Procrastination as a prelude to productivity?

 Yeah, I have something else to do right now.. Typical, huh?

However, I find that doing a bit of creative work like this immediately before doing the more important thing kind of resets my mind for the more arduous task at hand. I have been sitting on this plan to prepare a presentation about my recently concluded paper for a couple of days now, and I just can't seem to get started. It seems that I am having trouble with initiating important tasks, and instead fall into the technology trap of browsing soc-med ad other frequented sites instead. (No, I do not consider Blogger to be a soc-med site. I hardly ever come here except to bridge myself into working shape)

So, now what?

I really didn't have a topic in mind as I began this post, as I find it therapeutic to just sometimes let my stream of consciousness flow.

I now am seriously contemplating the question "What do I get out of blogging in the middle of procrastination?"

Lately I have found myself struggling to find focus. Practicing  a small bit of the mindfulness I mentioned in a previous post, I noticed that when I write creatively, it helps me focus on myself as I type away. I begin to zero in on the keyboard, the letters, the grammar of what I want to say (although not too much, since this is a stream-of-consciousness thing). I was never a touch typist, nor will I ever be because of certain physical limitations, so I tend to look at the keyboard as I type.. Ad now I find looking at the keyboard quite soothing.. It's just me, my thoughts, and this platform on which I will put them up on.

Part of me is tempted to go into another long tirade about the evils of social media and how it affects the modern way we do things, but I don't think that would be appropriate at this time since there are other more pressing matters that demand my attention and effort. I don't have the time or energy for another angry rant. 😅 

Going forward, when everything has been said and done, I have decided to follow a 31-day blogging plan, which I hope would increase my creative output. Hoever, if the topics scheduled may seem too personal, I may just abandon the project altogether. I dunno.. we just have to see what traspires in the coming weeks..

Unsocial Media

 041721 1830H

An unexpected internet outage during a restful weekend is responsible for today's entry, although given the aforementioned conditions, it is still unknown when this entry will be posted.

A bit of Coronavirus update to get that out the way:

The country is on pace to breach a million cases by month's end (as was earlier predicted). To say that this new wave was surprising would be the understatement of the century. Things were already apparently improving.. Case numbers were pretty much under control.. Hospital beds were already freeing up, and people had already resumed some semblance of normalcy for a month or so already... Then it happened..

An unprecedented exponential growth in the number of new cases was seen. Ironic that this had to occur when vaccination programs were finally underway.. I can't say it's a local thing either.. Across the globe, governments are grappling with new unexpected waves which threaten to overwhelm (once again) the already worn-down health systems.. However, I find a country in particular to be suspicious.. This country of origin of the virus is not reporting any surge.. Could be because of under reporting by the secretive and selfish government, or maybe because if they actually made the virus, they have perfected a way to immunize against it while watching the rest of the world burn. Then they will strike hard (as they are already doing in nearby areas) while the rest of the world is hurting. A part of me wonders if this new surge may have been powered by foreign actors with hostile intent who have introduced these new deadlier strains to unsuspecting populations of various nations.. but enough of that..

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The main topic I wish to tackle here is the corruption of modern society by means of social media. Simply put, social media gives a platform for everyone, even those who don't deserve it. Some may argue that everyone deserves to have a voice.. That may be true in an ideal world, but if you have charismatic nutjobs spewing forth lies and disinformation which would be readily gobbled up by a gullible public, then you have a recipe for disaster. I think that human beings by nature are not meant for this kind of stimulation. Sure, education would help, but to what extent? Even educational systems can be flawed, and people in power could twist the system to push their own narrative. A good example would be those crazy science deniers in the US who wish to remove the theory of evolution from the school curriculum due to an outdated notion of creationism. I have my own faith, but I'm also rational enough to know that you just can't explain everything away by miracles and magic. Unfortunately, there seems to be a lot of people who are stuck with these very backward notions.

I wouldn't call it stupidity or ignorance per se.. Some of these people supposedly come from educated backgrounds, and you could carry out an intelligent conversation with them (theoretically), but their belief systems are so hopelessly backward and skewed that opening a conversation with them about rational things devolves into a debate with a child. There are two sides to every coin though. The rational thinkers should not be so condescending in their approach. I think its the initial approach that turns off many of the ignorant. At the same time, I get how it must be so absolutely frustrating trying to explain proven truths to someone who stubbornly refuses to budge like a spoiled child.

Now take the aforementioned problem, and magnify that a million-fold by putting it on the internet, the "Information Superhighway". It is so ironic that such a massive storehouse of knowledge is actually making people dumber. The insane amount of information enables the nutjobs to cherry-pick their beliefs and push their narratives with "evidences" scattered all throughout the forest of uncurated data. I guess the internet grew too fast, too soon, and people were just not ready fr it. Efforts to teach people to discern and digest the information they see on the web, and to not take it at face value, is laudable but seems a bit futile.. The internet can now be freely accessed by almost everyone (who is not living in China or North Korea), and the number of uninformed, immature "netizens" vastly outnumbers those who are trying to set things straight.

Another problem is that the people who are "under-informed" often do not wish to be educated because they are already comfortable with the limited information that they have. They shun the value of expert opinions and hard scientific data and instead point to where the mob is going and say that they want to go that way too, because, uh, people..

I read somewhere before that "A person is smart, people are stupid", and that is so true on the internet, especially on social media. You see a mob drowning out rational voices, often due to paid trolls who are in the business of taking down good people, who would then incite normal clueless individuals to do the same because of the herd mentality. I really wonder how many of these so called trolls would dare behave the way they do online in real life.. People have now abandoned common decency for a quick buck, or for a chance to shout that they won an argument despite the fact that they are wrong. It is this childish bullying mentality that is now so pervasive on the web and causes a great deal of stress for so many people and has driven so many to do self-harm, or worse.

I am now forced to recall that I had experienced a bit of cyber-bullying myself way back during my formative years. The internet was still in its infancy, but new media had enabled people to post disguised hurtful interactions publicly. So yeah, that happened, and although it was mild compared to what kids may go through today, it still left an indelible mark on my psyche, enough to make me a bit more distrustful of people in general.

I guess that is why I prefer this as my medium of expression. I do not require nor crave validation by way of likes and views, and I have the ability to ruthlessly curate comments as I see fit.

Going back on topic. The mask of anonymity on the internet emboldens people to unleash their inner asshole, even for brief moments. The problem here lies in the fact that event just momentary events of total jackassery directed against a particular individual or group may hurt someone permanently, especially if it is posted for posterity for all the world to see. I don't want to discuss trolls, hell, I don't event wish to dignify them by giving them names. Let's just call them the unnecessary individuals on the internet. These unnecessary individuals are paid to be mean, so it is useless to engage them since you cannot change their minds, and you won't be able to get your hands on them anyway, so stop wasting your time. However, if they do manage to identify and track down these individuals, I will just turn the other way and let the other very angry and vengeful people have their way with them. ;)

Ok, I think I let off enough stem for one day. Time to move on to more important, real-world things.

Stay safe.
 

Getting past the (writer's) block

The downside of not writing for a really long time is that it gets really difficult to get started again, and that includes writing scientific papers. So, in order to get past this writer's block that I seem to have hit (and thus finally get my paper going), I shall return to the blogging scene after this apparently long hiatus.. hehe

A LOT has happened in the months that passed, and it would be too exhaustive to go into detail about al of them, but I guess I'll give it a shot.. :P

Its been about 5 months since the end of training. Finishing the aforementioned research paper and preparing for another diplomate exam should keep me occupied for the next few months. :/

Finally achieving this much-desired change of pace is something really new for me. I'm finally rid of having to go on duty at the hospital forever. (Bwahahahaha! :P) I've spent the better part of the first month clearing out stuff from my room, including setting aside some little-used clothes for charity. :) There was also a lot of catching up to do with the considerable sci-fi backog I had built up in the last couple of years or so.. hehehe

I've actually missed this.. being able to just creatively unload my thoughts on a blank slate which would serve as an online memoir of sorts in the years to come.

My wrist hurts.. probably carpal tunnel syndrome.. Serves me right for all those late-night sessions with the iPad before going to bed. I've already gotten rid of most of my games, especially those that can run offline, but I just cant seem to remove a couple which tie me and the guys together (since we're such total geeks :P). A litte more self discipline won't hurt, and will probably go a very long way..

I realize that I really need this writing session to help me get used to being productive in front of the computer again. Otherwise, I would just wander off to read some sensationalist news or social media garbage.. I really miss the good old days when people would just blog or participate in forums, where people had to actually exert an effort to go out and read stuff and think about it (since they had already made an effort to find it in the first place), instead of just being stuffed right infront of an immature audience who tends to have this underlying impulse to freely comment whatever shit opinion they may have at the moment without really thinking about it just because the info was so easy to come across.

The hate and vitriol on the internet, primarily on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter is sickening, and makes me question where humanity is really headed. I'm no saint, and I admit that my emotions have been swayed at times based on some stuff I had come across.. Even more sickening is the fact that governments have finally resorted to using the internet as a tool, and in the wrong hands could cause a lot more harm than previously thouht possible. Just take a look at what is happening now in the US, with their hateful and spiteful leader taunting people over Twitter like a spoiled child. Or if one would go locally, the presence of these faceless social media trolls whose main aim isto make people angry, opinionated, or downright nasty against each other, and the das fact is that some peope are actually paid to do this..

The world was never really a perfect place to begin with, but the outpouring of such negativity online has me wanting for better days, when things were much simpler, when people were actually more civil towards each other due to the lack of anonymity, and when opinions were better thouhgt out before being displayed in the public forum for all to see.

Social media has allowed everyone's inner jerk to reign free, since there is no apparent threat of actual retaliation in real life. People have abandoned decency at times just to satisfy a pathological need to be noticed and be right no matter what the cost.. :( Is this really what we will become? A race of entitled brats who pounces on anyone who does not see things their way? I believe in free speech, but it does not grant you the license to act like an asshole towards others just because they don't know or won't be able to know you personally anyway.

I used to think that the creepy side of the internet was confined to stalkers, sexual predators, serial killers, shady individuals who wish to rob you through technologically advanced means (or even just through simple scams for those who are gullible enough), and probably some other deep web stuff that I probably wouldn't even want to know about.. :/ But now all of a sudden its the basic creepiness of human nature that resides in all of us that scares me.. :( I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm disappointed at people..

I used to laugh at the concept of people saying that society is in decay and all that stuff, but when I take a look at the internet and see how much it has permeated all the aspects of our life, I can't help but believe that its true... :(

I've been watching sitcoms lately, and currently have FRIENDS in my sights, and I must say that even though its funny, it sometimes gad a little sad at times due to its unspoken commentary about the way things are in this modern age. I won't go into details at the moment though, because think this post has been depressing enough.. Still good writing therapy though :D

Twit Twit!

I've been fooling around with Twitter lately. I initially signed up for an account a year ago just to make sure no one got my username. :P That being said, my Twitter lay dormant for the longest time, with me hardly adding anything nor tweeting a single character of text.

Then I met a friend who's totally into it. Having added him up (for lack of anything better to do), I began replying to some of his Tweets. Then I began looking at other people's Tweets. Then I started adding other people/personalites/organizations. Then I started reading the news via Twitter.

And just like that, I found myself hooked, though not to the point where I just sit around and sift through tweets all day. :P

My skepticism gave way to curiosity and genuine interest. This is actually a great social tool. Not as revealing as, say Facebook, yet it allows you to place your current thoughts out there in real time for all the world to see. The premise is so simple that it worked great!

Just when I thought I was going to get a whole lot more studying done.. :P

Weaning Off

I've had enough!

As the second half of the year gets going, I have resolved to put my foot down and wean myself from my addiction to Facebook. :P Looking back at the previous year, I find that quite a sizeable chunk of my time is spent online checking my mousetrap, ghost trap,  or fishing line, tending to my farm and resto, answering silly quizzes or surveys, or viewing my friends' pictures or random thoughts..

Seeing residency time draw nearer served as a wake-up call for me. It's time I removed myself from the computer where I was accomplishing absolutely NOTHING, so that I could make a good effort to hit the books and prepare myself for "the next big step". (although I won't be giving up blogging anytime soon. ;) Thanks to achi "goldengirl" for the encouraging words! Its nice to know people actuallly like reading my blog :D)

Its not impossible, but it can be done. However, the UAAP season just started... :P and that's a story for another day. Hehehe

By the way, here are the UAAP opening day scores

UST def AdU 76-75 (This was the first UAAP game of former King Stallion Jeric Teng, where he came off with 3 markers. Go USTe!)

UE def DLSU 65-41 (lowest scoring output ever by DLSU in the UAAP)