SOCIETY AS THE SOURCE OF MEANING

For the prefinal period in our philosophy class, our teacher discussed about the five forms of society namely The Experience Of Being "Within" Society(11); Society As The Fulfillment Of Man(12); Society As The Source Of Meaning(13); The Social As The Basis Of The Self(14) and Social Existence As "One's Own" Life(15). To serve as our long quiz, we were tasked to choose what is the best society for us. We should defend our answer by opposing it to the other forms of society.


SOCIETY AS THE SOURCE OF MEANING
My Best Description of Society


Society, in chapter 11, is a jail-like structure that compels people to do what they don’t want to do, making their lives miserable. In society there is “patterns of behavior” where man is expected to act in a set way. Man is being caught up in a system that gives a clearly defined pattern for his life. In society there is “sources of control” where conformity would mean acceptance by the society and rejection would mean punishment. In society there is “objectivity” where individual consideration is not accounted for. Man has no power to change it. However, we must not forget that man is a conscious being. He may be a destiny but he is also a task. Life may place upon him the limitations found in society but still he has a choice. Living in a society is a choice and people choose to live in society because it is through it that they can gain meaning in their lives.


Chapter 14 perceives society as the basis of the self. Accordingly, it is through society that we are able to tell who we are, it is through society that we can gain self-importance, we can be involved, we can express ourselves, we can gain self-image and we can have a past and future. With this, we can have a sense of direction, a sense of meaning. It makes man truly human. However, for me, this is too individualistic. It focuses on what a person can achieve by emerging himself in society. The true meaning of life comes from being able to share ourselves in society, being able to find meaning in playing a role in the society, being able to find meaning in his goals as influenced by society, being able to find meaning in his relationships as can be found in society and being able to find meaning in meeting the challenges given by the society. With this, man can develop himself. Man can find true meaning of his existence.


In chapter 12, society is perceived as the fulfillment of man. Accordingly, we need to be social because non-social existence produces inhumanity. Such inhumanity are shown in the Jungle-Boy situation, Robinson Crusoe situation and Isolated existence. It is said that if man isolates himself, he would be a beast, something less than human. However, if chapter 14 perceives society as “too individualistic”, this chapter perceives society as “too social”. Too social that without it, man can find no meaning at all. Too social that without it, man is perceived as animal-like. Too social that without it, man is less than human. It must not be that way. For the contexts of language, social awareness, personal relationship, basic human skills, stories of culture, religion and entertainment “themselves” would not be meaningful unless a person finds meaning in them. We are not robots where fulfilling all of them can already be equated to existence. There must be something in these things that make man want to live with their presence. And that is the “meaning” that these things have brought to man.


In chapter 15, society is perceived as something which is in us. There is no distinction and opposition between social existence and individual existence. To be human is to live a life and have a sense of that life and for which life means the life of individual or group with which man has identified himself. Accordingly, man identifies himself within social groups, another individual, culture and involvement with a cause. However, even though I stand on the belief that man should neither be too social nor too individual, this does not make me support the idea that society and individual should be one. There should be “at least” a distinction between them. Man is a unique creation and society is just a ground where man finds meaning in his life. Society should not totally decide “what is man”. In society lives groups, but these groups are but just “groups”, “social units”. They can only be useful when man finds meaning in them. There are a lot of groups, a lot of “other individuals”, several cultures and several causes to involve with in the society. But all of them are but just social units, an opportunity for man to find meaning in his existence.


Thus, the best society for me is one which is described in chapter 13, a society where man finds meaning in his existence. The sources of meaning could be the goals that we seek to achieve and these goals can only be achieved through society; it could be the relationship that we have with our family and friends that gives significance to the actions that we do in life; it could be the things that we value in life like friendship, fame, power, etc; it could be the roles that we play in society such as being a mother, father, son, daughter, political leader, business man, nurse, teacher, etc; it could be the challenges that we want to meet such as challenges from nature, from within us, from God. Chapter 13 neither affirms that human existence is completely social nor completely individual. It neither affirms that society and individual are two opposing entities nor one. Man is always living a complex existence made up of social and individual aspects. Society and man are never completely separated from one another but are merely interwoven. . The importance of finding a meaning in our life is that it will give us direction. It will give us a reason to continue living. It will give us a reason to be thankful as we wake up each day. It makes us fully human.

NO PERMIT NO EXAM

The time that I dread has come. Finally, our school has implemented a "no permit no exam" policy. In a way, I was already expecting this but still I was hoping that this won't come. Anyway, since it has already been implemented, students are left with no choice but to follow and weep. Well, not literally weep - it's so tiring!


Different reactions arise from this new policy. For the well-off students, it doesn't matter. They can meet payments with or without the said policy. For those who are so loved by their parents so as to have an educational plan, it doesn't matter too. But how about the academic scholars? the working scholars? They are those who depend on their academic performances and industry to get into school - to get into this school named Ateneo.


Where is that "men and women for others" that this school has long been claiming. How can these students give the maximum of their potentials when they are so preoccupied with the thought of how to settle their accounts? This is so depressing on their part. These students are just asking for a consideration. These scholars constitute just a small portion of the total student population. Late payments from them neither make the school "incur loss" nor create bias . In fact, upon hearing their stories, other students and even faculty understand them.

The Most Difficult Question

A couple of weeks from now, we will be having our final exam. What does it mean to me? Well, it means that I will be saying bye-bye to third year life as fourth year life is awaiting me next school year. What does it mean further? It means I will be graduating in college and will be preparing myself for a job interview.


It's not that I hate job interviews. It depends on the questions asked. But I am aware that the question "describe yourself" will always be asked. It has always been a difficult question for me. It's not just difficult - I don't want to answer it! How could I answer it? Its not me who can describe myself better but the persons around me. Yes, I do have my ideal self but I don't want to presume that "what I think I am" is really the kind of person who is experienced by others. I may think I am nice but people may think of me otherwise. I may think I am beautiful but people may say I am not. I may think I am religious but people rarely see me in church so how could I be one?


Truly, describing myself is a very difficult question for me. The reason why instead of describing myself in my so-called social networks, most of the time, I just give a quote. The reason why when people ask me who I am, I can't even be certain of my answers. So when my future boss will ask me this question? Well, come what may.

Back to the Game

Well, well, after leaving my site for a while, I'm back. I stopped blogging because I got tired of writing(hehe) and thinking of possible topics to write. It had also affected my studies in a way. But, why the sudden come back? Just this afternoon I had a short conversation with a casual friend. He shared a short testimonial about blogging that adds to my inspiration. Yes, it's not actually the primary reason. I also have another reason but I have the right to remain silent so I won't tell you(haha). Anyway, since this is just the beginning of a grand come back, I will just share to you one of my favorite songs entitled Wherever You Are by Southborder. It has a nice lyrics. It goes like this:

I love to see the ocean's beauty
And the moon that shines above
Alone in the sand looking at the stars
Wishing someday i would find true love
Would it be nice to see the morning
With the one you love the most
Would it be nice to say goodnight
To the one you hold so close
To your heart
To your heart

Chorus:
The wind that blows the dove
Is the wind that blows my love
Hope it'll find its way to you
Wherever you are

I love to sit in fields of green
Looking deeply through the sky
Watching birds as they fly by
Hoping someday fate will bring me true love
Would it be nice to hold someone
So dear, near your heart
Would it be nice to hear those words
I love you from the one that you love
That you love

Repeat chorus 2 times...

Yeah... yeah.... yeah....

Bridge:
I'd love to see myself one day
In the arms of someone
Who will share her life with me
Selflessly.. someday...
You will find your way... to me...

Quote of the Day!

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Joke of the Day!

One day there was a knock on the Pope's office door. When he answered it, the salesman said, 'Hello, my management team would like to discuss a proposal with you.' After taking a seat in his office, the salesman said, 'I am with Kentucky Fried Chicken. We would like to offer you a contract to the church if you can change the Lord's blessing from 'Give us this day our daily bread' to 'daily chicken'.'

The Pope said, 'I'm sorry we just cannot do that.' The salesman went back to his office where he discussed the outcome of the meeting. He returned to the Pope's office a week later with the same proposal, only he had upped the bid to 4 million.

The Pope gently declined, again. The next week he came again and offered the Pope an offering of 10 million. The Pope said, 'Let me think it over.'

The Pope then called a meeting with the elders of the church and said, 'Well gentlemen, I have good news and bad news. Kentucky Fried Chicken has generously offered us 10 million dollars to change the Lord's Prayer from 'daily bread' to 'daily chicken'.

The bad new is that we will lose the Wonder Bread Contract.

July Nutrition Trivia

• 53% of the calories in one 8 ounce cup of whole milk are derived from fat. That’s like drinking half a cup of oil with half a cup of milk.

• 2% milk is called reduced fat milk because it’s just that…reduced fat, not low fat. Approximately one third (36%) of the calorie source in an 8 ounce cup of reduced fat 2% milk is derived from fat.
• Americans currently consume 20-30% of their total calories from beverages. It should be more like 10-15%. If those beverages are sweetened and calories taken in are not burned off, then the body stores them, and your weight increases.
• A high sodium intake may not lead to high blood pressure, unless you are sodium sensitive. However, since it is impossible to know who is sodium-sensitive and who isn't in advance, it makes sense to err on the safe side and consume less than 2,400mg/day, which is equivalent to about a teaspoon of table salt. This means avoiding highly salted processed foods such as chips, canned soups, tv dinners, and canned vegetables.
• Yellow corn, which is also a "whole grain", is just as nutritious as whole wheat. Yellow corn is rich in carotenoids, such as lutein and zeaxanthin, which may help keep your eyes healthy. Popcorn made from yellow corn has these same nutrients (just don't add all the butter to it!) However, white corn, while tasty, is less nutritious.
• Although shrimp has more cholesterol than any other shellfish except squid, the cholesterol in shrimp has not been shown to be as much of a problem as cholesterol in other foods. Also, shrimp are very low in saturated fat, which has been shown to raise blood cholesterol more than dietary cholesterol. Furthermore, shrimp contains heart healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Therefore, shrimp can be included in a heart healthy diet.