Bayan, Bayani, Bayanihan

Ngayon ay Araw ng mga Bayani, at patuloy pa ring ipinagdiriwang ang Buwan ng Wika - parehong tanda ng ating pagka-Pilipino. Hindi siguro kasing dalas iniuugnay ang Araw ng mga Bayani sa pagka-Pilipino, lalo na ngayong bukambibig na ng mga Pilipino mismo ang lahat ng baho ng ating lahi. Kung pagagawan ko kayo ng listahan ngayon ng mga katangian ng mga Pilipino, malamang ay mas maraming lilitaw na mga masasama kaysa mabubuting mga salita. Hindi naman sa sinasabi kong may mali sa iyo. Marahil, ito ay nagpapakita ng mas malawakang problema sa ating pananaw sa sarili natin bilang Pilipino. Saan nga ba nagmumula ang mga pananaw na ito?

http://www.wallsave.com/wallpaper/1600x899/philippines-flag-paint-drawn-hd-fond-d-cran-268689.html

Kung titignan natin ang ating kasaysayan, at ang paraan ng pagturo nito sa mga paaralan, hinahati ito sa mga panahon na sumailalim tayo sa kapangyarihang panlabas o ng diktador. Sa mga kamay ng mga dayuhan at ng diktador, nagmumula sa iba ang paningin natin sa Pilipino. Iilang taon pa lamang tayo maituturing tunay na demokrasya na may kalayaang hubugin ang ating sariling mga pananaw at paninindigan tungkol sa ating bansa. At sa maiksing panahong ito, karamihan ng mga nakikita natin ay pangungurakot ng may kapangyarihan, at pagbabalewala sa pangangailangan ng mas nangangailangan. Dahil ito ang nangyayari sa taas, ito rin ang pinaka matingkad na nakikita natin, kung kaya't inaangkin na natin ito bilang katangiang Pilipino. Oo, nangyayari rin ang mga yan sa pang araw-araw na mga sitwasyon ng mga pangkaraniwang tao, pero hindi lang naman ito sa bansa natin nangyayari. Kahit saan ay makakakita ka rin ng mga taong hindi kanais-nais ang ginagawa. Hindi lang nila inaangkin ito bilang katangiang likas sa kanilang kultura.

Sa halip ng mga makasariling katangiang ito, bakit nga ba hindi natin ibalik at angkinin ang kalakasan ng loob na ipinakita ng ating mga bayani? Kapag isinalin ang salitang bayani sa Ingles, ang makukuha natin ay ang salitang hero. Ngunit kung titignan natin ang pinagmulan ng salitang ito mula sa ating wika, agad na mapapansin na ang ugat nito ay ang salitang bayan. Nakatali ang pagiging bayani sa pag-uuna sa bayan bago ang sarili. May iba't ibang gamit din ang salitang bayan - maaaring ang tinutukoy nito ay ang bansang pinaroroonan, ngunit posible rin itong isalin bilang mas maliit na town. Aliman sa dalawa ang tinutukoy, makikita na ang bayan ay mas malawak sa sarili at sa mga taong malapit sa atin. At dito makikita kung ano ang kahulugan ng pagiging bayani - ang pagsagot sa pangangailangan ng nakararami nang walang kapalit.

Photo by Kevin C. Tatco
http://www.theguidon.com/2011/09/slipping-out-of-control/ 

Hindi man ito matingkad ngayon sa ating lipunan, may mga bahid din ng kabayanihang nakikita sa ating paligid. Sa nakaraang bagyo, nakita ang bayanihan upang matulungan ang mga nasalanta. Sa kasalukuyan, may libu-libong taong nasa Luneta at iba pang mga lugar sa Pilipinas at sa ibang bansa upang magprotesta sa mga taong mga inuna ang sarili kaysa sa bayan, kahit ang kauna-unahan nilang tungkulin dapat ay ang pagliligkod sa bayan. Sa araw-araw din ay may mga bayani sa ating paligid na hindi natin napapansin. Nawa'y mapasalamatan din natin sila para sa kanilang kabayanihan, at sikapin din nating maging bayani para sa iba sa sarili nating paraan.

Keep Moving Forward

I had a particularly productive day today, especially given the fact that it's a Monday and I spent my entire weekend working. I wasn't just productive with my work, but I even got around to doing yoga even when I came home feeling ridiculously tired. While most people believe that I am highly disciplined, a few of those close to me know all too well that I can in fact be very lazy. While I was proud of what I had done today, the (unofficial, unlicensed) psychologist and learning teacher in me wanted to understand what got me moving today. In the process, that led me to the idea of behavioral momentum, which is basically says that we become more likely to behave in a certain way if we have already begun engaging in similar behaviors (Ormrod, 2012). Now because of the use of the word momentum in that particular psych concept, that got me thinking about Newton's laws of motion and its possible links to our behaviors. From there, I realized that Newton's laws do not just apply to the physical motion of objects, but can also (partly) predict our behaviors. 

Law I. Every body perseveres in its state of rest, or of uniform motion in a right line, unless it is compelled to change that state by forces impressed thereon.

This reflects the idea of behavioral momentum, which is actually a double-edged sword in our behaviors. When we are in a state of rest, it is often very difficult to get started, unless we have a force that compels us to get off our lazy butts and start moving. But once we do encounter that force to get us started, be it external pressure or our powers of self-regulation, we are likely to keep engaging in that behavior - at least until we encounter a roadblock. This roadblock might initially come in the form of a notification from a social networking site, a nagging thought, or a reminder of an unfinished task. Now when this roadblock cues a very strong habit, this may exert a force strong enough to stop us in the middle of whatever activity we're doing. And once we entertain these and get started on our habits, that becomes even more difficult to stop because there is so little force required to keep a habit moving. The fact that we use the term "force of habit" suggests their strong push on us, so the key step here is preventing reminders of these habits from making their presence felt in the first place (Wood & Neal, 2007). 

From http://theoatmeal.com/comics/running

Law II. The alteration of motion is ever proportional to the motive force impressed; and is made in the direction of the right line in which that force is impressed.

You're probably more familiar with this law in terms of formulas like f = ma (i.e., force = mass x acceleration) and a = f/m (acceleration = force/mass). Let's focus on that second formula on acceleration. How much speed we gain depends on opposing influences - while we have some force pushing us towards our desired direction, there is some mass that is also holding us back. It's quite fitting that Motte's (1729) translation of Newton used the term motive force, so we can think about this force as our motivation. Our motivation drives us toward our goals, but anyone who has ever given in to that plate of sisig while on a diet, or spent an hour on Facebook instead of studying knows that motivation is not enough. There is that mass, that Blerch as The Oatmeal puts it, that weighs us down and slows down our progress. The Blerch can come in many forms, and it is essential to identify what our Blerch is. By knowing its nature and its specific influence on us, we can increase our motivational force (as well as supporting forces like self-regulation) to reduce its effects on our acceleration.

Law III. To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction; or the mutual actions of two bodies upon each other are always equal, and directed to contrary parts.

In traditional conceptions of behaviorism, people were thought of as machines that only reacted predictably to the stimuli in our environment. But years later, the social cognitive theorists, particularly Bandura came up with the idea of reciprocal determinism, where individuals, behaviors, and the environment all exert an influence on one another (Ormrod, 2012). All of our behaviors have some impact on the people and events around us, but all of the people and events around as also have an impact on our behaviors. Therefore, what we do can have a lasting impact on ourselves along with the people and things around us. This, I think, is both inspiring and terrifying. 

References

Newton, I. (1729). Newton's principia: The mathematical principles of natural philosophy. (A. Motte, Trans.). New York: Daniel Adee. (Original work published 1987)

Ormrod, J.E. (2012). Principles of learning (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. 

Wood, W., & Neal, D. (2007). A new look at habits and the habit-goal interface. Psychological Review, 114(4), 843-863.