Tag: thinking

Blocking Grok and other AI chat apps in the Philippines is a good idea

January 16, 2026January 16, 2026 benign0 8 Comments

Given that Filipinos are famously intellectually-stunted as it is, moves by the Philippine government to block Grok (the artificial intelligence (AI) app within X — the social media site formerly known as “Twitter” — should be a welcome development. At the moment, the Philippines is reportedly exploring options around this but under the pretext of…

Education, Society, Tech Talk

50% of Filipinos stunted at childhood in the 1980s could be why the Philippines is so intellectually-bankrupt today!

June 25, 2024 benign0 3 Comments

For many of the world’s richest — or even emerging — economies, the biggest threat to continued prosperity is a rapidly aging and, in the worst cases, declining populations. The effect of wealth and better education on fertility has long been known. As people get better-educated, enjoy a greater variety of lifestyle options, and gain…

Development, Economy, Education

Has the quality of Filipino thinking progressed?

March 22, 2023March 22, 2023 benign0 5 Comments

We’re coming to the end of the first quarter of the 21st Century and the question remains as easy to answer as ever. The biggest red flag (literally) is the continued significant presence of communists in Philippine politics and in the terrorism they sustain in the countryside. Why do these elements continue to figure prominently…

Culture, Development, Society

Lazy thinking and intellectual bankruptcy remain deeply rooted in the Philippines’ public discourse

January 14, 2023 benign0 2 Comments

In the Philippines, dumbed down political discourse can be seen in various forms of media, particularly in the way political issues and candidates are discussed and presented to the public. This can include the use of simplistic language and slogans, the emphasis on personal characteristics and image over policy positions, and the use of sensationalist…

Culture, Education, Society

“Influencers” should lead the way in educating voters and not contribute to making them dumber

February 28, 2021February 28, 2021 benign0 4 Comments

Elections are just around the corner again and it will be interesting to see whether the campaigns that will be in full swing soon will be any different to the ones we beheld in previous elections. Will these campaigns appeal to intelligence? Or will, as tradition holds, these appeal to base emotions and shallow showbiz…

Media, Politics, Society

Is there no Opposition leader other than Leni Robredo?

January 31, 2021 benign0 6 Comments

Tick tock tick tock. The 2022 elections are just around the corner and all the venerable “thought leaders” of the Opposition could do is gush about the latest PR stunt of “vice president” Leni Robredo and defend her pale spaghetti sensibilities. You’d think a country of more than 100 million could come up with even…

Politics

How Filipinos can fix their broken “democracy”

February 8, 2020 benign0 4 Comments

Perhaps rightly so, Opposition partisans in the Philippines lament the way “democracy” is working for them nowadays. They lost an entire nation in the 2016 elections that catapulted former Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte to the presidency today and botched a chance to gain a foothold into Congress when they suffered a catastrophic loss in…

Media, Politics, Religion

Shocking PISA bottom ranking a wake up call for Filipinos to uplift education

December 8, 2019 benign0 19 Comments

What is truly shocking about the bottom ranking of the Philippines in the recently-published Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report is that Filipinos are shocked to begin with. It is hardly surprising that Filipinos scored dismally in key areas of basic education given that Philippine society has long been known as one that does…

Culture, Education