Misery in the 21st Century

Readings
I read through the article and I do agree with a lot of what the author wrote down. The picture wherein two people are staring at their laptops struck me because I often notice that. If it's not a laptop, it's a mobile phone or sound blasting in their ears or sometimes two of the things above at the same time. I find it really sad, really. In a party, you'll see someone sitting in the corner, busy with his/her mobile or listening to his/her MP3 player that they shut out the rest of the world. If that's what's happening right now, think the generations after us.

For those of you who have been following this blog, you would probably get the idea that I'm partially against SMS as an effective means of communication. First, because it's so tiring, having to press all those buttons if instead I could just say what I wanted to convey (which by the way takes about 1/10 of the time and energy you exerted on the same message). If you want to talk to me, you'd either have to call me or talk to me personally. Otherwise, 90% of the time, I won't reply to text messages. And yes, I agree with reason #3 in the article.

I have been thinking of the same things for a long time now but haven't been able to put it on paper coherently. This article reflects pretty much what I've been thinking and more.

Heaven and Hell

Readings
The jeepney ride home was perhaps the quickest one I ever took. Not because of the vehicle's speed nor of the volume of the traffic. It's because I was disturbed the whole time.

My last class for the day is math and our prof suddenly asked something about rapture while she was busy writing something on the board.

This rapture.. thingy.. was, as I gathered, about people suddenly disappearing and going to heaven. Now, along this conversation, my prof suddenly said that: "May mga mabuting tao din sa impyerno. Ang tanging ticket mo para umakyat sa langit ay yung maniwala ka kay Jesus [There are good people in hell too. The only way you can get to heaven is through Jesus]" and then starting there, something within me started stirring.

I do respect her religious views as much as I respect everyone else's but to tell someone that s/he aren't going to heaven because s/he do not believe in the same things as you do is, I believe, a bit out of line. It's almost the same as telling out right that your worth is almost equal to that of demons.

If what she said is how things really work, then it would be a moral justification for people that do immoral things that even though they do such things, as long as they believe in Jesus, they will go to heaven. Of course, a rebuttal to this statement is that if they really believe in Jesus, they would not do immoral things, which is ideally true but religion nowadays has generally become a mere moral convenience. If having said that a criteria to enter heaven is through Jesus, then you just denied entry to 66% of the world's population. [according to Wikipedia]. It defeats the purpose of having a "fair and just" God if such a system exists. If we assume that God is as perfect as we can think of (and possibly beyond, but that's out of the question), wouldn't it make you ask how could s/he/it be so - I daresay- crude?

Right now, I'm denied entry to heaven.
.. and where else to go other than hell?

Internet Ethics

I'm an avid forum reader and blog surfer. I can spend hours just browsing around forums and replying to topics. But if there's one thing that I hate the most, it's Filipinos posting in Filipino on English-based [web]forums and/or blogs. Even in an international server of RO [Ragnarok Online], Filipinos really will not speak English. Which part of English-based don't they understand, anyway? No wonder our English proficiency has been on a steady decline. It's because the majority would not even try to be "correct". A lot of things really concern me about the Filipino-style English but the use of shortcuts really is quite disturbing.

With the advancement and increased popularity of SMS [Short Message Service] in the early 21st century, Filipinos once again applied their creativity by creating a jargon through the elimination and/or substitution of various parts of a word, leaving behind something that would phonetically sound like the original word but in a significantly shorter form and through removing different components of a sentence such as articles in order to maximize the character limit in sending a single message. This succeeded but with a deep price to pay. A lot of Filipinos, especially the youth, have had their spelling and grammar greatly impaired not only in English, but also in Filipino. I usually watch my brother play on an international RO server and observe how he "speaks" in English with fellow non-Filipino players. Simply put, it's horrible but compared to a majority of the Filipino players that we see, he's a cut above them. I pity non-Filipino players who struggle in understanding what the f*** these people are talking about.

No, I'm not advocating the English language and saying that our own language should not be taken seriously. On the contrary, I'm not advocating any. What I'm trying to convey is that if one should use a language, use it in its proper form and only with words that came from its own set of words. There are no half-measures.
As my Kasaysayan professor said, it's either use straight English or straight Filipino (or Tagalog to be more politically correct) because you won't be proficient in any if you use combinations.

Inspiring words from a girl.

While I was browsing the internet for information about our topic in Comm3 (tomorrow's our midterms), I stumbled upon a blog of a former UP Diliman student (as I gathered). Here, I read about the speech of the Batch 2007 Summa Cum Laude's Graduation Speech. Here's the post.

Girl

As I read through the speech, I have to agree that I felt the same way as the blog owner and his friend did. The speech reflected my thoughts about how I would spend my life after I graduate [5 years from now]. During my stay as an exchange student, I made a conviction that I would spend my entire career rendering service to the Philippines directly. Despite having the advantage of speaking a 3rd language, I still would stay in the Philippines. I would like to provide jobs for those who have none. I would like to teach people how to make bread instead of giving them bread. Even as a freshman, I still hold these convictions and she just fortified them.

I am proud of being a student of the University of the Philippines and of being a member of the Diliman community. Most of all, I am proud of being a Filipino.

Seeing as she is just of my age, with those words, she gained my respect, as with all the other people who were at the amphitheater. I would give her a standing ovation myself.

I look forward to my physics class next year. If I could, I'd get her as a prof if she's teaching the Physics I'm supposed to get.

Sometimes, the so-called adults of the community needs to learn from the young.

Love life?

One thing that's characteristic among Filipinos is their, for lack of a better term, addiction to love, particularly intimate ones. With our social norms; holding hands, kissing on the cheeks or what we call as "beso-beso", and even mere frequent rendezvouses are almost automatically associated with couples. The first time I told my male circle of friends about different girls I met or talked with, they instantly assumed that I'm courting them (the girls).

What's up with the Filipinos' addiction towards intimate love? Is it because of the feelings involved? or is it plainly and shamelessly about sex?

Well.. the latter could not possibly explain the nature of our kinsmen to easily hate someone even with the most immature reasons. The later, however, could very much explain the steady growth of our population rate. =P

We ought to be called the Land of Love; where its' people make a lot of loving.

Let's make love, not war;
Literally.

Land of Smiles [not!]

Whenever I walk around in school, I look at peoples' faces. The majority looks the same. Looking down with a frown on their faces, walking slowly and absent-mindedly. It really is hard to imagine that we, Filipinos, are considered as a race with the happiest face. With the appearance of frown wrinkles on an increasing number of people, soon enough, we'd lose that position.

With the toils of everyday living, it's not hard to think of what people are thinking about. *I wonder what s/he's doing..* Probably, with the combination of the heat, political turmoil, ironical increase of cost of living, stacking problems - generally about life here in the Philippine Islands - life really makes people frown. *Don't s/he love me anymore?* To be honest, it's hard to generalize. *Why won't s/he pay me attention?* Because not everyone of us think alike. *I'm hungry.* Some think of trivial things. *Why is s/he looking at me like that?* Some think of intricate things. *What's life for?* But nonetheless, our tendency is to think of problems. *How much do I owe him/her again?* If not of problems, then of questions.

But why can't we condition our mind to think of good things? Is it because it makes us feel guilty of leaving our problems behind? Is it because these things just give us false hope?

Or is it because you just don't want to?

Think about it.

The Art of Gaming

For the past years, I have been a part of the gaming industry. Ever since I was in 2nd grade, I've been out almost everyday to play in the PS shops.. and then PS2 came.. and then we bought our first PC and then it went like a rocket from there.

Ragnarok, Flyff, Khan, Pristontale, Neopets, Red Alert, Warcraft, Starcraft, Counter Strike, Final Fantasy, Battle Realms, Disgaea, Dominions, Zelda, World of Warcraft, Tribalwars, Outwar, etc. The list is endless.

That's why I know how gamers feel. I know how their blood runs through their veins everytime something happens on their screens. I know the tension you feel before a clash. I know how these things run through your mind all day. I know how they fight over something that's immaterial.

The gamer blood runs through me.
Its call is overwhelming.

Follow-up on Post#1

I read a friend's post about the PBB issue and, although he did not state that it is in response to my first post, as I read through it, I knew that he was a bit offended of what I posted in my previous entry and he prepared a counter-statement for every point that I tried making.

Sure, I get the point of things being pointless.. because it's fun that way. I catch myself often doing pointless things. I would just like to clarify some things that he may have taken in a different angle than I would've liked it presented.

Call me narrow-minded but I tend to associate people that watch those kind of shows as shallow (or even stupid) people that doesn't see the things that make these shows run.

I wanted to present that it is my personal opinion in considering these people shallow. I did not say however that I consider all of them stupid. It's an OR statement. I understand that this friend of mine hates being called stupid because he is, in fact, one of the smarter persons in my class.
Besides, what difference can my opinion do to the rest of the world? Just because I think that you are such does not mean that you really are. Everything's subjective, my friend.

I do find my fault however, of seeing them as generally shallow or stupid instead of just in one area. I should've said easy to be entertained (which is more or less equivalent to shallow) but stupid was just overkill. My mistake there.

In response with this incident, I added a word of caution over at my sidebar. I suggest that you guys avoid to take things like this too personally. I warned a lot of my initial readers that this blog would be controversial. I failed, perhaps, in letting the rest of you know.

more, More, MORE!!

What are mobile phones for? SMS'ing and calling.
What are cars for? Transportation.
What are televisions for? Watching movies or your favorite TV program.
What are computers for? Doing office work and a bit of entertainment.

Why would you need an iPhone when you can have a 2k phone that does the job? ... tell me.
Why would you need a Ferrari or BMW when you can have a Volkswagen that brings you where you go? ... tell me.
Why would you need a Wide-screen, super thin LCD TV when you can watch it all the same in a CRT TV? ... tell me.
Why would you need all that extra computing power and that savy graphics card when all it does is make entertainment seem like work to you? ... tell me.

You don't need a mobile phone that does everything.. because if you lose that, would you have nothing then?
You don't need a very good car just to go somewhere else.. because if you lose that, what good is it for you?
You don't need a very big TV just to watch a show.. because if someone breaks into your house, would you lay your life on the line for it?
You don't need that good PC.. because if you did, what would happen to those you don't need anymore?

Everyone of us loses sight of what's important. Education, physical fitness, companions and other immaterial things. We never become content. We just want more.. More.. and MORE!! and we want it now. We're all spoiled brats. There are just some more spoiled than the others.

War of Hearts and Minds

Battlefield of Love

Two generals command their armies in the decisive battle for the decision. Commander Heart from the west charges head-first in an emotionally charged knight rush. The tactician, General Mind, analyzes the situation and orders the defences to protect the flanks and put their spears out.

And then a crash.

Horse against shield. Swords against spears. Armors against weapons.
This age old war has been raging on since time immemorial.

Who'll win?


Who should win?

The Family

In the Filipino society, the family is the center of social structure as opposed to a vast area of the western world wherein the individual is given more attention than the family. Much like most of our asian counterparts, the family is a collective wherein the shame of one is considered the shame of all and the success of one is thought to be the success of all. As everything else, this idea (or culture) has its positives and negatives.

For one, the family serves as a Filipino's strongest foundation in all situations whether it's financially, employment, emotionally, security, etc. Your family (assuming you're a Filipino) expects you to help them in their time of need as you are almost assured of reinforcements if you yourself is put under a difficult situation. However, this develops in the strong dependency of children to their parents as the parents will provide anything (and everything) just for the sakes of their children in spite the fact that they themselves already suffer. (see my post: Money and Pride) I've discussed this condition with someone in the AFS office and he said that parents love their children wrongly and end up ruining their lives for them and I say that I completely agree. The sense of responsibility in children are lost and when they start living on their own, they find it real hard to stand on their own two feet.

False Humility :Dragoon Reign and Personal Conflicts:

Readings
We just received our first exam in Math17 and I got 42(84%).. I was content, to say the least. I was just a couple of points away from the highest and my mistakes were minor things that I overlooked. I didn't care anyway, whatever I get.. because whatever it is I receive just reflects on how much I learned and understood. On a lighter note, it was my blue book that was on the top of the stack of blue books so they thought I got the highest. The one who got the highest score, 46(92%), however was this shy little girl who sits behind me. I remembered hearing her that she'll surely get a low score (and I said to her to be an optimist) and I saw her score through a brief lucky glimpse on the cover of her blue book. When someone asked around who got the highest score, I turned around (and they did expect that it was me) and referred to her. Well, she didn't want to admit it, really. She kept on saying "swinerte lang ako" or "tsamba lang 'to noh" (I just got lucky) to whoever who asks and partly to herself.

Now, with my past behavioral patterns, I would've dismissed the thought on "lecturing" her on it. This time, I said outright to her, "wag na wag mong sasabihin sa sarili mo na tsamba lang yan" (don't ever say to yourself that you just got lucky) and I wrote her a note during the discussion of the answers saying: "Whatever we get in life, whether positive or negative, is just a by-product of what we did. Believe in yourself and be happy with whatever you get. :) " and I really hoped that somehow, that little deed of mine would change the way she looks at herself, even if in a miniscule degree. I also have this seatmate that thinks of himself as stupid or dumb. (bobo) I told him not to put off himself as stupid because if he really is stupid, how the hell did he pass the UPCAT?? I didn't really want to use that example but that was the simplest thing I could think of at that exact moment and if I discuss the rest of my justification, it would take a lot of time.

So what's the point of my story? I just wanted to advertise my own good deeds. haha. :sarcastic: joke aside, I noticed that a lot of people make self-bashing and self-discouraging a regular habit. It's not a very good habit, really. I used to do that but now I've changed. Call me boastful or anything but these are my principles.

I believe that in order for an individual to function normally (due to a lack of a better term), one needs to acknowledge first their strengths and then their weaknesses after their strengths. Why? Because of this natural tendency of modern human beings to amplify what's wrong and disregard what's right. It's the same with constructive criticism, you start out with the good things and then the not-so-good things. In other words, criticize yourself constructively. I also believe that what you think of yourself is what you are. If you set limits to yourself, then soon enough, you'll reach those limits because you naturally set them within your comfort zone. Always believe in what you can do, because if you don't, who else will?

Never tell yourself you're an idiot, because chances are, you'll act according to your own expectations. Never allow other people to call you an idiot either, even through jokes because such small things creep in your mind horribly well and if you do, then you don't respect yourself. Always give respect to yourself but don't expect others to give the same respect to you as you give yourself because if you do, you just crossed the line from being confident to being a jerk. And you don't want that, do you?

EDIT: I counted my mistakes again and I shoul've got 44 instead of 42.. oh well.. not much else to do about it now.

Greed feeds

Do you enjoy watching the "Pera or Bayong" part of an afternoon show, WoWoWee (if I remember correctly)? How about "Deal or No Deal"? What does these two have in common?

To give you an idea, "pera or bayong" is pretty much like "deal or no deal" wherein you can win a mystery amount or a known amount which increases or falls as your chances increases or decreases accordingly. I can't help to admire the ingeniously designed concept but I don't like the manipulating of a person's principles. They use the concept of greed to manipulate, or at the least heavily influence, the person's decisions through money. Money corrupts. Even the greatest of men throw away their principles for money. Greed feeds the capitalist. In this case, greed creates suspense.

What if not just take the money and walk away? I'll do that.. it's because, at the end of the day, these people walk away, thinking of what they missed out on.. instead on what they have. I saw this woman on the "Pera or Bayong" show where she stood by her choice (bayong) until the money reached a whopping 200k.. and then she took the money.. only to find out that she had a 1 (completing a 1M) under that last box. She looked disappointed. I wonder why? It's because she thought she lost something very big but if you think about it.. not everyone gets the chance in receiving 200k Php for free. She's looking at the empty part of the glass that she missed out. If that was me, I'd walk away happy. I just got the money to establish my shop.

God and Religion

I believe in a God but not in a Religion.

In this society where God and Religion are so entwined with each other, people find it hard to imagine a God without a religion. A God (or a supreme being) is someone who we see as the pinnacle of perfection. A religion is a set of actions (or habits) meant to "praise" or honor the God. As a friend of mine said: "Because God is the pinnacle of perfection, we use him/her/it as a model; someone/something that we, as humans, aim to be." and I completely agree.

There's no God. Or more correctly, we have no proof of a God. It's just this human desire to be perfect that makes the idea of a God a lot more feasible. I guess having a God is also a good thing because it reminds us that we are not the nature's pinnacle of creation and that we are humbled that someone/something else is up there. It makes us however feel helpless about things and produce this tendency to leave it up to this Supreme Being. ("Bahala na")

However, Religion is man-made. There are no writings that came down from heaven (or the equivalent). There really are no stone tablets. They're just a pigment of our (or our ancestors) imagination or "Divine Inspiration", as some of us would like to call it. That's why religion has their flaws and weaknesses; because we're humans and we're not perfect. Religions are just collections of principles and philosophies, enhanced with rituals and symbolisms to accommodate grandeur that we humans like to brandish; but they're essentially principles and philosophies. These rituals and symbolisms may be rigid or flexible, but nonetheless, they are fundamentally unnecessary.

In this modern times, religion has become "convenient" and our view of a God became the same. Don't you think that we're better off without religion and just take with us the philosophies and principles? I do; because religions are principally the same if you look at their principles. It's just the rituals and symbolisms that are different. Additionally, if there is a God, I'm sure s/he/it wouldn't mind whichever way we choose to praise him/her/it, as long as it's aimed towards goodness. Who do you think would God be happy about, someone who just prays or someone who goes out and does good deeds?
If he really is the pinnacle of perfection (which is, I noticed, a redundant statement), I'm sure s/he/it wouldn't mind. If there isn't, then you just did things out of your goodwill. Be happy.. you just acted God.

Notes: I refer to God with the 3 genders because we do not really know what s/he/it is. We are even unsure if (a) God(s) really exists. Most of my views of God and religion has a Catholic background because I was raised in a catholic family and went to a catholic school and I would like to apologize for any biases.

Pointless

PBB.

I find such programs to be pointless and is just aimed towards money.
It's really sickening to see people acting someone who they're not just because they're on camera. People that do things to attract attention, even to the point of getting negative attention. It just makes me throw up.
It makes me wonder seeing persons actually watching them and more so of people that actually vote. Call me narrow-minded but I tend to associate people that watch those kind of shows as shallow (or even stupid) people that doesn't see the things that make these shows run.

In my opinion, they do not help in your everyday life because things that you see there are just happening in real life. You need not see them on your television.

Just my two cents.

Edit: 07.14 some grammatical errors and improved over-all entry comprehension