GROUP 11
REACTION PAPERS
LIM, JOSEPH
The Life of Mammals
A Beautiful Mind
Bird Watching
DIZON, JEZANIAH
LINGAN, INA
DIZON, JEZANIAH
The Life of Mammals
A Beautiful Mind LINGAN, INA
The Life of Mammals
A Beautiful Mind
A Beautiful Mind
Dreams Documentary
MACABANING, SITTIE
The Life of Mammals
A Beautiful Mind
Interview with Dr. Deocaris
DOMINGUEZ, SHARAYAH
DOMINGUEZ, SHARAYAH
The Life of Mammals
A Beautiful Mind
A Beautiful Mind
Dreams Documentary
DE GUZMAN, ARJAN
The Life of Mammals
A Beautiful Mind
Bird Watching
BUENAFE, JERICHO
The Life of Mammals
A Beautiful Mind
Dreams Documentary
BAJO, MARK
The Life of Mammals
BAJO, MARK
The Life of Mammals
A Beautiful Mind
by Joseph Charles Lim
If you’re given a chance to have a genius and brilliant mind, what will you do
with it? For scientists, they give their whole life to work. Sometimes, they
don’t even have time to socialize to other people in their environment. They
are fully dedicated to their work. They are obsessed in extracting new information
from experiments they conducted. I still don’t know what keeps them from doing
all of these. But what can I only answer for now, is that, it’s because of
their passion for their work. They measure, calculate, solve and do experiments
because they love what they do.
A Beautiful Mind is a biographical drama film written by Akiva Goldsman and
directed by Ron Howard. It narrates the life of the great John Nash, a Nobel
Prize awardee for his work in Game Theory. He is also known for his ‘Nash
Equilibrium’ for non cooperative games which is widely used in the field of
Economics today. It won four Academy Awards namely, Best Picture, Best
Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress.
John Nash had no formal training in Economics. He finished his Ph.D. in
Mathematics in Princeton University. He also had a family. Yet, years later, he
was diagnosed by schizophrenia, a mental disorder characterized by a breakdown
in thinking, and poor emotional responses. Common symptoms are delusions,
paranoia and disorganized thinking. It caused Nash significant social and work
problems.
At first, I had a hard time understanding the film. And I think if you don’t
have any background of John Nash, you would probably believe that he was
mentally healthy. Nash’s imaginary friends were real in his point of view. I
think the producers really did it that way to give the viewers a sense of
surprise and confusion later. Also, since it involved a story of a scientist, I
thought I won’t be able to relate to the film but I actually did.
I don’t know if schizophrenia is a usual disease for scientist since they are
always stressed or alone while working. But the movie proved that a person who
is emotionally stressed all the time and is obsessed to work can acquire this
sickness. I think even if not mentioned in the movie, John Nash grew up without
having many friends. Maybe this was the reason for him to start imagining
things like his imaginary best friend, Charles. Also, since in his stay in
Princeton University, no one believed in him that he imagined people who
actually believed in his abilities.
Another, when Nash found out the truth about his condition, he tried to undergo
medication (insulin shock therapy) to overcome his sickness but it failed
because he secretly stopped taking in medicines. So when his wife found out
that he hasn’t recovered from his schizophrenia, both of them decided to try
another way, and that is to completely ignore his imaginary friends and just
continue living.
For me, the best way to overcome your problems is to first accept them as part
of your life. Because it will be much harder to surpass all the challenges if
we don’t even convince ourselves that these are just normal and that we can all
overcome them if we choose to. Also, our family and loved ones are very
important elements for us in facing our problems. The support we get from them
eases the stress and the pain we experience. This movie taught me that nothing
can stop us in pursuing our dreams in life and this was clearly shown in the
film when Nash got his Nobel Peace Prize for his contributions.
The Life
of Mammals
by Joseph Charles Lim
It really relaxes me seeing animals free in the wild. That is why I’m fond of
visiting zoos and farms. Sometimes, we can even learn something by just
watching them. I even admit that there are times that they are smarter than us.
The Life of Mammals is a documentary series written and presented by David
Attenborough that shows the life of different species of mammals and how they
interact to their environment. The series also focused on the study of
evolution and the habits of various mammal species.
The set-up was that the host was out in the woods and was really close to the
animals. He was actually hosting while the animals were at the back doing their
thing. It was very risky for him because there’s a great possibility that the
monkeys would attack him. But it also gave the viewers the assurance that the
information they’re spilling out was true.
In the two episodes we watched, they focused on monkeys. Monkeys are very smart
mammals. They have good memory, clear color vision and strong grips. The
episodes showed that species of monkeys have different traits or
characteristics. I learned that monkeys specialized in different areas. For
instance, there are those, who are good in climbing, gripping, breaking, etc. I
think their abilities depend on their environment. They evolved and learned to
adapt to it through the years.
I am also amazed because there are also groupings and alliances among them. I
learned that young male monkeys find it hard to have interaction to a group of
powerful males. Sometimes adult males show dominance and violence among other
primates and they become a predator of their own kind.
From the two episodes of the series, it taught me that monkeys are really like
us humans. We form groups and we sometimes use power to control others. The
only difference that monkeys and humans have is that monkeys are very true in
what they show. If they don’t like the other primates, they show it. Unlike
monkeys, humans sometimes don’t really say what they truly feel when with
another person. I think it’s because of our conscience that makes us afraid to
tell our true feelings. We are worried that we may offend the person. But
overall, monkeys and humans are very much alike when with their families. They
will do everything just to protect their loved ones even if it means putting
their lives in danger.
Bird
Watching
by Joseph Charles Lim
One of the fun activities that I engaged in STS was the Bird Watching. Well, I
still don’t know what really Bird Watching is. I always think that it only
involves watching the birds using binoculars. But it was wrong. Because of our
discussion about Birding Basics, I learned that there’s so much more in Bird
Watching than just literally watching them.
The fun discussion was facilitated by Mr. Benjamin Vallejo. At first, he was
telling us how UP Diliman became a very good place for Bird Watching. Because
UP Diliman is very wide and has a touch of a green environment, birds consider
it as their habitat. Also, he introduced us to a different species of birds
residing in UP Diliman. I was amazed because I have no idea that there are lots
of bird species in UP Diliman. Based on my personal experience, I can only
observe Maya birds and nothing else. The pictures he showed to us consist of
birds of different sizes and colors that I fell in love with like the King
Fisher and the Long-tailed Shrike.
He also instructed us to go out, walk around the Science Complex and observe
the birds. At first I thought it was easy, but I observed that birds are very
sensitive to the sounds and danger, to the point that they even sense footsteps
as threats. Also, birds are diurnal that they only go out early in the morning.
It is the main reason for us to observe less birds than what we’ve expected. We
had to walk like ninjas for us to get closer to them and take some pictures.
But luckily, we got to observe some other birds other than the Maya. It was a
fun activity after all.
But what really struck me was when he told us that as years go by, the bird
population in UP Diliman depletes. It is because that every year, it undergoes
commercialization and modernization that makes the birds to look for other
homes. He also said that if we don’t do anything about it, there will come a
time that we would no longer see birds flying around the campus. It really made
me realize that we should take cautions in modernizing UP so that it won’t
affect the green environment it promotes. The development of the campus should
be carefully planned, taking in consideration the bird population. Even if UP
is one of the most critically-acclaimed university, I still don’t want other
people to regard it as a university born out of deforestation. The whole UP
Diliman should still preserve or even more restore the campus as a natural
habitat for birds. I still want to walk around UP where you can still hear the hum
of the birds. Development is not a bad idea after all as long as it does not
destroy the environment.
The Life
of Mammals
by Jezaniah Dizon
Of all the animals in the world, monkeys were considered as the closest to be
like humans that’s why it is not surprising that some considered and studied
them as the origin of man. The last two episodes (Social Climbers and Food for
Thought) of The Life of Mammals by David Attenborough focused merely on monkeys
and their way of living.
The video shared to us how monkeys look for their food in order to survive.
Some climb on top of trees to catch insects and some get fruits of the trees as
food. Others eat other animals to supplement their vegetarian diet with meat.
There are also monkeys that search for food at night to avoid competition. It
also showed that female monkeys offer sex to male monkeys in exchange for food.
One interesting thing I found in the video is those monkeys that tried
different strategies to crack nuts while younger monkeys watch and learn the
process.
It is also amazing that monkeys were able to use some kinds of plants as insect
repellent by rubbing onto their skin since monkeys live in the forests where
there are many insects that may bite and irritate them.
There are other creatures also living in the forests that serve as threats to
the monkeys like eagles, leopards, lions, and other wild animals. What monkeys
did was they travel in groups in order to protect each other. They also produce
sounds when there’s a predator to warn other monkeys. They also travel in
groups in order to search for foods particularly those monkeys that hunt other
animals as food and share with each other.
It was also tackled in the video that the activity of their food hunting
developed the size of are brains to be large. It was also shown in the
documentary that apes show much protection to their children. Adaptation to the
environment was the reason behind why our ancestors were able to stand up
straight and it is said to be the transition from being apes to being humans.
These mammals were able to domesticate plants and animals for their everyday
living. With this, food supply available to this mammals increased which led to
a fast growing population.
They were able to start up a civilization and proof of this was the early Mayan
civilization but also fell after time. Today we can also find contributions of
this civilization specially the attitude that was placed in us. Like being
innovative in many ways, we always want to be the best and have the best things
in life and even if we already achieved one thing we still aim for more.
Population growth needs to be controlled. This has part on why early
civilization fall and even up to present. Due to the increasing population
competition for survival also increase which leads to war and death. Also,
nature cannot sustain our living if we exceed the capacity of nature which may
result to damage and if nature will be destroyed what will be passed to the
next generations? Reproduction is good but just enough. As it is always said,
all that is too much or too little is bad that’s why what we need to reproduce
is just what is right.
A
Beautiful Mind
by Jezaniah Dizon
A Beautiful Mind is movie about the real life of a mathematician named John
Nash who suffered to a disorder called Schizophrenia. The story began in
Princeton University where John entered as a mathematics graduate student. He
loved math, he thought that math was involved in everything and he believed
that math was the answer for everything.
At the middle of the movie I noticed that some parts were just part of John’s
illusions. For example, since John was known for being intelligent, he was a
bit arrogant so he was not able to be friends with other students. Because of
his need of a friend and he was not able to have one, his mind created Charles
for him to have a friend without him noticing that Charles was not real.
This event was part of John’s disorder called Schizophrenia. There were
different types of this disorder and in John’s case it is that he cannot
separate his illusions and imaginations to reality, for him all that he can see
was real.
Another character in his illusion was the niece of Charles and the little girl
appeared when John was in need of a family. William was also part of John’s
illusion who made him do a job that brought him to danger.
Despite of his condition, John was still able to have a wife and a son. In
their marriage, John’s wife had a hard time to be a mother to their child and a
wife to John because of John’s condition. It was the time that she discovered
John’s real condition of being Schizophrenic. He went to Princeton and
discovered that John stayed alone in his room and Charles was just John’s
imaginary friend.
The treatment to this before, called insulin shots was so harsh that she
couldn’t watch John undergo this treatment. John also took medicine
maintenance. Little by little, John began to be okay until such time that he
was skipping his medicine and the disorder became active again.
Still, his wife never failed to love him and this love was the greatest help to
John’s situation. He worked as a professor at Princeton University and that
time he was able to interact with other people. The illusions were still there
but he learned to ignore them. John was able to handle his disorder and in fact
he received a Noble Prize for his Game Theory.
With the life of John Nash I realized that in every situation love is the most
powerful. It can heal everything even the impossible. John’s willingness to
help himself was important because in every disorder if the person fights he
can absolutely overcome it but if the person himself doesn’t want to help him,
he will suffer to it forever. It also became my motivation that everyone can
succeed. John, even suffering a disorder was able to receive a Noble Prize
which means that sometimes disorders was also an instrument to our success it
is just how we handle it. As it was said, it is the ability that matters not
the disability.
The Life
of Mammals
by Ina Isabel Lingan
A lot of people would believe and say that we originated from monkeys, that we
are linked in evolution. However, it was never really clear to me why. I
understand we have some similarities; that of opposable thumbs and some kinds
having nearly identical skeletal structures as a human. I understand we have
these similarities but so does other animals. Having watched the BBC
Documentary titled Life of Mammals shed considerable light on monkeys and how,
actually, we are a lot like them.
In the Social
Climbers episode, David Attenborough journeys to different places to show us
various kinds of monkeys. From Capuchins to Geladas, it was remarkable how each
kind of monkey has a unique system of living and how they establish relationships
with one another. Before watching this, I never would’ve thought that they are
able to send each other messages through sounds or facial patterns. It was
engaging, also, to see them be predator to smaller and more vulnerable animals
like rabbits and be prey to larger and fiercer animals. Though there were
gruesome scenes such as the sight of a flamingo being torn apart for lunch were
shown, it was a film fat with knowledge, one very pleasing to the mind.
While the
first episode showed monkeys living socially, the next episode, Food for
Thought, displayed stuff that make them similar to us and why they are thought
of as our ancestors. I was amazed by the monkeys standing up because they had
to cross rivers and, particularly, the orangutan that was very fond of DIY. She
liked it so much that she’s learned to use a handful of tools and has managed
to grab the interest of her offspring as well.
I remember the whole class making disgusted sounds as a reaction to a pack of
monkeys attacking and eating the young members of a smaller and helpless pack.
What I thought then was how humans are the same and even worse. Fast-food
chains kill thousands of chickens every day, meat shops slaughter thousands of
cows, calves and pigs and thousands of snakes and crocodiles die for bags and
boots. And then, there were scenes of male monkeys showing their dominance over
others by having their pick of any female they can mate with. Here, I see, we
are a lot closer to them than I thought.
What captured my attention the most was the human tribe that still hunt by
running down their target. It was baffling how the man endured a hunt that
lasted for eight hours. What struck me was when the hunt was finally over and
he casts his spear into the animal only to end its suffering. Even after that,
he would still perform a ritual to pray for the animal’s soul.
What I took from the films is how we are remarkably similar to these monkeys
and, while I don’t believe that we originated from them, I can certainly
understand how many of us think we do.
Dreams:
Cinema of the Subconscious
by Ina Isabel Lingan
Dreams, to me, are very interesting. It’s because, first, anything is possible
when I dream and, second, I experience lucid dreaming a lot. I do because it I
would always notice the irregularities and the bizarre things happening in my
dreams, meeting the lead character from my favorite series and clocks having
wrong numbers on them. And, while dreams can be really fun, they can also be
really scary. Sometimes, I have nightmares I can’t change even if I’m aware I’m
dreaming.
The documentary, hosted by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, about dreams stretched out my
interest in them. I was especially intrigued by a man in the documentary saying
this, “Every person becomes psychotic every night of their life. It’s normal”
The link that they explained between REM sleeping and psychosis is remarkable.
I wouldn’t have thought of it. It seems to me like dreaming is where we go to
every night as a sort of “escape” from the real world. And, it is there that,
every night when we sleep, we get to be crazy.
What also seemed to sparkle in this film is how Joseph Gordon-Levitt associates
dreaming to the creativity of an individual. What I understand from that is how
dreams can be a peek into what an individual is capable of creating using his
imagination and what is inside a person and how the subconscious can express it.
Dreams take on many forms. They can express secrets and worries. Like in the
movie, Inception, it is a way for the subconscious to talk to a person. What
was interesting were the dreams shared by the woman on how she dreamed of her
husband before they met and the man with how his dream saved his life by
showing him with lung cancer. It made me wonder of the purpose of some dreams
and what dreams are really capable of.
The film shows that dreams are certainly weird because we cannot understand,
fully, our own subconscious. And, in dreams, we are capable of everything like
creation and crime that, sometimes, we cannot explain how or why we acted
differently and surprisingly in dreams. In dreams, we take on different
characters of ourselves. Maybe showing us what we really want? Or what we
really don’t want?
A
Beautiful Mind
by Ina Isabel Lingan
I’ve heard stories of Schizophrenic people and, every time, I would think how
difficult life must be for them because they don’t have control over what they
see or hear and how their delusions seem so real that they really believe they
are.
The film pivoting around the life of John Nash was, primarily, a surprise for
me. It was astonishing not because he was first shown as a genius, but, turned
out to be insane towards the end; it was astonishing because of how he was able
to overcome his disorder, how he fought to live his life and for his wife and
most of all, how his wife fought for him.
It was
extraordinary how John Nash used reason and intellect to remind himself that
his delusions weren’t real. It was seen in the scene where he said that the
little girl can’t be real because she doesn’t age. Another thing is how the
community in Princeton was able to accept him and, eventually interact with
him. In the end, he was already teaching and living his life in control.
The wife of John
Nash was certainly shown to be very strong. She was able to hold her own when
their lives began to spiral down. She chose to believe in her husband and
managed to work things out with him. It was touching, I thought, how in his
speech when he was receiving the Nobel Prize, he talks about love (a difficult
thing to imagine with a mathematician with his skill and way of thinking),
thanks his wife and says that everything wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for
her.
What can be taken
from the film is how Schizophrenia is really frightening. Misfortunes in life
like John Nash’s can be easily be walked away from, but, it is possible that
people can come through from this. John Nash didn’t just receive awards, he
also received wonderful people. It just goes to show how much of life we can
achieve.
An
Interview with Custer Deocaris, Ph.D.
by Sittie Shermeen Macabaning
Custer Deocaris is a scientist particularly a molecular biologist and a biochemist
who has obtained a lot of distinction in his entire academic life especially in
his post-graduate life. He went to Philippine Science High School and completed
his undergraduate degree and master’s degree in the University of the
Philippines Diliman and doctoral degree in the University of Tokyo.
Deocaris
started being into science back when he was a kid. He had what he would call a
toy – a microscope – that he could even project in the screen using a
projector. His father gave it to him as a gift. Deocaris especially asked for
toys that are not ordinary and should have something to do with science. He has
a brother who is also a molecular biologist and biochemist and another brother
whom he tried to influence to pursue science-related work but instead pursued
industrial work. The latter earns more money than he does but according to
Custer Deocaris, there is one thing that his brother did not have – a life. His
brother was always stressed. Deocaris then talked about stress. According to
him, he had a way less stressful life in college than in high school. In fact,
he would even push himself to have at least 24 units of academic load every
semester because less than that would just make him bored. “Mas naging humane ang aking life when I stepped into UP,” said
Deocaris. He said that he had time for extra-curricular activities which he did
not have during his secondary education.
If there was one thing that I picked up from our interview with Dr. Custer
Deocaris, it is that happiness is an essential ingredient of success. He
clearly valued happiness over anything else, otherwise he would have been a
Summa Cum Laude graduate instead of just Cum Laude. He did not stress himself
out just to become awesome at school. He was already born awesome. I admired
him for being able to have a life despite his supposedly busy schedule.
Whenever I hear the word “scientist” I associate it with someone genius like
Albert Einstein who would oftentimes forget to take a bath and eat a meal, or
John Nash who would become obsessed with his own thoughts. But Dr. Deocaris is,
I think, one of a kind. His life was a roaring success and also an inspiring
one. He had a very high risk appetite as evidenced by his lack of care about
his grades (because he wanted to have a balanced life of both academics and
extra-curricular activities) and his seemingly intentional unawareness with the
department that he signed up for in Tokyo University (the name of the
department was written in Japanese so he did not bother to check and instead
flew to Tokyo without knowing what it actually said) so by accident, he was put
in the Chemistry Department, but then again, that did not stop Deocaris from
excelling. He seems to be the type who just goes with the flow and makes a
difference while at it.
The Life
of Mammals
by Sittie Shermeen Macabaning
From the
documentary entitled “The Social Climbers”, I learned that monkeys have the
richest social lives of all mammals. They are smart creatures. We can see how
they have good memory because of their various experiences in the forest. They
know where to look for food, what food can be eaten, and what could be the
hindrances in getting these such as bees (in getting honey) and shells (in
eating clams). Monkeys are also patient and persevere. In the clip, they were
trying to crack the clams and gain experiences from it. They also know how to
communicate without having to talk. For example, there is this one kind of
mother monkey shown in the clip that signals the father monkey to carry the
babies by sticking her tongue out and the father monkey will do as she “says”.
Some monkeys are also colorful and these colors tell them who is a friend and
who is a foe.
When it
was time to watch the documentary “Food for Thought”, I remember falling deeply
asleep in my seat. When I woke up, it was time for the apes to gather up on
trees for food. They were sticking with their families and eating all at the
same time. It was as if the nature created a food bonanza so some of them would
gather in the same fruit tree and that’s where the socialization between them
happens. Some apes are not there for food. They are after female apes and are
trying to force themselves on them. I also remember the part where the apes are
standing upright just because the water can support their legs.
From
these documentaries, we can see how monkeys and humans are very much alike.
Like humans monkeys benefit enormously from being actively involved in learning
instead of having information presented to them. Also, the advantage of active
learning appears to be a fundamental property of memory in humans and nonhumans
alike. Apart from that, we also live in the similar climates and we seem to
have common ancestors. Both documentaries link monkeys and humans and clearly
support the theory of evolution by Charles Darwin.
A
Beautiful Mind
by Sittie Shermeen Macabaning
At the
graduate school of Princeton University, John Nash had an extraordinary life
being a hardworking mathematics student which eventually led him to become a
Nobel Prize winner for Economics in 1994. He was very smart but he did not have
a lot of friends because he dedicated his time coming up with mathematical
formulas from everything around him including the movement of people. Despite
his being almost completely antisocial, two people managed to become a part of
his life. These were his roommate, Charles, and his student, Alicia, during his
instruction in M.I.T. Later on, Alicia became his wife. They had a child and a
pretty decent life until John began struggling with his delusions. He believed
that he was doing top secret work for the Department of Defense which involved
decoding messages from the Russians. Later on he was diagnosed with
schizophrenia. He had a hard time distinguishing what was real and what was not
but soon enough he accepted his condition and tried to cope with his delusions.
In the end, he was back to teaching in M.I.T. and won a Nobel Prize for
Economics.
I learned
that schizophrenia is a mental disorder that does a lot to the lives of people
who suffer from this condition. For instance, John was believed to be out of
his mind because he was making up this whole top secret work that did not even
exist. People feared him and stopped being his friends because he would
sometimes become violent in the movie. At first he was being praised for his
brilliance but later on when he started doing bizarre actions, everything
including the way that people look at him has changed. The only person who put
up with his condition was his wife, Alicia. She did not believe his delusions
but she did believe in him. She believed that whatever it was that John was
going through, he can make it. In the end, she was right about John being
eventually able to cope up with these delusions. I think that the most vital
step to overcome his condition is to accept the fact that he has this mental
illness. Some people would be in denial just like John was at first. He even
tried to show the doctors and his wife the chip that he believed was implanted
in his wrist. In due course, however, he started seeing the truth. His three
friends were not real as evidenced by their age – they were not ageing. In
connection to science, technology and society, I think that it is important
that we acknowledge facts and accept these facts in order to move forward.
Identifying the things that we lack and need in life will not just give us the
motivation to do it but also the direction to be able to do what needs to be
accomplished. John was able to acknowledge his imaginary friends in the end and
used this to cope and shoo his delusions away. He decided to say his goodbyes
and never speak to them ever again.
The Life of Mammals
by Sharayah Nicole Dominguez
The documentary “The Life of Mammals” (Social Climbers
and Food for Thought) highlighted how we humans are not so different from our
evolution brothers, the primates.
“Social Climbers” conveyed the correlation between
intelligence and group size. First, this episode featured the opportunism and
resourcefulness of apes by using their skills and intellect to adapt to
survival situations. For example, howlers utilise their enlarged throat bones
to scare off rivals while owl monkeys mostly hunt or scavenge at night.
Individually, like humans, these apes combine their brains, specific talents,
and environment in order to survive. More importantly, this episode emphasised
the effectiveness of working together. For example, across species, a group of
diverse primates was able to form a security alliance; watching each other’s
backs in exchange for shared food. To me, this sends the message of how it
isn’t enough to be individually intelligent or capable to get ahead in life.
Instead, one must also rely on others to ensure a securer standing. Likewise,
as systems become more complex, hierarchies are eventually formed, requiring
even greater use of intellect and tact to keep up. Such could be seen from the
Sri Lanka Temple monkeys and the cliff-side baboons. Almost similar to humans,
they use political tactics such as forming allies via socialising, grooming,
and even child-caring. From this, the documentary made the interesting point of
how the bigger and more complex the group, the greater the necessity to develop
one’s brain in order to survive established social and communicative
hierarchies.
Meanwhile, “Food for Thought” illustrated how a
particular problem, such as finding food, could lead to the development of
large populations. Similar to the previous episode, the primates’ innovation,
memory, imitation, and use of tools enabled them to solve their food problem.
In addition, the need to adapt and evolve geographically, biologically, and
socially was also attributed to the need for survival. For example, there were
the bipedal chimps that had to cross bodies of water in search of food, the
herding or migrating of cattle for better grazing lands, and eventually the
development of hunter-gatherer societies. Once the basic survival needs have
been met and larger groups have been formed, it is only then that societies
have time to form cultures such as hunting rituals or the arts. Together with
society’s general development is the advancement of technology. In this, the
documentary stresses how technology development has enabled large societies
such as ours to manipulate our environment for better survival conditions (e.g.
grasslands in the middle of the desert, one-way ticket to colonising Mars).
That being said, the documentary leaves with a
thought-provoking message of reversing the cycle: manipulating society instead of the environment.
Personally, one can’t help but agree with such a statement. Too often, our
society has become used to the lifestyle of simply replacing or abandoning
things that are damaged instead of first making an effort to repair them. Earth
has provided us with so much that we call it home. It’s worth repairing.
Dreams Documentary
by Sharayah Nicole Dominguez
From as early as biblical times with the famous
“Joseph the Dreamer” to recent blockbuster films such as Christopher Nolan’s
“Inception”, dreams have always captivated our society. Arguably, what makes
this subject so fascinating is our inability to fully grasp it. The documentary
we’ve seen explores certain aspects of dreams – particularly its features and
possible functions – by the end leaving us with a better understanding of this
abstract subject.
First, the documentary suggested a number of
interesting points regarding possible functions or reasons behind why dreams
occur in the first place. Evidently, there’s the prominent theory of
premonition, as suggested by the girl who consistently dreamt of a man’s
silhouette before soon meeting her soul mate in real life. Similarly, the idea
of dreams as predicting the future has been promoted by our own culture with
superstitious beliefs behind dream meanings (e.g. teeth falling out means
death). However, this theory of future prediction is less supported by the
documentary. Instead, the more dominant argument seems to be the function of
dreams as a sort of practicing arena for physical, mental, or emotional
development. For example, running away from a beast enables your brain to
strategize how to do so if it happens in real life, dreaming of being naked in
public could suggest better acceptance of yourself, and dreaming of a dead
loved one could suggest obtaining closure from that loss. To me, this theory of
dreams as a practicing arena seems to make more sense given that these would
more likely result from our own memories and experiences compared to dreams as
premonitions. That being said, there are still those downright disturbing
dreams or nightmares that don’t seem to make any sense at all (e.g. woman with
the red eyes); unfortunately, the documentary was not able to explore such
dreams or possible causes in sufficient detail.
Second, the documentary also introduced a number of
interesting dream features. There are the well-known aspects such as lucid and
collective dreaming, as well as possible sleepwalking. It was, however, the
first time I had ever heard of shared dreams and found the documentary’s
example (a man rescuing his mom from a pit of snakes at the last moment) and my
own group mates’ accounts (e.g. siblings punching each other) just as amusing.
Likewise, the documentary unfortunately failed to explore these in more detail.
Overall, our attempts to interpret and give meaning to
dreams simply highlight our need to understand and define everything. Indeed,
there’s a whole branch dedicated to the study of dreams (oneirology),
consequently classifying it as an official scientific subject. Nonetheless, the
problem with dreams – arguably similar to psychology and sociology, or any
social science for that matter – is that it works within the realm of our
individual human minds. Unless we are able to develop a means of viewing,
recording, and testing a dream as it is being dreamt, the subject of dreams is
simply too abstract and subjective for it to be considered a pure science.
A Beautiful Mind
by Sharayah Nicole Dominguez
Oscar Levant once said, “There’s a fine line between
genius and insanity”. Indeed, I’ve always found it interesting that so many
great minds of history – from varying areas of expertise such as Beethoven, Van
Gogh, Hemingway, Newton, and now John Nash – have had some sort of disability.
The film “A Beautiful Mind” certainly revolves around this ‘fine line’, at one
point even suggesting that it is because of Nash’s mental state that he was
able to make such important mathematical contributions. Likewise, recent
studies have shown how certain mental illnesses decrease particular inhibitors.
In this, certain stimuli a ‘regular’ person would normally reject is instead
entertained by those inflicted with mental disorders (i.e. more open to more
ideas, thus promoting creativity). Once again the film highlighted this
possible causation and to me, sends the positive message of overcoming an
originally perceived weakness and using it to one’s advantage.
Furthermore, it is interesting to note that there
always seems to be some sort of compensation or pay-off for one’s talents. This
could be internal or limited to one’s self (e.g. Phelp’s ADHD for his success
in swimming) or it could be external and more to do with our environment such
as the unappreciated geniuses of history (e.g. Semmelweis). It could be argued
that internal pay-offs are a means of practically humbling or balancing out
those of exceptional talents. For example, earlier on in the film Nash came off
as rather over-confident, only to be tamed by his revealed schizophrenia and
discovery that the things he once knew never even existed. Conversely, Nash’s
external pay-off could be seen from how he wasn’t appropriately recognised
until his senior years and was even ridiculed before then for his
eccentricities. It could be inferred that as a society, it is crucial for us to
be more open and accepting of supposedly ‘insane’ ideas and individuals given
these may one day change what we consider reality or the norm.
Moreover, the film also highlights the intense
pressure seemingly placed upon such great minds as Nash. For him, his sole
purpose in life is to make a significant enough contribution, “Find a truly original idea... It is the only way I
will ever matter”. Consequently, these geniuses are arguably prone to overthink
everything. In turn, this could have the positive impact of leading to their
groundbreaking discovery, such as Nash’s initial breakthrough from everyday
experiences such as picking up a girl at a bar. Alternatively, too much thinking could similarly entail
negative effects such as the stress that triggered Nash’s schizophrenic
episodes. For me, this seems to suggest how sometimes it might be better to
leave things as is; how ultimately, not all questions can be answered. Indeed,
it is important to try and persevere, but just as important to know our limits.
Thus, the film left me with four main lessons:
persevering despite one’s weakness and using it as a strength, the importance
of humility, the need to be open and accepting of different ideas and
individuals, and finally, learning to accept one’s limitations.
A Beautiful Mind
by Arjan Jake De Guzman
I first watched the movie ‘A Beautiful Mind’ when I was still young and I did
not find it interesting. But now that I am more aware and more informed about
people with disabilities, I think I was able to understand the condition of
those with schizophrenia. I think the depiction about how hard it is to try to
be normal when you cannot differentiate what is real from what is not. I think
it will be very frustrating especially when people start avoiding you because
they think that you are weird and will shun away from you instead of trying to
understand.
John Nash was a brilliant mathematician but his social
awkwardness did not help him gain friends throughout his stay in college. I
think his longing for friendship pushed him over the edge of sanity and he
tricked himself into believing he has a roommate and a best friend. I think
this shows that people that distance themselves, whether intentionally or not,
from others have the tendency to imagine people to compensate for the
companionship they are missing. Later on in his life, it was also showed that the
mere presence of his wife was of great help while he was fighting his sickness.
I think this speaks volumes about how companionship, whether it be a friend or
a loved one, and by understanding while supporting them can help people with
schizophrenia.
The movie also showed how stress affects the mental stability of people. John
Nash felt the need to complete an academic paper and the pressure got the
better of him and one should note that this was the first time his imaginary
friend, (Charles Lerman), showed up. Although it is remarkable that he finished
and successfully propose a theory, I think this phase in his college life is
what triggered his sickness. He also showed stress over his work and his
thinking that what he was doing was insignificant lead him, again, to imagine
another person named William Parcher. The lesson I got from this is that I
should not stress myself too much over things that are out of my control. While
doing his research, John Nash’s friends tend to unwind more frequently while he
spends too much time in the library scribbling on the windows. Since I am
studying engineering, I think I can relate to the pressure of accomplishing an
academic requirement but I also know that pressuring and stressing yourself too
much can also lead to your failure.
But despite all the things John Nash has been through
he was still able to contribute to the field of mathematics and formulate
theories like the ‘Nash Equilibrium’. It is indeed very inspiring to watch
people with disabilities like him do the things that normal would often think
you could not do. Watching the movie also made me realize that if people with
disabilities are able to do extraordinary things then I, as a normal person,
also have the capability to do the same.
Bird Watching
by Arjan Jake De Guzman
When Dr. Benjamin Vallejo had a talk about the different bird species around UP
campus, I was surprised to know that there are more than 50 species of birds in
UP and when he showed pictures of them, I realized why I was surprised because
I only recognized about five or six of them. After showing them to us, he
talked about how they were able to take pictures of those birds. He said that
you have to cover twenty-five hectares while walking around randomly around the
campus and that you have to do it very discreetly to avoid scaring of the
birds. Not only that, they have to do that every day for a year to properly
document all the birds that they will see. Also, a grand amount of investment
for cameras with very excellent lenses is needed to capture high-quality shots
of the birds. Although, in the end, I think this is worth their investment
since there are those that buy their pictures for a very generous price. They
also help in documenting the different kinds of birds in the campus thus they
are an integral part of the science community.
At around 10 in the morning, we went outside to watch and take picture of the
birds. We were to walk randomly around science complex in around 30 minutes. We
expected to see the different kind of birds that were to shown to us but
majority of the birds we got to see was a bird with a long and colored tail. It
also does not help that we were walking on dried leaves and were making a lot
of noise while walking randomly. We were forced to zoom the cameras that we
used because they are on the tree’s branches or on the electricity lines.
Unfortunately, we used the cameras from our tablets and the pictures’ quality
were not that good. The sun was already high and it was summer so the umbrellas
that we were told to bring was very necessary. Our group was also taking
‘selfies’ along the way so I think of it as team-building experience and it was
also the day that I remembered all my group mate’s names.
After 30 minutes we returned to the CS Auditorium and it was kind of annoying
that the air-conditioner near us was not turned on. When Dr. Vallejo asked us
about our experience, all of us said the same thing and were not able to see
many birds. The common bird that majority of the groups saw was also the one
with the long and colored tail. He said that the reason for that was because
birds are usually many in number early in the morning and we were already late.
That is why I think that this bird-watching experience was not satisfying
especially since this was my first time and I expected to see at least five
kind of birds. Still, I enjoyed it quite a bit because it was the first
activity in STS outside the classroom and at least the talk before the actual
bird-watching informed me about the biodiversity of birds in the UP campus.
The Life of Mammals
by Arjan Jake De Guzman
‘Social Climbers’, the ninth part of the documentary ‘The Life of Mammals’,
introduced me to the many kinds of primates. There are many species described
and observed like the howler monkeys, capuchins, and baboons. I really liked
this part because it differentiated the primates from the way they hunt their
food, their comfort zone or hunting grounds in the forest, or the type of foods
that make up their diet.
But the thing that caught my interest the most is the social structure of the
apes from which, I think, the title got its name. Although their society is
simpler than ours, it is still fascinating that apes form relationships and
establish a kind of community like us. Like humans, they address many concerns
that are essential so that they can survive. For example, they hunt in groups
composed primarily by male members of their society to ensure that they catch
food and decrease the number of their fatalities. They also form a scheme so
that they can ensure the survival of their group like a certain kind of monkey
in the forest. Some members of the group scout the lower ground for predators
like a tiger while some members look above to spot carnivorous birds like
falcons. Then, they use different kind of pitches to alert the group members of
what danger that is coming so that they can either move up into the tress or
take cover in case of aerial attack. It is interesting to note that this scheme
of alerting people is somewhat similar to the alarm system in the Marikina.
There are sensors and alarms to note the level of water in the river wherein
the number of alarms is related to the level of water to indicate if the
residents have to evacuate or not.
Another facet of their society similar to ours is the need to establish
relationships to have a better place in the society but unlike as humans they
have peculiar ways of doing so. Some male apes take care of the young ones to
improve their relationship with the female members of the group or some apes
show affection by grooming each other. Like the human society, their rank or
place in the society gets higher as they increase their number of established
relationships.
The last part of the documentary entitled ‘Food for Thought’ tackles the
evolution of human beings in relation to our common ancestors with the apes.
David Attenborough showed an orangutan that was able to do human chores and was
able to use human tools just by observing humans. Some apes also showed how to
pass knowledge and experience to the younger generation like how to properly
crack a nut. Like how the ancient humans did long ago, they used tools to make
life easier and this was passed onto the next generation that then improved
their ways of life. Humans used hunting tools and hunting techniques to catch
their prey but they then progressed by domesticating and breeding the animals
they used to hunt to provide their needs.
All in all the documentary showed that apes are very
smart animals and I find it hard to deny that humans and apes can have a common
ancestor. The similarities like the body structure or the social structure or
even the uncanny intelligence of the apes really provide strong evidence for
the theory of evolution. But since I am a Roman Catholic and until every
question about evolution is answered and every detail is discovered, I will
still believe in the creationist theory although my mind is open to believe
otherwise.
A Beautiful Mind
by Jericho Buenafe
A beautiful mind is one of my favorite films of all time. I watched it before
when I was AWOL from school and it really stuck on me. I really like movies
about geniuses who discover something or prove something especially when this
genius is a real person. John Nash’s story is special because he has a mental
illness called schizophrenia where the patient experiences delusions and
paranoia. In the film, his schizophrenia was shown when it was revealed that
some of the characters in the film who were his friends were actually just a
figment of his imagination.
This is a very difficult situation for anyone. Just imagine if you find out
that one of your closest friend is actually just a delusion. In John’s case,
even his boss and his work as a government asset was actually just in his mind.
Just finding that out might drive a person crazy but thanks to his wife’s
support, he was able to control it. People, even geniuses, still need support
from other people to achieve their goals. In john Nash’s case, it was his wife.
Their love story is probably one of the best love story I’ve seen, and I’m not
really into these kind of stories.
Being a genius usually has a price, like having a mental illness which in
John’s case is schizophrenia. But having mental illnesses did not stop geniuses
like him to succeed in life. There are many notable people with physical
disadvantages who still manage to make a change in the world through their
inventions, discoveries, creations and theories. One of these people is Stephen
Hawking who is one of the best physicist the world has ever seen. Hawking has a
motor neuron disease which paralyzed his body and disabled him to speak. Despite
this condition, he was one of the leading physicist and could be considered the
most knowledgeable person about black holes. He goes around using a wheel chair
and speak using a computer.
Anyone can achieve success given the right motivation and support. No matter
what condition a person is from or what social class someone belongs, he can
get to his goal as long as he is determined enough and he is supported by the
people he needs.
The Life of Mammals
by Jericho Buenafe
The episode was titled “The Social Climbers” and it focused on how
monkeys lived together. It was shown how the monkeys worked together to survive
in the jungle like making different kinds of sounds to indicate danger from
different kinds of predators and grooming each other which also strengthen
their bonds. Their intelligence also enables them to solve problems and get
food, a certain group of monkeys can also see in color which enables them to
differentiate poisonous plants to edible plants. Some monkeys are even born
into social classes and in their case, intelligence is very important in order
to survive.
This documentary made me realize that a complex society is not unique to
humans, apes are also capable of constructing social classes and establish
bonds to be a successful member of their group. Other animals may also exhibit
this behavior and studying them may also give us an understanding of our own
behavior. I remembered reading an experiment on monkeys that was used to compare
to our behavior as humans. The experiment goes like this; there was a group of
five monkeys in a room with a ladder in the center and a banana hanging above
the ladder. If a monkey tries to climb the ladder, they will all be squirted
with water. What happened was that eventually, if a monkey tries to climb the
ladder, the other monkeys try to stop him. The scientists changed one of the
monkeys and when that new monkey tries to climb the ladder, the others will
gang up on him. All the monkeys were replaced one by one and the newest monkey
is always beaten up by the others until all the monkeys are replaced and none
of them really knows why they can’t climb up the ladder.
To some extent, this is similar to a human behavior where people just believe
or do things without questioning. Much like a bandwagon effect especially
during elections where people vote who they think other people will vote most.
This is why studying monkeys and their behavior may give a better light in
understanding our own behavior.
Documentary about Dreams
by Jericho Buenafe
I’ve read in an article that a person experiences an average of 9 dreams per
night. Dreaming is not unique to humans, other animals also dream. But what exactly
is a dream? In my own words, I think that dreams are like a person’s
imagination at work during sleep but in this case, the person cannot control it
and the dreams are said to be produced by our subconscious mind. This is why
people try to find a meaning in their dreams. Some people think that a dream
can be interpreted in many ways while others think it can predict the future.
But a friend of mine who is a Psychology student shared that they once had a
discussion about dreams. Her professor said that the mind is biased to meaning
which means that we are inclined to give interpretations to dreams even though
they don’t really correspond or affect anything in reality. I think this is a
more logical and practical belief but believing or giving meaning to dreams
won’t harm me anyway as long I don’t do anything dangerous.
There’s a kind of dreaming which I have heard a number of times before, they
call it lucid dreaming. I heard it first from a friend of mine who shared that
he wanted to have a lucid dream. I asked him what it was and he explained that
it was a dream that the dreamer can control. I immediately remembered a film
for kids titled “shark boy and lava girl” where the main character’s dream
actually became real and since it’s his dream, he can control it. I immediately
thought that it must be really cool to have a lucid dream where you can fly or
do other amazing stuff. My friend also shared that there’s a technique to be
able to control your dream but there’s a risk of getting sleep paralysis which
is like being half awake but not able to move.
In the end, it’s still up to the dreamer what to do about his dreams. He may
interpret it however he wants or he may just ignore it since he won’t remember
much of it anyway but as long as he doesn’t endanger anyone then I think he can
do whatever he wants with his dream. In my case, I would like to believe that
the mind is indeed biased for meaning.
The Life
of Mammals
by Mark Arjay Bajo
Monkeys,
apes, chimpanzees, gorillas, etc. are intricate species that we can think of
nearest to mankind. In the documentary life of mammals, the abilities of such
creatures are showcased in such a way that they are comparable to humans.
The
documentary has two parts. First part is entitled social climbers which
showcased the social stratification present in a pack of monkeys. Humans have
intense perception of social standings and stratifications in a society. Social
status in our society today play a big role on how one’s life will be. In the
documentary, it has been stressed out that monkeys also provide importance on
social status a community of their kind. Social status has even become a
prerequisite for mating. In the documentary, it has been discussed that in a
community of monkeys, there will always be a pre assigned alpha male. This male
takes care of the females and guards them from any other male who tries to mate
with them. Considering social status being highly distinguished in an animal
society, monkeys have their own concept of nobility and monarchy. It has been
showcased in one part of the documentary a noble female monkey. It has been
shown that she is served by other monkeys. Parallel to human world, nobles are
served. From this, we can see how similar human and monkeys are.
Second
part of the documentary is entitled Food for thought which talks about monkeys
and, well, food. Naturally, the monkeys do have their own wants and
preferables in their food. It is worth noting that the concept of food webs can
be clearly seen through this documentary. At one point, the documentary has
shown monkeys, eating insects. That monkey is just about the size of a bare
fist. With that physical characteristic, the small monkey may be able to catch
their food with ease. Another thing worth taking down is that there are monkey
that eat other monkeys. In the documentary shown, there are monkeys hunting for
baby monkeys. It has been explicitly shown how do the big monkey slaughtered
limb by limb the small monkey and eat them. It is a relief that humans don’t
eat each other. It has been shown that monkeys are capable of using tools also.
Tools like clam opener, saw, hammer etc. etc. can be used by some monkeys
through imitation. Their brain as explained in the documentary is capable of
imitating actions. With their physical form, it is plausible that they can
completely imitate human actions if they try to do so. It has been said that
despite that power of imitation, it is not enough for them to fully be able to do
anything on their own.
To sum
up, primates has tremendous capability relative to any other animals that live
on land. With that, speculations about man evolving from monkeys seem
plausible. In the documentary, it has been explicitly stated that not only
humans can build a social stratification, animals can also do so. Social
status, moreover, plays a good role in some, if not all, kinds of ecosystem.
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