My Rear View

My Rear View is my social commentary on our society, on the micro and macro level. It is nested on this blogspot: sociologymall168.blogspot.com. I chose this title after musing on what title to pick or formulate so I decided on My Rear View. I likened this title as to the rear view mirror of a vehicle. I quipped one time that, the past is past but it is all over us up to this time. The past is history and I am convinced that we can learn a lot from history. ***** Reading from North Frye, I came into these reflections on how humans will fulfill the human agenda as it relate with nature, though he is part of it: Humans: 1. Will always make a meaning on how it relates with nature, 2. Will discover the use value of nature towards human projects and human ends, 3. Will contend with the morality of its relationship with nature and humans as how nature is used for human purpose, 4. Will define the limits of these relationships and will project to regulate human actions, 5. Providing a meaning of these dynamics as it comes into play, having in mind the direct outcomes and the indirect or latent ones. ***** A friend of this Catholic country, Pope Francis of Vatican came for a five day memorable experience by the faithful. Estimates by authorities say that close to 6 to 7 million people attended the open Eucharistic celebration held at the Quirino grandstand at Luneta. The ocean of people shown by the media is a political message in itself. For in numbers, there is power. Today, Monday, Pope Francis will bid the country goodbye. The euphoria was expressed and will settle down. We will be back to "business-as-usual", the slow grind of justice in our court systems will take its own toll. The traffic jam from EDSA to Baguio City will still be experienced. Jockeying for positions in the 2016 election machinery will the gears be oiled. I would like to suggest that the Catholic Dioceses will take seriously the studying of Pope Francis messages. The faithful should go back to the text, read, study and apply it to the Christian demands of living in society. If this will not be done then the visit may go into oblivion. Pope Francis in a way was changed by this experience as much as the faithfuls of this country is also changed. ***** In Pope Francis' message last 16 January at the Malacanan, "[T]ogether with many other countries in Asia, faces the challenge of building on solid foundations a modern society - a society respectful of authentic human values, protective of our God-given human dignity and rights, and ready to confront the new and complex political and ethical questions." With this quote Pope Francis believes that the march of modernization cannot be stopped. The main feature of this modern and complex society is that knowing will be based on scientific activity. A new set of "priests" will be the scientists studying intently the behavior of nature and predict its outcome. Thus, we will be seeing the continuing establishments of centers of learning like universities, colleges and now the huge open-online system of learning propelled by computers, search engines like Google and Yahoo platforms. This new millenium will be the talk of humans wherein knowledge, its production and usage will be the talk of the town. The good news is that knowledge is now easily accessible and it lies at the top of one's palm by using a smart phone. *****

Is it better to know?

Stephen Colbert interviews Dr. Neil De Grasse Tyson.

Who owns knowledge?

Although land was once the primary basis of all wealth, modern studies show that knowledge is now the primary driver of economic growth, and further, that this makes traditional moral arguments more, not less, relevant today. To understand why-and what it means both morally and politically-we need to grasp some basic facts about economic growth and how we accumulate wealth.