FADE IN
Act 1
INT. SITTING ROOM - 20:00
Returning, PETER checks the Quora App.
PETER (V.O.): Ha! I've got a small challenge.
We see on screen: What is a small challenge you're hoping to achieve in 2022? I've set a goal of reading 52 books this year, to spend less time on my phone and more reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Since I joined Quora in July 2019, I've responded to over 6.3k questions. This is the first time I've got such an answer request.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.): Quorans from all walks of life and of all ages pose all sorts of questions to me.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In considering whether to reply or what to reply, I know what I don't know or what I'd learn in structuring my reply.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Everyday, I spend a lot of screen time on them.
Act 2
FLASHBACK
INT. PETER'S NT HOME - DAY (Last Week)
Sitting next to bookshelves, Peter stares at book titles from Philosophy to Law.
PETER (V.O.): Having got a book list from London U in 1976, I began collecting whatever Philosophy titles I could get hold of.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I finished reading a few. For the rest, I only read parts.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): One excuse was that having mastered the fundamentals, I wanted to develop my own system of thoughts.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): After 5 years of self-study, I got my BA in Philosophy (Hons) (Lond) 1981.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): By then, I was on full-pay study leave, reading my 1st year in Law at HKU.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I bought lots of Law books so that I didn't have to compete for library facilities.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Having passed all exams, I got my LLB (Hons) 1984 and PCLL 1985.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Working full-time as Assistant Crown Counsel and reading an LLM (Lond) as an external student, I bought books on International Law.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When I got full-pay study leave again to read my second LLM at UCL, I bought some more books on Sea, Air & Space Law.
Peter stares at the books.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Except for sentimental value, I won't re-read them as the particulars of the law stated were dated.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Philosophy books aren't much different, I want to know newer perspectives or even higher levels of explanations.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Anyhow, the contents of books are already dated even before their publication.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Books are just like caskets containing something without souls.
RETURN TO PRESENT
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I read literature for the sake of exams. I don't like fictional stuff as I want to face reality as it is, and not as someone wishes it to be.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I now learn online. I can access to near real-time information, eg stock price quotes.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): If I was to read 52 books in 2022, I could finish reading one in a week but would just flip through the remaining 51 just before the deadline!
Peter smiles.
Act 3
INT. SITTING ROOM - C0NTINOUS
PETER (V.O.): Responding to Quora answer requests, I continue to train my intellectual skills actively.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As humans are gifted with rationality and life continues to teach us, it's my choice to learn as if I were to live forever.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I've been digesting 1 page of insight in "The Daily Drucker" per day. I try to make something out of something on better governance.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): And I've been writing and publishing one short screenplay per day, although I haven't published any works in a book form.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): So they constitute my small challenges - each day.
Peter types his answer on screen.
FADE OUT
THE END
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