about

To claim that one possesses complete and infallible knowledge of the world, is arrogance.

Thus, I shall not pretend that I do.I also cannot be certain whether the truth, or complete knowledge, is attainable. But is the search for truth in vain? I do not think so. The processes of reflection, of dialogue, of trial-and-error, of learning the wisdom of others, and of everything that I experience as I attempt to reach for the truth, are those which bring me pleasure and give meaning to my existence. Even if what I yield is often not what I had expected, and thus may seem like a failure, the search is itself valuable, and is itself the end.I am motivated by this reason to continue my pursuit. These are, after all, only attempts, and they must treated with careful scepticism and not to be taken in as the ultimate Truth. Here I shall lay them.

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History

I began writing in this blog in 2010, initially with the intent to document my wild musings for private entertainment (Traditionally, people do this with a journal. But for various reasons - including convenience - I've decided to do it with a blog). With time I gradually developed the confidence to publish my posts, but my reservations with my own writing still remain, hence the less ambitious name 'Attempts'. Another reason why this blog is named 'Attempts' is because I've initially wanted to produce my posts in the form of short essays, where essayer means to attempt. That didn't come out very well in the end, but anyway that's pretty much the story of the origin of this blog. 

I've never really been a regular poster, and only since 2013 have I began making more frequent updates to this blog. Having studied philosophy and politics in my undergraduate degree, this blog provided an outlet for me to vent my frustrations or feelings about my inquiries. So far, I've been enjoying the freedom of writing about what I want without the restrictions of having to please anyone or to conform to a particular tradition. 

Today, this blog consists primarily of some interesting ideas I developed or came across in philosophy, and a few scattered entries on politics. 

If you're interested in getting in touch, write me here.

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cyun

'cyun' is the last character of my actual name expressed in proper Cantonese phonetic spelling. Ironically, the pronunciation is not obvious even from its phonetic spelling. It approximates to the English pronunciation for 'ch-ue-en'.

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Last updated 17th August 2014