Moonlit night musings

The perfect can never truly come, the imperfect is always passing. Because the world itself is imperfect, there can never be any perfection derived from it. Thus, the world is in a state of constant change for it continues to adapt to the changing conditions of the environment. This change in itself is an indicator that it is imperfect for the notion of perfection implies a static state: once a thing becomes perfect, there are no more improvements or adaptations that can be done to this object. It arrives at the top of the evolutionary ladder where there is no change; it has reached the final stage, perfection and becomes a god in itself.

Unfortunately, for all final stages and dead ends, it brings stasis and the resistance and/or the inability to change. Once a thing reaches perfection, it ceases to undergo the process which characterizes all life: change. Therefore, perfection could mean death. If everything changes, nothing dies. If nothing changes, everything dies.

One thing why man continues to live is that the state of perfection can never truly come and that the state of imperfection can never truly pass away. Thus, perfection and reality is asymptotic. They come close to each other but never quite touch

Ugh. Big mistake.

We have (the author referring to his various alter egos) made a mistake. Remember when we used this exact same blog as a platform for our inflammatory speeches on the people we hate? Remember? That mistake of putting things where they don't belong, that habit of impulsive cursing at the wrong people?

Now the same mistake is about to happen and there is again the possibility that we will become, again, the social outcast in our immediate environment. The only difference from the past experience to the now is that the speeches are not inflammatory and it is not on the people we hate. This exact same blog is being used as a platform for some other purpose such as... uhmm... that icky thing. ugh

Everything will and MUST go on as planned, there must no miscalculated moves and unanticipated reactions. This is a battle. Against yourself and how long you can hold it in.

(For those who didn't understand, talk with the author of this entry. If he will grant access to the knowledge you seek, you will fully understand the feelings that has sparked this entry into existence. This is written for that dreary miserable person who hides behind the name Ken-zou.)

Hallelujah Chance!

Ken-zou, Rei and Eri are classmates. These three were brought together by an, uhmm… how shall I say this? Ah. Common undertaking. Recently, Rei had occupied herself in some big responsibility that caused her to be absent from her commitments to Ken-zou and eri. Because of this, Ken-zou has been feeling apathetic towards Rei who he once considered as someone who… uhm… you know (refer to the drama where Ken-zou and Rei appear for additional background on their supposed relationship).

Ken-zou has been feeling apathetic (as he told me on that gloomy afternoon) these last few weeks as the “big responsibility” was an activity that he openly despises. He noticed that Rei’s behavior had changed since January. This change, he sadly told me, is that she had lost the “light” in her that Ken-zou had liked so much in her. It has saddened him so much that he wishes to have the same "Hallelujah Chance" (the ability to go back in time, for those who are not Proposal Daisakusen viewers) that was given to Ken-zou in that same show. But unlike Ken-zou, he wanted to change it so that they never met in the first place through that common undertaking.

Fitting a different drama (haha, I’ve been addicted to Korean and Japanese dramas for a few months now, expect me to allude to these characters more) to the characters concerned, Ken-zou becomes Min-woo and Rei becomes Hae-won from that excellent Korean drama, summer scents. As all those who watched this drama know, Hae-won’s long time boyfriend is Jung-jae and despite this, Min-woo is pursuing Hae-won’s heart because she literally holds his ex-girlfriend’s heart (but he doesn’t know this. Refer to Endless Love: Summer Scents for more info). The problem here is that Jung-jae is Min-woo’s acquaintance and romantically pursuing Hae-won would result in conflict between the two. Unfortunately, unlike in the series, the Min-woo described here does not have a delusional girlfriend Jung-ah as a stalker so he does not have a “fall option”.

Taking all of these into consideration, Ken-zou/Min-woo sadly told me this morning that he is planning to distance himself from Rei/Hae-won. He told me that Hae-won has Jung-jae, whom she likes so much, and they clearly have common traits for they have the same… uhmm… diplomatic pursuits. Fortunately, Hae-won has succeeded in taking control of that responsibility she had worked so hard for but unfortunately, Ken-zou and Eri won’t be able to be with her much in the making of their uuhmm… common undertaking.

Ken-zou added that he will then go to “other areas of interest” and seek the door to miracles there. But for now, he will forget Rei and walk away, like the miserable happy hermit he is.

The Author (that is me dammit) wishes for their happiness and Ken-zou's patience for him to understand why he is putting up with all these kinds of idiotic things.

(Ken-zou, Rei, Eri and Jung-jae are actual persons and their names have been changed to protect their privacy.)

Isolation, then knowledge.

"It’s a simple idea really. To view something as an object of knowledge, to know it, is to see it as something distinct from oneself. Our first parents, however, because they were fully one with divinity and all creation could view nothing as separate from them and therefore could not know anything. Adam and Eve lacked the alienation inherent in the process of knowing – what philosophers call epistemological space. Without that distance they could only be, they could never know. We are doomed to knowing, as well as being, so all our paradises can only be artificial."

Therefore, one needs to be isolated outside in order to evaluate and see everything in it’s totality and see the thing as it “is”. One cannot observe society from the middle of it’s “circles” and expose it’s weaknesses for it would be plain suicide for that individual to do so for society is based on the “consensus truth”, the set of truths that ensures that it will run smoothly and that everyone is safe. Disagreeing with the consensus truth will make one a threat to the safety of the society and that is why there are those social outcasts, ridiculed by the general society. Recognize yourself and your identity in the midst of a society which tells you what you are and what you should do. It is then that you could be alienated from society and start your examination of yourself and your society.

With these facts on mind, we can hope to explain the alienation of the author. The author, seeing mistakes, inefficiencies and the sick cycle of events that are wrong but are preserved for they are tradition and in the vernacular “ang nakasanayan na”, has distanced himself from a specific circle/society and from this started hurling questions towards the consensus truths it has managed to establish in it’s 40-something years of existence. We now ask his friends to understand him in his fits of madness and in the times that he denounces the various injustices and inefficiencies of the circles described here.

-Inspired by Howard V. Hendrix’s Lightpaths and dedicated to SHIM Hae-won (not her true name) who is the most industrious and dedicated junior board running for a position in the economics society student council. We hope that she wins and starts the eventual restructuring of the often annoying and un-entertaining (at least entertain me!) campaign strategy of the said student council candidates.

Save us from the plastics

The Hawthorne effect describes a temporary change to behavior or performance in response to a change in the environmental conditions, with the response being typically an improvement.

In science, the term observer effect refers to changes that the act of observing will make on the phenomenon being observed. For example, for us to "see" an electron, a photon must first interact with it, and this interaction will change the path of that electron. It is also theoretically possible for other, less direct means of measurement to affect the electron; even if the electron is simply put into a position where observing it is possible, without actual observation taking place, it will still (theoretically) alter its position.

When the Hawthorne effect and the Observer effect are read in the context of social dynamics, we can see that the behavior of a person changes with the presence of an observer and the response is typically an improvement meaning that the person aims to have a favorable impression to the observer while hiding away what is deemed to be unpleasant.

Popular Philippine politics dictates that the number of politicians performing onstage in the political scene is proportional to the length of time before the elections. Using deductive reasoning, we can conclude that the general behavior of politicians in the national scene can be observed in small organizations where the campaigning devices of endless rhetoric, force of will, catchy names, cosmetics application, videoke prowess and dancing ability are used extensively to cement their position.

This is not a generalization, for there are surely those of pure heart and sincerity to serve. But surely, there are those of the pop political candidate build which adopts these actions mentioned above as their campaign strategy.

We wish, in this post, to compliment them for their courage and strength of will to venture into a new horizon on which they have insufficient or no experience at all. We wish to admire them for sticking to their beliefs, even if it will take them through the wrong paths.

And grieve for our country, for one day we might see these young ones parking their asses on the highest political offices of the land.

Abstain. Abstain. We don't need to vote anymore.

I was preparing to sleep in accounting class a few hours ago, not because it was a boring class, but because I was so tired of everything. Tired because of running 15 kilometers last sunday, tired from seeking explanations on why we went to a zoo for an agro-economic exposure trip yesterday, from listening to the nonsensical chatter that was like obtrusive elevator music and basically everything that I had encountered during that day.
But then a kid suddenly entered the room and asked (huh?) permission to present the candidates for the political positions in the economics society. As this kid was talking to the professor, I noticed sir Blanco, our prof, give a tired look of resignation and allowed the presentation of the candidates.

As the candidates were talking abstractly about what they would do if they were elected and spitting forth catchphrases and puns just to get the attention of the class, I noticed my personal philosopher, delacroix, covering her nose and mouth with a towel.
"Hmmm? Why are you covering your face with your towel?" I asked her.
He removed the towel for a while and looking lost in thought for a moment, she answered with a shrug "Ugh, I don't want to breathe the same air they breathe. You know I hate all politicians. Except for some people in front," referring to the candidates, "I think that they all would follow the same mold as the previous organization."

"And why is that?" I said, looking at her, aiming to have a conversation amidst the noise.
She frowned, because of a wave of laughter from the class. "I don't have hope that they would actually change the way things are run in this society." she said, gesturing madly. "I think they would rather aspire to be like someone else than to create a different one as deviation from the conventional would lead to loss of support from the people and then obscurity. That's what I can observe given the events I see these last few months with you in the economics society." she finished, heaving a huge sigh afterwards.

We looked at each other and smiled, sharing a secret annoyance and regret that only a few in our class harbored towards "them". As the candidates recapped their catchphrases and puns at the end of the presentation, meant to produce that often-used marketing strategy in politics - name-recall, I heard delacroix chanting, almost cursing, silently under her breath: "Depth and substance. Depth and substance. I can't hear it, I can't hear it! Ugh."

Random Observations Pt.3

1. Oil prices are in a state of constant flux and a sign of this is that they have replaced the signs which indicate the oil price from those signs which you slide a plastic square containing numbers to those digital type indicators. woah. (gasp!)

2. Ordinary mortals always go to others in order to confirm to themselves their own status in the society. They perform feats of such grandeur and their pride has inflated their heads that they defy the laws of gravity and stand with their head high (unless it is filled with helium). Thankfully, there are those people without the need to confirm the fact of their superiority from others, they are content to know it themselves.

3. The ES' (figure out what that means. clue: st.raymund) political scene is disturbingly looking like the national political scene. I don't know if it's a cultural trait or we are just so damn lazy to think up new ways to get votes. damn.