A Shot at Perfection
(In a Lab)
Kabataan ang pag-asa ng bayan.
I.
Jose Rizal, the essential Filipino man and the father of perennially quoted sound bites, once said, Ang kabataan ang pag-asa ng bayan (The youth is the hope of the nation). He said this towards the end of the nineteenth century, at a time when the privileged youth were being sent away to Europe to be educated. He hoped that they would return and turn our country around. He died, of course, without seeing this happen. Two world wars, a dictator, countless yellow ribbons and a few EDSA revolutions later – what do we have?
We’ve been an audience to this continuous growing of our country. From kalesas to 8 million dollar worth Porsche cars; secondhand chalks and blackboards to Samsung Galaxy S Tabs. But then what can these new inventions contribute to the widening hole of problems that’s been bugging every government officials and even us, citizens for almost a hundred of years? I used to think, yes, they can help in a way technology can explain; that they can be an agent to our economic growth. And yet, people told me that no, they can’t. They’re the cause of extreme addictiveness to teenagers and even a source of several radiation diseases. But come to think of it, aren’t we the one who manipulated the results technology has given us? It’s doing its best to be a help to the community and the entire nation, but we, spoiled users, are the one who’s creating its negative effects.
The Internet and electronic commerce have captured
our imagination by giving us new dreams of success and power.
II.
WALID MOUGAYAR.
I’d love to think that Steve Jobs lived a life where lucid dreaming came over him, and that success would serve as a sweet, sugary cocktail. Creating such an invention that changed the world’s communication and information was a thought that can only come to dreamful persons, and yes, he was such; for he strived and strived, and finally created a virtual world where anyone can connect to each other.
Computers double their performance every
18 months. So the danger is real that they
could develop intelligence and take over the world.
III.
STEPHEN HAWKING.
It’s still within us; within our fragile hands lay the future of the nation. It’s us who should serve as the driving forces of our current humanity and as positive dictators of this strange virtual world. The perfection is in how the world provides everything we need for our worldly lives. God designed a world so perfect that it works in harmony for us to receive His love in the forms that allow us to become his soldiers, living out His intentions. I refer to The Divine Comedy wherein Dante, whilst in the Sixth Circle of Inferno, states that the only true sources of wealth are nature, and the human work derived from it. It’s not just about what we can do, anymore. It’s what we should do. And that we can still strive for natural and virtual perfection, even just inside a school lab.
Computer technology...could play a role
in rebuilding community by improving
communication, economic opportunity,
civic participation, and education.
- Douglas Schuler
"I couldn't understand it. I couldn't believe there were Pokémon that liked people.
Because, up until that moment, I'd never known a Pokémon like that. The longer my journey continued, the more unsure I became. All I kept meeting were Pokémon
and people who communicated with one another and helped one another. That was why I needed to confirm my beliefs by battling with you. I wanted to confront you
hero-to-hero. I needed that more than anything." Insert your narcissistic description of yourself here.