running, a needle in a haystack

Faced with confusing rules and dire warnings about spreading infections, many in China will spend the holiday without loved ones for the second year running.

running

adjective [ after noun ]

UK 

 /ˈrʌn.ɪŋ/ US 

 /ˈrʌn.ɪŋ/

 

C2

happening on a particular number of regular occasions:

You've been late three days running.

They won the trophy for the third year running.

2020年2月27日 星期四

H. A. Simon：稻草堆最銳利的針〝The Needle and the Haystack〞；動態的 a needle in a haystack

這是H. A. Simon喜歡用的 search 之比喻：
a needle in a haystack


something that is impossible or extremely difficult to find, especially because the area you have to search is too large:
Finding the piece of paper I need in this huge pile of documents is like looking for/trying to find a needle in a haystack
21世紀開發萬用流感疫苗的人，因為流感病毒會不斷的"演化"出新一代，所以他們形容自己的任務，像是要從移動的草堆要找出"藏針"：


The push to develop a universal flu vaccine has intensified in recent years, given unusually severe flu outbreaks and emerging pandemic strains, like the swine flu.
But it has been a slow process, partly because researchers are testing multiple strategies as the virus continues to mutate, says Saint Louis University professor of infectious disease and internal medicine Daniel Hoft."It's like running after a haystack that's on the back of a wagon," says Hoft, who is leading the Hotel Influenza study. "And it's moving while you're looking for the needle."~Researchers are stepping up efforts to develop a “universal” flu vaccine.


2000/7/29 www.deming.com.tw home page (partially)
稻草堆最銳利的針


The Needle and the Haystack( Sharpest needle among the haystack.)

2000年6月28日開始練習徒步上下班。下班前不忘進「誠品台大店逛」，幸遇 Andrea Gabor（US News and World Report記者）新書 The Capitalist Philosophers，此記者1990出《戴明傳-發現品質的人（The Man Who Discovered Quality－How W. Edwards Deming Brought the Quality Revolution to America－The Stories of Ford, Xerox, and GM）》，介紹各家，頗有功力；她前數年出《愛因斯坦的女人們》，有中文本。這本《資本主義哲學家們》寫的是一些管理學家（似乎想學暢銷書 The Worldly Philosophers by Robert L. Heibroner，記些經濟學家），戴明和司馬賀都名列其中。此書味道與我較相投。

H. A. Simon一章標題為〝The Needle and the Haystack〞，形容司馬賀是位天才，尤其50年代卡內基理工學院（後來改制為卡內基－梅隆大學，）工業管理研究學院（GSIA）群英會，智識份子和社會科學家的理想國，其中司馬賀猶如稻草堆中藏的一隻最銳利的。他的朋友其得大獎寫道：「吾以但求滿意（satisficing）搜索稻草堆，竟遇稻草堆最銳利的針…」奇人也-資訊時代中的文藝復興式人。

徒步上班，四十年如一日

2000年6月26日讀朱新民和李亦菲合著的《架設人與計算機的橋樑-西蒙的認知與管理心理學》武漢：湖北教育出版社，2000。朱先生是司馬賀 在大陸「例中學」計畫的主要合作者。曾去卡內基－梅隆大學（CMU）研究兩次。1989年天安門革命，司馬賀停留北京二天，與朱先生談論半天。

這次讀此書，肯定司馬賀先生自傳中的「步行上班已繞地球八圈」－司馬賀家距CMU約 3公里，每天上下學必徒步，四十年如一日，風雨無阻。

這最能表現此英才了不起的毅力。