Group 13 Teamon and Pumba Reaction Papers 3

MAAÑO, EM

2012-21523

Real or Not Real: A Reaction Paper on Inception

            It was in the year 2012 when the movie Inception hit the big screen worldwide. A lot of people have already became fans who could not stop talking about it and a lot of debates went into existence over the movie’s theme and its very controversial ending. And I was not part of those people.

            Yes, I admit that when we watched Inception in class, it was the very first time that I saw it. I never tried to watch it before because I actually thought that it is a horror movie and I was never a fan of that genre. But I guess the movie truly surpassed my expectations and changed my opinions on the film.

            For the past years, I have noticed that movies have become too mainstream and the themes have become too repetitive that you almost always know what the outcome of movies would be. But I am so glad that Inception became a different thing. It is definitely like a dream. You would never know what happens next. And what I really like is that it focused on a topic that is both scientific and can also be part of existentialism. Dreams. Personally, I am not really fond of this topic since I experience nightmares too and how it scares me that one cannot be in control of his/her own dreams sometimes. But Inception taught me that we can be in control of our dreams and what is important is that when we are dreaming, we should be aware of the line that separates dream from reality.

            I must say, it is a good movie and if asked to evaluate the movie, I would give it nine out of ten bags of gold.

Your Mobile Subscription Has Just Ended: A Reaction Paper on the Discussion About Service Providers

            All the discussions in STS are important yes, but this particular discussion is one of my most favorite since I really think it is relevant and most of the people in the class could relate because most of us use mobile phones for communication purposes.

            Personally, I do not encounter much problems with my service providers (which are both Globe and Smart since I am using a dual sim phone) because I rarely use mobile data and I am not fond of neither texting nor calling. Mostly, I use facebook for communication purposes and it has never been a problem since we have our own wifi connection.

            My mom isn’t fond of it either. She does not even want me to avail of a postpaid plan because she thinks that the service providers would just charge me with a lot of fees and from the discussion, I must say that my mom’s assumption is indeed true. And the speed of the internet here in the country is too slow compared to other countries. I guess it is also due to politics. I cannot understand why public officials cannot make a resolution on that given that it has already been declared that internet access is now a right. And I think it is also unfair to those who avail both prepaid and postpaid promos because they cannot maximize the promos while suffering from other fees.

            If there is already deception in simpler things such as rates by telecommunication companies, then what more on much bigger things like education?

Science and Literature: Can They Really Be Related?

            Being a Bachelor of Secondary Education student, I have always dreamed of taking both English and Science as my majors before I entered the university. However, I have found out that it is not possible so I was kind of disheartened. But hey, look at this, Science and Literature together, it is indeed possible.

            I have always been fond of reading but not the science fiction genre because I guess somehow, I do not like reading about heavy equations inside a book which tells a supposedly good story if not for all those “nosebleed” physics and chemistry jargon. So I really do not like science fiction but I read George Orwell’s 1984 and other stuff like Ender’s Game.  And hey, they are science fiction. I guess it is indeed possible to read a good book about science complete with the very special plot and the complex scientific elements made simple.

            So now, after that discussion, I became more open to the idea of books in the science fiction genre and I guess you just have to pick the right book to enjoy it!

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BALONSAY, CM              

2010-26323

Inception

                                The film has shown how the fusion of extractor, architect, chemist and forger can be a good combination to carry out the plan of implanting an idea to someone’s subconscious. The process of implanting an idea to someone’s mind was referred to as Inception, which was also the title of the film.  Each of the four played a significant role in making Inception possible. The chemist, Yusuf, provided the sedative in order for them to enter the deeper layers of a dream. The forger, Eams, copied the identity of Browning, the godfather of Fischer, whom they used to persuade Fischer. The architect, Ariadne, designed the landscape of the dream for it to look real so that Fischer will not have any suspicions. Lastly, the extractors, Arthur and Cobb, were professional thieves. Arthur took care of the details about Fischer and assured that everything will be fine. Cobb was the mastermind of the team that knew very well about Inception for he has tried it to his wife.

                                There were a lot of spectacular details about a dream that the director added in the film. First, a dream can be shared. Second, a subconscious can be trained to fight possible perpetrators. Third, in order to help the dreamer distinguish dream from reality he/she must have a totem. Fourth, a dream can be manipulated. The setting of a dream can be designed. The world in a dream can be turned upside down. It is possible to portray another identity within a dream. But, recreating from memories should be avoided. Fifth, as the layers of a dream get deeper the time gets slower. For a sleep that takes hours, the first layer would take a week, the second would take months, and the third would take years. Sixth, dream within a dream is possible.  And, if dream within a dream is possible, then so is dream within a dream within a dream. Lastly, it is possible for the dreamer to get stuck in a dream. The place where he/she will stay is called Limbo, an unconstructed dream space.

                                 Despite the fascinating artistry of the film, there were some details from the film that made the audience wonder. It was surprising how the characters quickly fell asleep. It’s not easy to believe that with just a briefcase and whatever it has inside, the extractors can enter somebody’s unconscious mind and the people can share a single dream. There were a lot of questions about the film like why does Saito looked old while Cobb doesn’t in one particular level of a dream, which needed an in-depth explanation.

                                In conclusion, the film conveyed a single message. That is, taking a leap of faith. In order to succeed, one must trust his strengths and overcome his weaknesses. That no matter how impossible the situation may seem he should take risks for the ones he loves. Because the only way to make the impossible possible is by taking chances. 

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CERDAN, EJ           

2011-15364

Reaction Paper: Inception    

                I heard many reviews about this particular movie. Many find it confusing but they would still say that I should watch it. I am not much of a fan of movies, so I did not try to watch it and at the same time, I just didn’t want to break my brain trying to understand it. But, after watching the documentary about dreams was shown during class, I became more interested about the movie. Thankfully, the movie was shown too afterwards and I enjoyed watching it so much.

I liked the ideas forming the story of this movie. But there are still parts of the story that I don’t understand completely like the Cobol Engineering, how Cobb found Saito in the state of limbo, and why Fisher did not experience the state of limbo like Saito even though they were both killed by projections inside the dreams, and many more. I really wish that they can make a sequel or a prequel of this movie that can explain more about these ideas I did not understand.

I think the ending of the movie was reality. I think if Cobb failed, he would take the blame and not run away from the reality by just dreaming about having woken up, saving Saito and getting back to his children.

One lesson that I learned from this movie is close to what Cobb’s father said to him before trying to recruit Ariadne. Cobb’s father said that he should come back to reality. I know many people do many things to keep them from reality. They play video games, watch videos, shows and movies, listen to music, read stories and novels so that they can forget about reality for a moment, relax and have fun. But some people do these things too much. This movie, for me, wants to remind us that we should always come back to reality, regardless of how difficult it may be. It is our choice if we just let a dream be a dream, when it might be better, as a reality.

Reaction Paper: Meteorology

I learned a lot from this lecture presented by Sir Robert BadrinaI. I learned more about clouds, fronts, and other different terms used in relation to weather. I think this kind of education is really beneficial to us, living in a country where 20 or more tropical cyclones visit every year, and should be taught to every student. This lecture also cleared many misunderstandings I had on meteorology and PAGASA. As a child, I also made the misunderstanding that meteorology is the study of meteors, just like Sir Robert. Other misunderstandings I had: what fronts are, and where they are located. I am glad now that I have a much better understanding about these weather systems.

I agree with Sir Robert with the fact that PAGASA makes not so accurate forecasts because of lack of data. It is right to say though that we can’t really achieve 100 per cent accuracy on weather forecasting but that is not an excuse for not striving to improve. It is important that we train new weather forecasters. Now, that most of our good forecasters are going abroad, we should convince them on staying here. We should also invest in new and more accurate equipment on collecting data to make our forecasts better and informative.

There should be no lessons learned on this lecture. The reason I said that is because, we as Filipinos should have a lot of information as a nation about this particular topic. Every year, we experience devastating winds and rains caused by strong typhoons. We should be experts on these things by now. We have lost many lives, money, and properties. Yet, we still can’t lessen, if not prevent, these large effects on our lives, on our country. We still have not learned the lesson that we still have not learned our lessons. I just want Filipinos, especially our politicians, to ask themselves, “When will you learn to learn what you should have learned by now?”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------TARRAS, A

2010-27639

Meteorology

Meteorology - the study of things in the sky. In other, words, it is the study of atmosphere that focuses on weather processes. It is pretty nice to add knowledge to something you are familiar with to correct misconceptions and to understand more natural weather phenomenon.

First things first, we have weather because of the sun.  It is the energy of the sun that is responsible for the seasons, the variation in temperature, air pressure, humidity, precipitaion, winds and currents.  Synoptic stations are the ones that collect these information on 1000 to 10000 square meter area.  Our country has 50 synoptic stations that is used by different agencies for weather forecasting and disaster mitigation.

Fronts set up between warm and cold air masses, the different types of clouds, El Nino, and La Nina, parts of a storm, the season of the winds, and the ITCZ are now clear to my mind.  Weather forecasting is a complex process which involves several processes: observation, data collection and transmission, data plotting and analysis, and finally forecast formulation.  Complex processes also need complex tools and yes, they are expensive therefore skilled meteorologists are needed for the job.  Old equipments are just as important as new ones for they calibrate them to give correct measurements.  The analyses made are passed on to national and regional weather centers for future use.  I also learned of some internet sites which I can visit to check on possible weather disturbances and plan ahead.

Weather has a significant impact on all parts of our lives, but few people understand the science or math behind a weather forecast.  The public expects exact results but the technology behind weather forecasting will never reach a point of perfection.  The public and also the meteorologists need to realize this and make decisions that include possible variations in the forecast.

Dreams are my Reality

What would you do to be with your family? Everything! Right?

That's what just Dom Cobbs did, the main protagonist of the mind-boggling sci-fi movie "Inception".

It circles around a father longing for his children in many years of exile and guilt with the suicide/ death of his wife which the police thought to be of murder charge.

This movie is not for the weak-of-heart because of its exhilarating and breath-taking action. This movie is created in pure action and awesomeness one would say this is the "Chuck Norris" of sci-fi movies.

The purpose of dream control is to take advantage of the target's subconscious to destroy the client's rival/s.  In his last mission, he needs to plant a hideous idea to an heir of a rising rival of his client. Mission success would mean he will be reunited with his children. However, failure to execute the mission will imprison him in limbo or worse- death.

His deceased wife sabotaged the mission. Nonetheless the mission was a big success depending on how you interpret the ending of the movie.

The guilt, even though he didn't kill his beloved wife came from his incapability of saving his wife from jumping onto her death.

This technology of dream control may be a "not-so-scientific" breakthrough. "Not-so" because it is much more of defying science. This technology may either destroy or help humankind in pursuit of breaking its limits.

Sometimes, people tend to do wrong because of the pressure or love for the family.  However, reality may be a pain to one's ass but this would make him stronger if he learn to accept and deal with it.

Finally, there is not a thing greater than having a family waiting for you back HOME.