The realization that it is already December evoked some trepidation in me, since it is a non-escapable reminder of the things that need to be done. It also reminded me that I can now go back to doing my once-a-month blogging. So here goes.
Trillanes was at it again. I won't go into the details anymore. Everybody in the Philippines knows what happened. If you're not in the loop, here's the
BBC report.
My initial reaction was that of disbelief, frustration, then silent resignation.
Disbelief that he was doing it again. He failed before. And isn't he actually going through a trial for the same thing he was about to do (or have already done)? Wasn't he supposed to be guarded? I get it, the security detail was probably taken aback. However, I also can't brush off the realization that there are other people who have been crucified for lighter offenses. Even if certain mistakes were never your intention, either you own up to it and face the consequences or stop being an adult. I have to say though that the calculated logician in me is hesitant about handing judgment haphazardly when I only have tidbits of what happened. Then again, I'm just explaining my initial reaction.
Okay, back to the disbelief episode. Does he have a new strategy that will ensure success this time? (Not that I wanted him to succeed.) It's like, I knock at somebody's office to find that the person I'm looking for isn't there. I go out the office's door (the only entry/exit point), scratch my behind for 10 seconds, then go in again and ask if the person I'm looking for is already there. Chances are, he's not yet there. Chances are, you'll also piss off the other people there.
Frustration that, while I am not a fan of the current Philippine government, destabilization efforts at this point would seem to do more harm than good. I know there is such a thing as fighting for ideals. You should never subordinate your ideals to matters of convenience. Romantic, yes. Practical, no. But then again, our humanity, our national identity, while driven for a significant part by practical matters and efficiency, is ultimately defined by what we truly believe in. Anyway, there is also such a thing as doing things the right way. Not only did they (Trillanes and cohorts) follow a strategy that's extra-constitutional, they also dragged the rest of us (in a manner of speaking) with what they did. Investor confidence, international reputation, stock market movements. Those kinds of things.
While I believe we shouldn't be fully defined by how other countries perceive us since only we could establish our national identity, there is still something to be learned from looking from an outside vantage point. It becomes all the more painful when we are a service oriented society that is heavily dependent on certain resources from other nations. It was a bit of a surprise actually when my office mate Sheldon didn't ask me about the Trillanes "event". After all, it was him who first asked me about the
Wowowee stampede and
the Guinsagon landslide. Earlier, we just chatted instead a bit about
Vladimir Putin and elections in Russia. Regarding the extra-constitutional means, the event put me also in soul-searching mode, in relation to
EDSA Dos. What differentiates one from the other, and what makes one right and the other wrong? Or is it all just a matter of which side you're on? It is a good topic for soul searching, although unfortunately, I still have a lot of other things to do requiring much of my enery, and so my soul would have to take a backseat for now.
After everything's been said and done (that's not the last cliche here ... I have a quota, mind you), it all boils down to the fact that we seem to be drifting from one crisis to the next. Seriously, it gets fucking tiring (the f word is necessary to add pizazz to an otherwise incoherent post). And overwhelming. Other people end up accepting the events that transpired with silent resignation. Yes, we shouldn't be apathetic. It's not that people don't care anymore. People can't help be numbed.
I mentioned my gripes a long time ago about our national insecurity, about the pressure to be world class, of how unfortunately it seems that the only way we can relate with other nations is by looking up. How, we rejoice at the littlest achievement which we blow out of proportion. Instead, why don't we look at other indicators where our standing with other nations really matter? A World Bank team, in a
report they made, ranked the Philippines at 133 out of 178 for ease of doing business. If you zoom in to the rankings for East Asia and Pacific, we are at 21 of 24, ahead of Cambodia, Laos, and Timor Leste. How about that? Okay, I have no expertise to make critical conclusions out of this, but as a layman, I am appalled at how countries hardest hit by the 1997 economic crisis such as Thailand have sped ahead of us. While surveys and studies are done under certain assumptions and parameters, they still tell us something about our strengths and weaknesses.
Before I forget, here's a little something courtesy of
Philippine Comedian. Download the picture, post it on your blog, spread it around, to express your love for Trillanes.
One other thing that grinds my gears is that, at the end of if all, it's these "little" things that seem to stop us from making significant strides. There are bigger, more worthwhile things in the world. Everybody else is already working on solving algebraic equations, while we couldn't get past one apple plus one apple equals two apples. And hey, Malaysia is already planning on sending its
first astronaut to space some two years from now. I'm not asking that we send our own astronaut now. There are other issues we need to deal with first. Again, back to my point. We're always getting stuck at inopportune moments.
Talking about things that are longer lasting and which transcend historical nuances, here's what I really wanted to blog about. Yeah, the preceding was just a side note, hahaha.
Physicists have recognized
Four Fundamental Forces of Nature as follows, in decreasing order of strength:
1. Strong Nuclear Force
2. Electromagnetic Force
3. Weak Nuclear Force
4. Gravitational Force
These four forces encompass all particle interactions in the known physical universe. Other forces which we see at a macro scale such as friction are governed at a micro scale by these forces, in the way subatomic particles interact with each other.
A better understanding of our physical reality is always achieved through theories that explain why things are the way they are from first principles. One example is why the planets in our solar system move in an elliptic orbit around the sun. The ellipse is a result of
Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion, which were probably inspired by empirical observations of the elliptical orbits. The physical reality fortunately is backed up by theory and mathematical derivations. Basically, the orbit is not a random thing.
But just like most mathematical derivations, these were based still on certain facts that are in turn derived from other facts supported by other notions, up to the most basic components. Still, there is an underlying structure, a rationalization. This is not to preclude the possibility that certain phenomena are beyond the scope of logic, but if indeed there is a logic, a certain harmony to things, it is a human imperative to discover what these are.
It is precisely the acknowledgment of this harmony that lies beneath various
Design (Teleological) Arguments for God's existence. There is a structure to the universe, a design that shows a purpose. A design that was actually made by a designer, that matches with a god-notion.
Going back to the 4 forces/interactions, for years, physicists have tried to come up with a unifying theory for these. All efforts have proved "futile" thus far. There is a so-called
Standard Model which is the best our species has come up with so far. It has these limitations:
1. It explains three forces, except gravitation.
2. The explanation for the other three is based on manual inputs that are not derived from first principles.
First principles? Here's a quick, ridiculously simplified explanation. Suppose I am thinking of a number which I don't tell you. All I tell you is that it is divisible by 4 (such as 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, and so on). Then I ask you: is the number even? How can you answer that, when I never told you my number. Finally, you give up, and I tell you it was 100. That means, the answer is YES, since 100 is an even number. However, here's a case where it's actually possible to conclude that the number is even (just based on my claim that it's divisible by 4). In other words, you didn't really need me to reveal the number (i.e. make me tell you explicitly the number), since it can be proven from "first principles" that a number divisible by 4 can only be even.
Okay, where was I? Oh yeah, the four fundamental forces and the Standard Model, which isn't complete.
Just last November, it seems that somebody finally came up with a complete model.
Anthony Garrett Lisi, an American physicist, submitted "An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything."
Just like all potentially significant leaps in human theoretical knowledge, this still needs to be scrutinized and subjected to the most unforgiving methods of verification before it can be accepted as truth. Some have already expressed their skepticism, which is healthy actually, since it then gives experts avenues from which they could attack Lisi's work. Until the work has been peer-reviewed, the rest of humanity will have to wait.
The work done by Lisi is based on
E8, which, let's just say, is some complex mathematical object formulated in the late 1800s, and which took a lot of years of collaboration between mathematicians before some of its properties were established. The title of Lisi's work is a play on the fact that E8 is, using jargon, a "simple group" and an "exceptional group".
Whether or not his work is a dud (now, that's actually being harsh), I'm sure this is still a significant piece of work, which could still ultimately lead to other theories that might answer other gaps in our understanding of the universe.
If this is the real thing, then this would be as big a news as
Einstein and
Relativity, or
Andrew Wiles and
Fermat's Last Theorem.
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It is things like these which will continue to affect future generations, and not silly insignificant things such as mutinies.
