The Foolish Side of Us

There are things we do that no one could understand because it is beyond the usual we do and how we think and behave. It may even be within what is expected but it is still devoid of any sign of logic and even a pinch of critical thinking. This is when people think that we do foolish things or simply we just make a mess out of our life. And foolishly, this will be the focus of this blogpost.

Only emotions could explain

The rollercoaster of emotions is probably every individuals greatest challenge. To note, the greatest motivation is being recognized by being the person one is, and the good actions one has done for oneself or others. Deprive a person of this need and motivation, then one could foolishly get one attention just to get recognition he or she thinks deserves. After all being seen is the first step to being recognized. Sometimes, to be seen may be done in either positive or negative light.

The past experiences that drive us crazy

We are historical beings. Our past experiences affect how we act today. We may have forgotten what had happened to us in the past, but our consciousness is severely influenced by everything in the past. We learn from the past such that we automatically avoid what hurt before, but on how we do avoid them is the ultimate question. We may irrationally or erratically attempt to avoid them by looking like fools. No reasons, just foolish actions. By understanding, accepting and being aware of these past influences will aid us find answers why sometimes we act like fools.

The curiosity of doing something foolish

Teenagers do foolish things out of curiosity. Every human beings has a need for novel experiences. We continuously test our own boundaries, although we do not want to have drastuc changes that come with foolishness. Some of us do not see the causal logical relationship between foolishness and unexpected changes. Nevertheless, sometimes just for once we act foolishly because we want to feel something new out of being innately curious.

Intentional craziness to do something different

Sometimes it is good to irritate people by being foolish, especially when they least expected that you behave foolishly. It is one's intention to test out people's patience or tolerance to how they respond to our actions. It maybe irritating to be on the other side of the coin, but this actually means a person who attempts to test you is a person who is comfortable with your company. No one assumingly behaves foolishly with a person who one thinks would not accept him or her no matter how foolish one could be.

The child in us is awaken

Most of us associate being foolish with immaturity. The lack of hindsight is closely related with lack of experience that may come naturally with age. However, this does not exclude the possibility that at times, we want to be like child again. After all, when we were young, we never thought entirely of responsibilities, consequences or repercussions of our actions. That maybe a need for everyone to-be sometimes. We all remember how comfortable and fun it was to be or behave like children.

The rebellious non-conformist

There are sets of social standards in this world that everyone must conform. Nobody seems to forget that everyone of us are social beings. We are simply judged by others day-by-day or in everything we do. The standards and the expectations could be so high that we end up giving up on the way, thus we do something the opposite of what is expected of us.

Lastly, being foolish is being human. We are not designed to behave perfectly, although structurally we were made and born to be perfectly-well. Everything is allowed as along as we do not hurt others theoretically, but most of the time being fool unnecessarily involves others, thus hurting them either intentionally or not. However, I think one could be foolish yes, but perhaps not all the time. The irony is that to be foolish is to be reasonably foolish. Perhaps, that is the crazy type of being human.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular This Week

Cebuano: The Language and The People

Image
Living in Norway for over 2 years, I have often encountered questions about the languages I speak. I usually answered I speak Norwegian, English and two Filipino languages. Then, people start asking if the second Filipino language is a dialect of the other. Given my mother tongue is Cebuano, the second language referred, I abruptly debunk the misconcept that it is a mere dialect. My most common explanation is that all Filipinos speak the Filipino language, but those who only learn to speak Filipino have difficult time understanding or communicating with one speaking Cebuano. Throughout the span of my childhood, I got to grasp the political and cultural differences of Filipinos speaking Filipino language or Tagalog as referred by most, and those coming from the Southern Philippines speaking Cebuano. The language in itself has become the boundary between the two groups of people. Due to their innate differences, misunderstandings result, not because of mere language confusion, but of cu
Read more

Filipino Body Language

Image
Non-verbal communication is an essential part in a society, as well as understanding the values the community believe in. This reflects a good overview of how communication and tradition have evolved through time. These expressions are never constant, such that meaning changes from time to time, and is greatly affected by the events or the kind of environment one belongs in. Filipinos, being a society with mixed Asian and Western influences have unique facial and body expressions. These are the focus of this blogpost. 1. Silent stare Stares could mean evil look for Filipinos. It may indicate sarcasm or manipulation. It is considered rude to this, especially when in a conversation because it may also indicate disinterest or disrespect. 2. Lip/Eye pointing This is quiet funny gesture common not just in the rural areas, but also in urban communities. It is quiet hard to explain the direction in verbal language, so it is better to point them vaguely, interestingly with the use of lips,
Read more

Debt of Gratitude: A Filipino Social Phenomenon

Image
"Scratch my back and I will scratch yours." - This describes the prevailing Filipino social phenomenon of debt of gratitude. It is an attempt of one to repay the other, who in the past had done something good or beneficial to him or her. This has been magnified by other social phenomena such as the continued emigration of Filipino workers outside the Philippines, such that remittances are actually in the form of payment to their families, as an expression of long-lasting debt of gratitude. This is just an example of how this phenomenon has shaped the Filipino society and culture. In this blogpost, an in-depth analysis will be made to showcase the advantages and disadvantages of this phenomena, as various concepts and ideas revolving around it are enumerated throughout the discussion. 1. It exists in any type of relationship; familial, working, spiritual and others. Because of man's social nature, there will be periods of self-sufficiency and vulnerability. During time
Read more

Solve: Why Math is Hard?

Image
Before I became a nurse, teacher, licensed real estate appraiser, I became first as a mathematics lover. Some consider me a geek then, but I was not, I just simply love the logic of mathematics. Now, I can say my mathematics skills have deteriorated significantly, when I am confronted with numbers, I do not leave my chair not until I somehow figure out what could be the problem. So, why then mathematics is difficult to many of us? Is there something can be done? Mathematics is much more than counting and simple arithmetic. It is a cumulative science in which new results are built upon and depend on earlier results. Humans have accumulated a huge amount of mathematical knowledge – far    more than a person can learn in a lifetime, even if the person spent all of their time studying mathematics. This history perhaps will give us the impression the necessity of mathematics. We may not appreciate the subject, but it useful because without it, the world will end up in chaos, for sure
Read more

Bullying: A Part of Filipino Culture?

Image
Bullying became a hot topic in Norway today after a young teenager died of emaciation due to eating disorder that was primarily linked to anxiety from bullying at school. This was quite taboo in this Scandinavian country, given the nation is very keen on respecting socio-cultural differences and on protection against any form of discrimination. Discussions have been made on how to handle and prevent bullying and who takes the responsibility in these cases, whether the family, school or the State. Personally, I was not reacting in anyway as my mind says the concept is remote and almost impossible to happen in the Philippines. Perhaps, I was referring it to death, but not to bullying. However, after several days I was quite uneasy on the topic and further asked myself if I was ever bullied before and what it has caused me in the long-term basis. To my surprise, bullying was a crucial point in my childhood. My coping skills allowed me to hide in my consciousness what had happened
Read more

Happiness is Like a Glass of Water

Image
The constant struggle of finding and experiencing happiness is always present. Many people try different ways to achieve a state of satisfaction and contentment that people seem to observe from others than being innately within themselves. This makes happiness seem a phenomenon of the third person than being owned. The reason perhaps why we think this way is that we see happiness more than how we should see a plane glass of water. This blogpost will focus on this. When you see a glass of water what would you think? Do you think of the glass that contains the water? Do you seem to make expectations on what the water should be before you drink it, cold or warm or perhaps sparkling? Do you think of water only when you are thirsty or not? These are the guide questions, this blogpost will revolve around to make an analogy between happiness and a glass of water. The Glass What shows on the outside is not necessarily what is inside. The glass sometimes influence our thirst. We human beings
Read more

7 Reasons Why Many Filipinos are Good Singers

Image
One thing that makes me proud of being Filipino is that there are many good singers in our country. I am not saying that the Philippines has the best singers in the world, but it is obvious that many Filipinos have showed to the world the God-given talent they have. 1. Parents encourage their children to develop their singing talents Children singing old songs and acting as if the song fits them well. Love songs, rock, whatever genre songs maybe Filipino children can sing that. Some even report that children learn humming a melody before able to speak well. Ofcourse, parents are very crucial in the development of this talents. If a talent has been acknowledged at an early age, this provides time for child to improve his or her talent in singing. Watch the newly-launced TV show Voice Kids Philippines. 2. Competition helps produce more good singers The most-watched Television shows in the Philippines are singing competition. Most artists are discovered in these platform
Read more

Online Bashing Tells About the Basher

Image
Online bashing has become very common in social media. It seems everyone who makes mistakes maybe a subject of ridicule and criticism. The  major disadvantage and difference of a usual physical attack and online bashing is its anonymity and scale. Many bashers would hide themselves anonymous and gain more confidence to attack verbally the person at hand. Moreover, since the online space is literally unlimited so anyone could literally read comments and opinions, further aggravating and even tolerating the verbal attack. This makes online bashing as a grear threat to anyone in the social media today. On its essence, online bashing is a non-physical verbal highly partisan and personal attack on an individual expressing dissent, non-comformity, irrelevance and weakness in being at par or within a certain standard of discourse or behavior, with the aim of influencing others to do the same against the person, express an opinion and either directly and indirectly gain from it. By this long
Read more

3 Comparisons Between Norwegian and Filipino Values

Image
I am entering my fifth year of residing in Norway. Many things have happened during this short period of time, both good and bad. However, one of that is worthy to highlight is how I realized the big contrast between prevailing values between Norwegian and Filipino cultures. I can only talk about these two in particular, although there are somehow similiraties between the Norwegian culture with those of coming from Europe, as well that with Filipino and other Asian societies. This blogpost will present three comparative points to exhibit the diversity of culture. COMPARISON 1 Norwegian: Able decide independently for oneself Filipino: To fight for what is most important Freedom and passion may not be on the same side always. Freedom is the ultimate virtue in the Norwegian culture. One may or may not be passionate of what Norwegians are doing, but most important is that they decided on them by themselves, such that no one has dictated on them what they are supposed to do.
Read more

What Make Filipinos Happy?

Image
According to the recent Happiness Index and Positive Experience Index (2015), Filipinos are considered one of the happiest in the world. There are many empirical evidence supporting this, including the magnitude of resilence and effectiveness of Filipinos in coping with several calamities and personal challenges. There are ofcourse scepticism on these researches, given that happiness could not even be measured objectively, and even more difficult to be compared. Happiness is indeed subjective, such that it is experienced differently among various persons with unique backgrounds and histories. Therefore, it is a challenge to make a summary or list of what makes one happy for a certain group of people, such as Filipinos. However, there are similarities among Filipinos that one could deduce effectively to answer what makes Filipinos happy. This is the focus of this blogpost. Family counts first. Family is most powerful source of motivation and happiness for Filipinos. More importantly, 
Read more