2010-12-18 03:00:00frank

朝三暮四

朝三暮四

狙公賦芧,曰:“朝三而暮四。”眾狙皆怒。曰:“然則朝四而暮三。”眾狙皆悅。名實未虧,而喜怒為用,亦因是也。

◆原指使用騙術欺騙人。後比喻經常變卦,反覆無常。
◆今人多引申為沒有主張,反覆無常的意思。與「朝秦暮楚」義近。

Those monkeys are actually smarter choosing to have their food more in the morning.  Although the total daily ration remained the same, it meant lots of difference.  In the veiwpoint of health, it's generally suggested to have bigger portion or quantity in the morning rather than evening. 

When human being was laughing at those monkeys feeling triumphant, then consequently wrote this story in the book to show off this victory, and expressed the stupidity of monkeys.  In fact, such a record only shew the ignorance of human beings.

Besides, monkeys also demonstrated "time preference", by which men introduced the concept of interests to meet "time preference".  So, if we look into this example with interests concept, then it's better to get bigger amount earlier.

What we know is always far less that what you do not know.  What you understand is always far less than those we don't.

猴子比人類聰明多了!不但知道早上吃多遠比晚上吃多來的健康,且懂得時間偏好。