Are you familiar with the saying, “Rain is nature’s great equalizer.”? When you first think about it, you can agree that rain falls neutrally, no rich, no poor, nature simply rains and everyone gets wet. It feels fair. Rain falls on everyone. But when you read and watch news you will see and realize that rain is not a great equalizer rather it reveals the inequality to the society....
This morning when I wake up, the day started as usual, nothing special just the usual routine, except there was some rain outside. While having coffee and checking my Facebook feed, I came across a post about the MMDA No Contact Apprehension Policy. There was this guy complaining that he received a paper notice at his residential address, but when he checked the MMDA apprehension checker website, there was no violation under his vehicle....
Back in August 2020, when I was still working at a local bank here in the Philippines, I got COVID. This was the time when the virus was still new, a dangerous air over the world, and no one really understood it yet. It was terrifying. People talks about it like an invisible curse, something that could slip into your lungs without warning. My symptoms weren’t severe, I lost my sense of taste and smell, had a mild flu, and felt short of breath when walking and climbing stairs....
This morning, I listened to the latest episode of Science Quickly on Apple Podcasts about Outrage Fatigue. They interviewed Tanya Lewis from Scientific American. You can find the transcript of the podcast on Scientific American. I learned that Outrage Fatigue happens when constant exposure to upsetting news leads to exhaustion and burnout. While feeling outraged can help us recognize and respond to problems, excessive outrage especially when fueled by negative content on social media can spread misinformation and cause people to withdraw from public discussions....
Confirmation bias is a cognitive pitfall that affects our ability to think critically and objectively. It will lead us to seeking information based on what our existing beliefs while ignoring the other information and evidences that contradicts it. Majority of people call it the father of fallacies because most us of are suffering to it almost daily. It is often stems from how beliefs are passed down through generations. Majority of us, especially Filipinos were raised to adopt the beliefs or worldview of our parents, whether about religion, politics etc....