用 可调节角度的横杆降低桌台。整个桌子的费用不到五 十美元 6.乓夫也有自己的拍子设计。它纠正了乒乓球只在正手 方面进攻的缺陷。乓夫将乒乓球的姿势从正方形改为 垂直击剑形。现在,乓夫运动员可以从正反双方面同 样舒适地发起攻攻。 7.因此,乓夫拍子实际上是两个拍子的合二为一。手柄 放置在拍面的中背面,那其实是连接的双拍面。该拍 子比乒乓球的单个拍面更加平衡,可以更轻松地从桌 子内击球,更不用说明显的优势,即更大的表面可以 用来挡快球。乓夫球拍的合格性正在被ITTF批准中。 PONGFU - THE JOB OF THE FUTURE Automation takes off with ROBACUS. But it needs pongfu to land on the ground without a crash. ROBACUS might have already prevented an apocalypse by moving all the intellectual properties and automation tools into the public domain. But the replacing of human workers by robots and other tools of automation put an end to the availibility of jobs. We need to find a new and universal form of job. That's pongfu. Pongfu stands for ping pong Kungfu. Ping pong is chosen for being the most participated sport in the world. Ping pong is modified to resemble Kungfu because Kungfu has the track record of being universally accepted by all the people in Asia. Pongfu will preoccupy us like jobs do in the new age of automation. It shall beome something that each of us can identify with and call it his own. It would prolong the youthfulness in us by keeping us fit, rather than working us down to old age and retiring us to the graves like jobs do. And it promises to be fulfilling and challenging in that it demands our full mental and physical capacities. Of course, it should not bias toward any one segment of the population, particularly the women and other physically disadvantaged people, as sports do nowadays. Young and old, men and women, tall and short and even strong and weak should all enjoy a level playing field. And, above all, it should stay with us for whole life. I have just described what pongfu can do for us. But what can pongfu do for the society? In the coming era of automation, one huge problem is how to distribute the products of automation? We need a measuring stick for each person's "deservedness". Naturally , in a world void of any harmful competition, this deservedness should be based on merits, or each person's character. It should be worthy mentioning here that kungfu in its heydays in Asia symbolized the spirit of righteousness. With ROBACUS' smart, but without pongfu's integrity, the new Viagra-brained man would be a danger to the society. After playing ping pong for more than 50 years, I have found that it's a sport that typically bring the worst out of a person, but it demands the best of him to win. I have also analyzed the professional players and concluded that the most important quality required of a champion is his character. So, here is our measuring stick of merit. And it's also double duty as a spanking stick for keeping everyone fit. I can just hear loud protests of monopoly from other sports and other potential candidates of the "universal job". Let's see if anything else can match all what pongfu offers: 1. Pongfu has been made to be a mostly self-practicing sport. A playback board have been designed and tested to allow a person to reach a near-professional level. 2. Unlike ping pong, pongfu is made affordable to everyone by reducing the size of the table to the standard 4x8 construction board and without net by pulling the 2 piece of 4x4 table tops a foot apart. The skills acquired by playing on this smaller table are fully applicable to the standard table. This takes away any form of economic discrimination. 3. The above pongfu table could be played in a standard room in the house since, when there is no net, balls can be hit to the inner corners, thus prevent the players to back off too far, that would require much large playing area. 4. This table should also made portable, by a car, that is. Pongfu has the definite intention of replacing marathon as the largest sport event. One day we will have million-men pongfu tournaments, in which players bring their own tables, and the whole thing will played outdoor. 5. Another advantage of the pongfu table is that, when the whole population is getting serious with pongfu, we would be starting play pongfu at the earliest age possible. Here the table legs are designed to be lowered easily by placing the support on their sides, using a centralized cross bars whose angles can be adjusted to lower the table. The cost of the whole table is less than $50.00. 6. Pongfu also have its own paddle design. It corrects ping pong's defect of playing mostly only on the forehand side. Pongfu changes ping pong's stance from a square stance to that of a perpendicular fencing stance. The pongfu player now can launch attacks equally comfortable from both sides. 7. So, the pongfu paddle is really two paddles in one. The handle is placed in the back of the blade, which is really a jointed dual blade. This blade is much more balanced than the single blade of ping pong, allowing easier picking up from inside the table, not to mention the obvious advantage of the much larger surface for blocking a fast ball back. The homologation of the pongfu paddle with ITTF is in process.