Res Ipsa Loquitur: In A Non-Legal Perspective

Res Ipsa Loquitur in Latin means the thing speaks for itself. This a legal doctrine that somehow gives the inference of negligence from the action itself which the doer has an exclusive control over it. The classic example is in malpractice cases where injury is obvious on the direct recipient of the action, especially related on health issues of forgotten surgical instruments inside body cavities after a surgical operation, or perhaps burns from unregulated heat application. These are few examples of the legal doctrine, but in this blogpost, I will not delve deeper on this. I will utilize the doctrine as a springboard to show how our beliefs, emotions and principles cloud our understanding and logic in our analysis of daily events. This is what I meant of a non-legal perspectives.

Our previous experience hinder us from seeing the obvious.

Humans are historical beings. We remember our experiences, create inferences and make decisions from our memories. We avoid a situation that will potentially inflict the same amount of discomfort or pain we had received before. Moreover, we want to repeat events that will give us optimal pleasure and benefit. That is just the nature of man. We make our actions based on the likelihood of repeating or avoiding the occurrence of a previous experience. We believe by doing so, it is more convenient to make decisions based on trends and history. However, we tend to forget that situations vary. Every situation is unique such that one situation has a unique element that other situations do not possess. Determining these unique situation attributes is a must in decision-making. What may give pain or pleasure in one situation may not be the same in another, even the individuals involved are the same, so there is no reason to believe making the same action or decision may yield the same results. One must therefore exercise due diligence everytime one is confronted with a new situation in evaluating the situation and making sense out of it. One must go to the core elements, rather than wasting time comparing the situation to prior ones on how similar and different they are from each other.

What we feel twists the reality presented to us.

Everyone ofcourse has a bad day. We are presented with various challenges everyday which eventually affects how we feel and think. Emotion is one of the most powerful driving forces in an individual. When one is happy, one seems to have an unending source of energy to accomplish things. In addition, when one feels melancholic, the feeling of sadness seemingly transforms everything from colorful to gray and white. Everything has meaning when we feel something. However, this is not simply the case. The reality maybe devoid of meaning, such that there is necessity of interpreting events. What others do are simple actions without intended meaning, but this can be misinterpreted as another by someone. This is the paranoia of reality. This happens when one dismisses what is real and believes everyone means something from simple gestures. A help may simply mean an aid, not necessarily affection or concern. An invitation for conversation may mean only desire to communicate, not personal engagement or relationship. A hug may concretely mean a physical action without expressing the need to comfort another. The thing speaks for itself and that anything may mean another, or even none at all.

Our personal agenda will always be our utmost concern in situation analyses.

The greatest challenge is to separate what it should be from what it is. As human beings, each of us have expectations on how reality should unfold. The desire to derive meaninful advantage from a situation could itself make assessment unclear. For example, a person may buy something expensive for himself or herself even without sufficient financial means, just justify the need of comforting oneself of the depressing financial condition one is in. One denies the existence of a problem, and worse one attempts to solve it even without a good grasp of reality and its magnitude. This is quite alarming that our intentions override our thoughts, instead of our thoughts making concepts and our intentions. What we think is true, may even be false, just disguised as genuine by our unquenchable desires and selfish agenda.

The point of the discussion to assess situation as it is. Our biases make it difficult to see events objectively. If in case a problem arises, one could immediately distinguish the root problem, because our perception has been become vague by some things. This is the reason why denial seems easy, because our thoughts can not be controlled in a way to free it from influences affecting the core. The thing speaks for itself. Let the obvious convince us of what consists of our reality. There are difficulties but one should accurately identify the complexity of an issue before coming up of measures to make it less complicated. As psychiatrists recommend, one must engage in self-awareness first before even attempting to solve personal problems or those of others.

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

Crab Mentality among Filipinos

Image
Many times people get accused of possessing the Filipino negative trait of crab mentality. It is  a state wherein people act like crabs when put inside a basket or a container, pull each other down for them to get out from it. One must further dissect the magnitude of the problem and reasons behind it to distinguish ways on how to deal with it and perhaps minimize it. One of my Facebook friend said that crab mentality among Filipinos is already a disease. The way she said it, it seems crab mentality can no longer be cured and is highly contagious. It is quite true because based on my observation, we can notice crab mentality everywhere. One time I made a comment in Youtube about one issue that lead some Filipino netizens to react. I was expecting they will provide further valuable insights about what I said. I have no problem with others disagreeing with my thoughts, given that everyone is entitled with their own thoughts. Suprisingly, one of those who commented, criticized my u
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

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

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

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

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

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

Shikata Ga Nai: New Perspective

Image
The first time I saw this phrase was in Facebook. It caught my eyes because it is associated with being negative but quite common and seemingly normalized. It intrigued me because it somehow compares to the Filipino saying, " Bahala na. " Literally, this Japanese phrase means "nothing can be done about it." This expression has contrasting themes, and this will be the focus of this blogpost. Have dignity in difficult times. Force majeure, a situation beyond our control. This is perhaps a tragedy, calamity or perhaps an accident, economic hardships, or just as simple as an end of a relationship. All of these situations are difficult to handle. However, even these are stress-provoking, we have to maintain dignity in ourselves. Even though one has little or no alternatives left, he or she is expected to accept and endure the pain or consequences in a dignified manner. For example, if one has budgeting deficits, one has to accept to work for long hours. So be
Read more

Bangkok, Thailand: Land of Smiles - Day 2

Image
After a very tiring but fulfilling day in the Land of Smiles, we were now ready to take the second and the last day of our short stop in Bangkok. Gaining a good grasp of the Bangkok public transport systen, we tried to avoid taking the taxi to save money and avoid traffic due to the yuletide season. From our hotel, we took the City Airport Link and BTS to the Central Pier of Chao Phraya Boat Express. Using the Orange Line, we took the boat to Tha Tien boat station. The station has some small stalls where one can buy some travel souvenirs. Items are sold starting from 200 baht (50 NOK). After a short walk, we were able to reach the the walls of Grand Palace, our first stop of the day. One must be warned not to take any entrance aside from the major entrance to avoid extra expenses from tour agent,who are taking advantage. There is a strict dress code, so one must avoid exposing too much skin when entering the premise. Since Grand Palace is a major tourist attracti
Read more