Deaf or Blind?/and or Traffic

Hypothetical scenario, if a person could choose either to go deaf or blind, majority of responses would tilt towards being deaf than being blind. Carefully considering the options, being deaf means the subject couldn’t connect to people anymore while being blind means the subject couldn’t connect to things anymore.

From the popularity of going deaf as oppose to going blind, we could extrapolate that majority of the respondents are more “materialistic” because they would rather connect to things than connect to people.

Last week, the media came out with the news that among the population of around 94 million Filipinos, around 11.3 million are unemployed. Now this is a very significant figure because officially, more than 10% of the population is unemployed. This figure is directly related to the statistics that this coming school year, 1 out of 4 students or 25% wouldn’t be able to come back to school because of poverty. This is a ticking time bomb that is certain to hound the republic because it has been established and agreed upon decades ago that education is the silver bullet that could finally slay poverty. When 25% of expected enrollees are not enrolled, then something is terribly wrong.

Two of my practicum students were reported to have committed buddy punching their timecards and when confronted, both have admitted to the deed. Strictly speaking, in the professional world, such an offense would have merited an immediate termination in the workplace. In the academic world, such an offense would automatically merit an expulsion – for dishonesty and conduct unbecoming of a Fatima student.

The response of the university is to immediately pull out the students from the site, have them repeat again the 200 hours of practicum and one month suspension. An initial glance of the punishment, such would appear harsh, a closer examination however would show that offending students got a mere slap on the wrist. For one, they are not expelled – just suspended. Number two, the suspension could be used to make up for their loss OJT time. And lastly, and most importantly, both students are not failed from the subject. They are just made to take the same OJT somewhere else. Instead of failure which automatically mean a re-enrollment and paying again for the same subject, they simply transfer to another site without any waste of money. The students only got to throw their time (and summer) away. With tuition money being scarce nowadays, and like what I said before, just a mere slap on the wrist.

The bigger question now is whether; I remain deaf to the pleadings and excuses of the offending students or go blind and execute a life-long lesson that would serve them in the long run.

Traffic

Last year, a Regus study about the impact of traffic on one’s health. Long story short, accordingly, traffic is bad for one’s health because of the enumerated reasons:

1. Traffic raises one’s blood pressure.
   


2. Traffic leads to musculoskeletal disorders.



3. Traffic produces hostility.



4. Traffic lowers cognition performance.

The research also recommended that in order to avoid traffic, the following could be considered:

1. Leave earlier.



2. Transfer of abode.



3. Consider flexi-time.

Know thyself

Gnothi Seuton

Yesterday, I was obligated to give a small talk about psychology as a program. It was one ritual that transpires yearly where freshmen students were formally welcomed and accepted in the university. It was quite a task since one is presented in the middle of the orientation, and as an interruption, there is the unconscious quest to be relevant and impressive for at least five (5) minutes. I did the same thing last year and comparatively speaking – In my personal estimation, I did better this time.

I got to introduce “gnothi seuton” (know thyself from Socrates) and in the span of the allotted five minutes, got to answer three philosophical questions:

1. Who am I?

2. What can I do?

3. How can I contribute to others?

Personally, the bigger news of the day is the announcement that for the first time in twenty five years, there is a budget surplus of 26.26 B php last April. By comparison, the biggest budget surplus that GMA had was only 2.6 B php in her decade of being in office. The budget surplus is attributed to increased revenue collection as well as prudent fiscal management.

Now 26 B php is a substantial figure. In nearly a year in office, President Noy Aquino is proving to be a better administrator than PGMA. Though no one could predict the future, the trajectory is quite certain, the former will definitely be a better president than the latter.

The current presidential fumbling, the lack of direction and definition is somewhat reflective of PNOY’s inability to know and define himself. Foremost, should be the knowing of himself, of what kind of a leadership projection he would use and the willingness to pursue such a framework.

Besides, no greatness is ever achieved by someone who does not know himself.

I told you so...

May 23, 2011

After the media exposure, under the glare of scrutiny, the much publicized end of the world last Saturday, May 21, 2011 didn’t happen. With so many relevant things transpiring in the planet, why would the media pay attention to this usual claim of cults about the end of the world?

Only morons followed the tune and at the end of the music, they are still morons. Unconsciously, there is an inner longing for all of these things to end, for the world to self-destruct – so that suffering and hopelessness might end and everything and everyone else is again equal. Because, like it or not, death is the great equalizer. Rich or poor, moron or genius, when they die, they die. Besides, everybody dies in the long run, no exception. The game now resides whether one had a life worth living, worth remembering and worth celebrating.

I know that the end of the world was never going to occur last Saturday, but at the back of my mind, I was living my life to the fullest and by a long shot that such was the end of the world then I could sit back and celebrate my life and say to myself, life was worth it…

The world is going to end one day or my impending death might come first, but at any rate, I’d say, bring it on… No amount of worrying would stall its imminent visit anyway. My wish is for everyone to die as men. No tears of joy but tears of celebration for a life well spent and death well lived.

End of the World

Harold Camping, of Family Stations, Incorporated is a retired American engineer who predicted that the world would end today at 6 PM. His followers are adamant and insistent that such would transpire and civilization as we know it would cease to exist after the literal deadline.

Now to get things straight, I for one do not buy such an end of the world scenario. Now before the literal deadline, allow me to say that this people are delusional and it is best that the deadline is today so as to shut them up.

In the Neurotic Needs of Karen Horney, there is an item there about man's neurotic need for recognition. Using the same theoretical model, this end of the world business is nothing but just a manifestation of one's neurotic need for recognition. If I might add, and extend further the theory - this is a classic case of neurotic quest for relevance.

Seniors tend to inflate their relevance by trying to be important. Now, if they do not get their usual dose of relevance from the eyes of someone else, they might concoct and invent a very important event that raises their bar of relevance.

Sadly, this is one such classic case.

The world will not end today, and I told you so....

The Next Middle East

Because of globalization, the genie (i.e. democracy and internet) that is now out of the bottle will never return to its prison. It would rather grant three wishes than return to its bottle. Ironically, the same is also true in the Middle East. For decades, monarchy and totalitarianism was tolerated because of the promise and lure of middle class prosperity.

The party could have lasted a little bit longer were it not for the other side effects of globalization. Education exposed the citizens of Middle East to the freedom that the rest of the world is enjoying - initially, such is tolerable (middle class comfort in lieu of freedom) but in the long stride of evolution, freedom (democracy) will eventually have its say in the Middle East history.

From Yemen to Egypt and eventually - in Saudi Arabia, democracy will infect its citizens. Sooner of later, Saudi Arabia will become a democracy. The transformation will be written in blood but eventually, the inevitable will still happen.

The risk here is that along with the democracy comes instability. Instability in the Middle East results in worldwide economic fluctuations. The sad reality here is that economist as well as western politicians will always opt for the status quo, the mentality being that people will always operate under their sphere of comfort zone (i.e. convenient theory), and the same is also true in economics as well as in politics. The paradox in this equation is that the current power in the Middle East as well as some westerns powers will vie for the status quo so as not to upset the beneficiaries of the current scenario.

So what is next for the Middle East?

Ironically, China offers a model. Because of creeping democracy, China also faced the same problems that the Middle East is now experiencing. Through a bloodbath and ruthless suppression of human rights, the Politburo was able to hold on to its current position. But similar to cancer, cells and seeds of democracy was already sown and the spawn of democracy continues (capitalism versus a centrally controlled economy). China officially is still in the hands of the usual apparatchiks, but democracy is already in play. In a decade or so, democracy will eventually take hold and that would be a great topic for another article.

The Middle East could borrow the Chinese model to prolong the status quo - but in the long run, democracy will still prevail. China equals Middle East (c = me)? Now that is a touch from an Einstein playbook...

Convenient Theory

May 18, 2011

Convenient Theory
- People essentially are creatures of habit, creatures of comfort and creatures of convenience.

- People will always choose to what is easy and convenient to them unless they are presented and convinced of a better alternative.

- Very few people will ever choose or pursue “what is more difficult”.

- People will always prefer what is comfortable and opt for what is convenient.

Commentaries on Osama Bin Laden 2

May 17, 2011
Yesterday was my mother’s 74^th birthday (she was born1937). We had a dinner at a Chinese restaurant (Kowloon House) and then we visited Quezon Memorial Circle. It was one of the hottest night of this summer and we had some priceless pictures taken.

Nanay enjoyed her day and Francisco had a blast running and playing in an open space. It was a fine time for family bonding.

People are still processing the assassination of Osama Bin Laden. My concern here is that armed American soldiers invaded a sovereign country to kill a terrorist. Such an act sets a very bad precedent, what’s to stop US from doing the same thing somewhere else?

It was an act of war, and a formal declaration of war should have been declared. US didn’t even have the decency of informing Pakistan about the impending strike. Protocols were sacrificed to get Bin Laden; it really was in bad form.

The killing of Bin Laden marks another line that the US have crossed and the line gets blurred and further away – and sooner or later, US would cross it again in one form or another.

And though I am not a Bin Laden supporter or even a sympathizer of his cause, US could have handled it differently. More honorably, I might add, an act that is more befitting their status as the only remaining superpower.

The move of throwing his body in the sea is a brilliant move. US was able to dodge the problem of where to place the body at the risk of unwittingly creating a place commemorating his execution. Because we have to admit that in every story, there are contrasting versions. Definitely, to the sympathizers of Al Queda, Bin Laden is a hero – in the eyes of the world, he is a villain.

And Bin Laden is indeed a villain. He had it coming, what I object to, is the manner from which the objective was achieved. The route of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein would have yielded a better result and closure.

Commentaries - Osama Bin Laden

May 13, 2011
I met three psychology students of mine who graduated last March. Surprisingly, all of them are still unemployed. All the while, I was under the assumption that most of my psychology graduate students would be employed by now. A tracer study is really in order, to further validate these inaccurate assumptions.

The one year ban on the appointment of political personalities who lost in the last election is now over, it is now again an open season to recycle used and rejected political creatures. The fear now is that, President Aquino might appoint rejected politicians who are unreliable or incompetent. Besides, the popular concept is that, President Aquino might be appointing these creatures just to pay off some political debts.

I just couldn’t understand hypocrisy and contradiction. People spend a lifetime living by adhering to an unexamined code only to find out later in their life that the philosophy that they live by is erroneous. Sometimes, they come to a realization that such a philosophy is wrong, but for the sake of familiarity and inability to jump out of their comfort zone, they knowingly practice and still follow the discredited mindset.

People are blind to the reality that there are just too many inconsistencies and fallacious that is still considered bible truth. The bible itself is filled with inconsistencies. That if one would total everything, fallibility would eventually come to fore.

Personally, I don’t judge a person by his religion. I base my estimation on what one has between his ears, character and integrity. There is no right or wrong religion. If one’s religion makes a person a better individual, then by all means, stick to that religion. My red flag for a religion that is wrong is when it makes people intolerant of the existence of other religion. The moment the representative of your religion instruct you to hate and kill people – then something is wrong.

Literally, the religion is derived from the word “religare” which literally means “to bind”. Religion is supposed to bind people to god, to your family, and to your community. These situations with terrorism, in whatever flavor, which calls for blood, is just wrong. Religion, by itself, is already a strong brew – a mixture with terrorism is just plain wrong.

The execution of Osama Bin Laden gives a respite to the violence that is happening in the Middle East. Though a usual retaliation is happening here and there – the execution however gives a closure to the victims of 9/11 suicide attack a decade ago.

Realistically, someone will just have to move to the position vacated by Bin Laden, the message however is that, no matter where you are hiding – eventually, justice would extract its payment.