When asked who will I sacrifice, I answered the following... 1. Sacrifice What does the author mean when he/she used this word? Is he/she pointing out that someone must try to be Messiah for the others? Is it really necessary for a life to be lost? Or can something be worked out to reach a decision that is win-win for all concerned? Besides, it is life/lives that is/are concerned in this dilemma. 2. Bouyancy Why sacrifice a life when all can be saved with just a bit of hard work and patience? The reason why the water is seeping in is because the boat is overloaded. Why not take turns in going out of the boat for a while? And while doing this, take advantage of survivors' potentials (which is our number 3 point). 3. Maximize everyone's skills, talents, expertise Since Eagle Eye Sam has a sharp vision, he will serve as the look-out while somebody is outside the boat. Since Dr. Brown is a smart man, he will improvise a way to catch fish. They can dry the fish in the sun to eat or eat it raw. They can collect rain water or collect sea water and condense it with a tarpaulin or some plastic (what about their empty containers?) Perhaps the others also have their qualities... More assets, greater chances of survival. |
Reflection Paper 2 : On Critical ThinkingWhen it happened, a disturbing mix of feelings bubbled inside you. It sickened you to watch the boat slip beneath the waves and disappear forever; so much work had gone into maintaining it and keeping it afloat, but at least everyone was safe in the tiny lifeboat you'd had just enough time to launch. You secretly congratulated yourself for having had the foresight to stock the lifeboat with a few emergency items such as a small amount of food and water, but you knew that a boat built to hold three, maybe four people wasn't going to survive too long with such an overload of passengers.
You looked around at your companions: the brilliant Dr. Brown, whose cleverness and quick wit had impressed you on many occasions; Marie Brown, pregnant and clearly exhausted from the climb into the lifeboat; Lieutenant Ashley Morganstern, a twenty-year veteran who'd seen the most brutal sorts of combat; the lieutenant's secretary and traveling companion, whose shirt you noticed for the first time bore the monogram "L.B," but whom everyone called, simply, "Letty"; and Eagle-Eye Sam, the trusted friend who'd been at your side for many years as you sailed the oceans in your precious, now-vanished boat and whose nickname had been earned from having the ability to spot the smallest objects seemingly miles away at sea. Seeing the fear on your passenger's faces, you tried to comfort them: "Don't worry; we'll be fine. They'll be looking for us right away. I'm sure of it." But you weren't so sure. In fact, you knew it wasn't true. It might be days before you were found since you'd had no time to radio for help. Rescuers probably wouldn't be dispatched until Friday, five days from now, when your failure to show up in port would finally arouse concern. On the third day, your passengers showed increasing signs of frustration, anger and fear. "Where are they?" Marie cried. "We can't go on like this!" You knew she was right. We can't, you thought, not all of us anyway. On the fourth day the food was completely gone and just enough water remained to keep perhaps three people alive for another day, maybe two. Suddenly things got worse. "Is that water?!" Marie screamed pointing a shaking finger at the bottom of the lifeboat. Horrified, you looked to see a slight trickle of water seeping in at the very center of the boat. Dr. Brown grabbed a tee-shirt that was lying in the bottom of the boat and used it like a sponge to absorb the water, wringing it out over the side and plunging it into the invading water again and again. But it was no use; the water began to seep in faster than Brown could work. "We're too heavy," the lieutenant insisted without emotion. "We've got to lighten the load. Someone has to get out and swim." "Swim?!" Marie gasped in disbelief. "Are you insane?! There are sharks in these waters!" "Who's it going to be, Captain?" the lieutenant asked almost coldly, staring you square in the eye. "Which one of us swims?" "Me. I'll go," you say, swinging your leg out over the side of the boat. "No," Letty insisted. "You're the only one who knows anything about boats or the ocean. If you go, we'll all die. You must choose one of us to sacrifice. And so you did. |
Seeing the World Through (Rose?) Colored Glasses
People have invisible glasses that only a trained mind can see. Is this statement a fantastical thing? A material for sci-fi movies? Or plain paranoia?
Well, not really. Allow me to explain my position.
People are born like clean sheets, a tabula rasa in the sense of what he or she believes in as his or her truth. As they grow, they grow as well a set of invisible spectacles. As children, we perceive the world through the eyes of our hearts. What we see are then untarnished by any tinge of prejudices and biases the world where we live has developed through time. And we see clearly. But as we grow, we are taught that there are many things to be learned to be called a better person, to "develop" and "grow", to "mature", to fit-in. And so, with this thought, we have ourselves fitted with the glasses of norms, standards, social expectations... with which to see the world and "how things should be" and as we grow, we perceive the world through them.
It is plain pollyanna-ish and far-out simplistic though to equally say that we are better off with the limitations of a child's mind.
No. Improvement, development, growth and maturity are all parts of the process that is called life.
On giving the prognosis on what hindrances to critical thinking I have, it is then partly or mostly the same to ask myself what spectacles I have used to perceive things.
Admittedly, I have found out that indeed, it is easier to proclaim a judgement than to have a critically-thought of judgement. I have realized that it is easy for me to decide on things according to how they appear and how I understood them without digging deeper, without uncovering, or trying to see things from a different vantage point.
Although my decision is not to "sacrifice" anyone, and just work-out a plan instead--I still decided according to how my mind constructed the characters in the story. For example, Dr. Brown, in my mind, is automatically a man in his 50s with spectacles; Mrs.Marie Brown is a pregnant woman in her 30s, who can very well be the nth wife of the popular and well-off doctor; Letty, since a secretary of a lieutenant and a constant travel companion, is a middle-aged lady with a strict air and burly physique; the lieutenant, a 20-year war veteran, is a strong man in his 50s... and so on.
What if it was a family party, all of them being a Brown -- Dr. Brown, Marie Brown, Letty's LB can very well mean Letty Brown? What if Eagle-eye Sam was in fact an eagle and not a human person? What if the doctor is not as old as thought him to be?
Truth then, is not just according to how we understand things at the moment. Truth can be multifaceted, an elephant, a mammoth of sort. And without going outside the box of generalized perceptions, we remain insensitive to the multiverse of richness outside of our little perceptions.
Reflection 3: On Creative ThinkingGaining the OceanEducation in itself means to empower to use the mind to think critically, to analyze and examine factors before deciding on what to take in as truth. Education then is training on how to use the mind. The common saying goes: give a man a fish and he will full for a day, teach him how to fish and he will never be hungry again. It is the same with education. By educating a person, he is not only instructed on what will apply for one specific situation but is taught how to deal with situations that will arise throughout life.
Human beings are born to uncover possibilities. They have this uncanny knack for 'eureka experiences'. Without creating something new (new way of doing things, new things, new perspectives...) the world will be awfully directionless. We are meant to advance, advancement does not mean simple modernity or plain technological. We are meant to advance in our journeys towards knowing our selves and our humanity––and becoming fully human. With the case of critical thinking, let us consider this: Like in the case of faith, I am of the mind that only those truths we have searched for and have found answers are the one’s that have potent effect in our lives. Critical thinking is pre-requisite on deciding what is right and wrong. Now that they are able to sieve through the mass of what should and what shouldn’t, and have acknowledged their capacity to choose what to believe in, the learners can now see more clearly within themselves and single out what their core values are. Critical thinking is critical in making us fully live. What is human beings without their capacity to think? Cogito ergo sum. I think, therefore Iam. |
Reflection Paper 4 : On the Habits of the Mind
(Not) Breaking the Habit
Can learning be taught? Is it innate? If it is not true that learners are a tabula rasa, why still teach thinking when on this premise, they can already think?
Leaving the mind to develop itself does happen. It is natural for people to think, we have evolved and survived the extinction of other species simply because we have taught ourselves to interact with our changing circumstances.
But as we evolve, so does the complexities of our human lives. We need to evolve our way of thinking as well. Learning to think does not say that we cannot exist without it. It is simply saying that the possibilities are endless and we must maximize what we can learn and experience in this fast-paced world we have gotten our collective lives. Now, information is readily available with the technological explosion our modernity affords. Learning to think trains our mind to go out of our little boxes and take advantage of this volume of knowledge that is available for us to have richer lives. A healthy muscle is good, but well-toned and strong ones because of constant exercise and practice is way better.
Another point, Habits of the Mind posed guidelines that can direct our thinking to become , not just more critical and creative, but also more human and humane. For example, the habits (1) listening with empathy, and (2) thinking with wonderment and awe (among others), are not just about accumulating knowledge or effectively gathering the most data we can. It is also about recognizing our deeper need to be connected with others and be amazed, respectively. It is not just about the cognitive but also about the affective. It is not just about the space ships we can build but also about the poetry we can create just by viewing the stars. Imagination and social responsibility allows us to think, and think with a heart (after all, the hypothalamus is the seat of emotion).
The word habit connotes routine and practice. Costa and Kallicks's 16 habits of the mind made me reflect on what habits I have and what needs more developing. In introspection, I believe I am strong with Responding with wonderment, metacognition, and awe and Remaining open to continuous learning. As an artist, I believe the world is perpetually awe-inspiring. There is simply so much textures, and colors, and stories! As my Studio Page banner says, I am indeed perpetually in awe of the universe. Even the wet pavement tells poetry when it reflects stars, rain drops jump to their death in bus glass windows and create water fireworks. There is so much more. The world is beautiful.
With regards to metacognition, Socrates could not agree more. An unexamined life is not worth living. Perhaps it is almost the same as an unexamined mind is not worth the time. We cannot really learn unless we reflect on what we are learning.
What I think I have to develop and work-on more are managing impulsivity and accuracy. I view myself as on the more impulsive, spontaneous types. And with no regards to getting it accurate (or in my terms 'perfect') right away. Perhaps more thinking can lead to more satisfying results, in arts, in life, and otherwise.
Leaving the mind to develop itself does happen. It is natural for people to think, we have evolved and survived the extinction of other species simply because we have taught ourselves to interact with our changing circumstances.
But as we evolve, so does the complexities of our human lives. We need to evolve our way of thinking as well. Learning to think does not say that we cannot exist without it. It is simply saying that the possibilities are endless and we must maximize what we can learn and experience in this fast-paced world we have gotten our collective lives. Now, information is readily available with the technological explosion our modernity affords. Learning to think trains our mind to go out of our little boxes and take advantage of this volume of knowledge that is available for us to have richer lives. A healthy muscle is good, but well-toned and strong ones because of constant exercise and practice is way better.
Another point, Habits of the Mind posed guidelines that can direct our thinking to become , not just more critical and creative, but also more human and humane. For example, the habits (1) listening with empathy, and (2) thinking with wonderment and awe (among others), are not just about accumulating knowledge or effectively gathering the most data we can. It is also about recognizing our deeper need to be connected with others and be amazed, respectively. It is not just about the cognitive but also about the affective. It is not just about the space ships we can build but also about the poetry we can create just by viewing the stars. Imagination and social responsibility allows us to think, and think with a heart (after all, the hypothalamus is the seat of emotion).
The word habit connotes routine and practice. Costa and Kallicks's 16 habits of the mind made me reflect on what habits I have and what needs more developing. In introspection, I believe I am strong with Responding with wonderment, metacognition, and awe and Remaining open to continuous learning. As an artist, I believe the world is perpetually awe-inspiring. There is simply so much textures, and colors, and stories! As my Studio Page banner says, I am indeed perpetually in awe of the universe. Even the wet pavement tells poetry when it reflects stars, rain drops jump to their death in bus glass windows and create water fireworks. There is so much more. The world is beautiful.
With regards to metacognition, Socrates could not agree more. An unexamined life is not worth living. Perhaps it is almost the same as an unexamined mind is not worth the time. We cannot really learn unless we reflect on what we are learning.
What I think I have to develop and work-on more are managing impulsivity and accuracy. I view myself as on the more impulsive, spontaneous types. And with no regards to getting it accurate (or in my terms 'perfect') right away. Perhaps more thinking can lead to more satisfying results, in arts, in life, and otherwise.
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Instructional Plan
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