CLE QUIZ on Morality

A.Preliminary Questions

The behavior/ action I chose would be the implementation of death penalty to reinforce and exercise justice. In my perspective, I would consider this to be the right action to take against the most notorious criminals. This is because of the implications that arises from this practice. The death penalty / capital punishment is simply to exert pressure to the public to reduce the possibility of crimes.  My basis from this is derived from my own reasoning. Applying the death penalty into judicial systems can have an impact in the psyche of the people in the area – discourage them to commit any crimes especially the one classified under murder. Without the death penalty, there is the possibility of ex-inmates committing the crime and this is derived from his/ her  experience from his/ her respective first murder victim. Usually, murder suspects grow this habitual tendency to explore more of this feeling every after murder which results to even more killings.  Thus, through the practice of death penalty, people would gradually have to learn to surpress this feeling and avoid other vices that correspond to the same level of offense under murder.

However, I too have to consider the negative implications of enacting the death penalty. Firstly, the question that lingers around this issue would be, ” Who are we to judge one’s life on?” The emergence of life deciding factors into the situation can prove to be a big obstacle which makes this issue a hot debated topic across the globe. Each and one of us have no right to terminates one’s life, but my stance still stands clear in spite of my contradictory views. I still believe that the implementation of the death penalty will be beneficial for society because of the magnitude of effects.

Under certain situations,  some practices or behaviors need not to be classified under bad nor sinful. For instance, stealing, one of the most misunderstood underhanded practices, can be used for the good. A paragon of this example could be found in the tale of Robin Hood. Because of the King John’s tyranny, the people suffered heavy financially. As a result a daunting person who went under the alias of Robin Hood performed clandestine acts to recover the assumed “stolen wealth” of the people by invading the castle of the King. Due to his valiant acts, he was exalted in his society and labelled him a hero, but on the other hand, the government saw this act as an offense against the state. Hence, he had to perform these acts under the shadows, unnoticeable by the public eye. Therefore not all of the unethical actions can be deemed to be not absolutely wrong or sinful. The main focus should be the motive behind the act before we can classify these acts under bad or sinful.

Based on my answers, I guess I can describe myself to be a rationalist by the fact that I laid down my viewpoints on issues both the negative and positive effects.

B.

Keper, deciding whether the death penalty can be ethically incorrect can be absolutely difficult. Several issues can arise from this practice such as the implications and other factors, but it is up to you to decide whether to classify this act to be immorally correct. Base it on your reasoning. If you find the practice to be favorable through weighing the implications, then perhaps the practice may be ethical. However you should also take note of the negative side-effects of the practice in order to gain a better picture of the whole issue. Let me ask you, what are your feelings towards this practice? If you find yourself on the fault, then maybe it is an indication that you are against this act; then again if your feelings lie true to your opinionated views of the situation, maybe the act is correct. However before deciding on it to be correct, cast some suspicion behind your choice. Create hypothetical situations wherein this practice will apply into the context of your situation. Likewise, if you find nothing wrong about the practice then it can be a sign of acceptance. Overall, the decision lies with you but do not rush with decision-making, arrive to your stance by using your reasoning and emotions .

Effects of Oil on the tastes of Kropek

From the food tasting experiment , it is seen that oil is a factor that affects the taste of a certain kind of food. The canola oil and vegetable oil samples for example gave off nearly an identical taste with canola adding a pinch to the spicy flavor of the Kropek compared to the other oils. The Kropek that was cooked in Palm oil surprisingly tasted like detergent for some odd reason. But we should still take into consideration of what type of Kropek was use during the experiment. The ingredients of an uncook Kropek is definitely also a factor that affects the tastes. For me, I think the oil that yielded the most taste from the Kropek would be the canola oil and canola oil is commercially cheap.

Food?Food!

Everyone has his or her own palette of taste in food. For instance, a Westerner would view Eastern cuisine something foreign or that is out of their taste range. Likewise, the behavior of an Easterner would be the same as the Westerner mentioned previously before. It is just the matter of being accustomed to it or not. Aside from the food being somewhat foreign, everyone considers his or her pet peeves. A best example of this would be the creepy crawlers. As it is seen in television shows, the contestants look really disgusted when they either plunge or taste into a world full of instincts. Another element that we should consider would be the perception on whether a food is dirty or not. People do not normally eat food that they classify as dirty.

 

Food as everyone defines the term is one of the greatest spices of life. People just enjoy munching on their favorite food which can be crunchy, soft, sweet,sour, spicy, bitter and many other more descriptions.

 

In my opinion, normal food is considered to be something like a custom. For example, the Chinese people have different views on food when it comes to Western food. They say that Western cuisine is unhealthy due to the heavy use of oil. On the contrary, the not so normal food problem can arise from the same situation. In the blog entries, most of the food showcased were from Asia leaving with the assumption of the blogger growing up in a Western atmosphere where Western cuisine is more prevalent.

 

5 Most Weirdest Foods:

 

1. Eating any kind of Insect dish : Locals keep talking about the nutritional contents of these bugs, but when eaten, the splash and the squirming feeling of the bug succumbing to the mouth’s environment just does not appease my mind.

 

1. Ingesting Korean Ginger: A bottle that contains a 3-month preserved ginger. The taste is really alien and has this weird aftertaste that is way beyond my ordinary cup of tea

 

1. Dog dumplings or cat dumplings :  Seriously?!  I don’t see the point on why people cook domesticated housed animals.

 

1. Horse meat: Not the average meat that I can find at the market. Horse meat can be really tough, but I do not know why people enjoy it in spite of finding it really hard to bite and chew.

 

5) Kimchi: Truth is I really abhor spicy foods, but this dish is was beyond that level.

CLE Face to Faith Reflection

In the past twelve years of my Xavier life, it has been a privilege to learn and incorporate the core values that Xavier offers. Ever since then, these principles revolutionize the way how I see and think of issues – a holistic view on each. Apart from the benefits of education, Xavier also encourages students to hone their leadership skills with the help of several programs. Another aspect that Xavier also covers would be the development of a student’s conscience where students are inspired to contribute for society especially towards the less fortunate. With the whole-round development program that Xavier offers, it never ceases to produce individuals who are recognized by their very abilities.

 

With the introduction of the Face to Faith program, students are now then more exposed to the realities of other people across the globe. It is as if Xavier just becomes a microcosm in the eyes of Xaverians, but even so, the school is still unique. During my Face to Faith experience with Dubai Modern High School, I cam across a number of insights that helped me augment the foundations of the teachings of Xavier School. Even though the school we interacted had a different culture, they still fostered similar ideals in resemblance to the core teachings of Xavier. For instance, the way of the other school valued leadership is attributed to the school’s extensive training under various disciplines and leaders are created through building the confidence of the students. Likewise, at Xavier, the teachers encourage us to tap our inner capabilities and translate them into something that is beneficial for society. After the VC, I felt motivated to push my capabilities as a person especially the crucial role that I was given, being the leader of Group 7,however falling short with what I should do. This is because I tend to be really taciturn which can be a hindrance every time I try to perform my duty. Even so, I hope in the near future I can overcome this problem so that I can reach my thoughts to other people in a more presentable manner. Overall, the delivery of each school was really good- both sides gave good articulated ideas with the support of examples. But I still believe that the activity could have been improved by reducing the rate at which people speak since some answers were quite blurred in the process.

 

Apart from the teachings that the activity revealed to me, another main focus would be the traditions of the mentioned culture. Again, the activity also introduced to us the side of Middle Eastern Culture and surprisingly, it also lightly tackled how they view their personal faiths.The students were exposed to the realities that the Middle Eastern culture upholds such as the worship of the other deities along with the integration of the every day activities of a person living there. In exchange, the students from Xavier also displayed their willingness to shed a few traditions that a Chinese- Filipino would practice. For instance, the Chinese normally practice ancestral veneration which involves burning incense and paper money to symbolize the affinity of materials to the afterlife. Overall,  I believe that the VC was successful as the students gained a lot of insights particularly the introduction of each schools along with the delivery on how they practice their faith.

Chem Poster

                                                                                     “It’s just simple”

 

Chemistry Levels of Pains

Top 5 Instances where I was groining in pain

1) Rolling of a cliff with military equipment – 7 ( broke a toe; Luckily, I don’t even know how I survived with minor injuries)

2) Getting electrocuted by plugging a Christmas tree – 5

3) Burned both of my hands from handling a really hot cauldron of soup . – 6

4) Being shot by plastic bbs at close range – 8

5) Gian bullying me – 9

CLE Matters

1) Exploring epistemological world views – relevant in a sense that I was able to understand the different levels or types of rationalizing world problems

2) Faith Process – a detailed method that examines the potency of insights and how it can be applied

3) Examination of the true nature of social justice –  revelation of the existence of  “social justice”

 

Skills:

1) Critical Analysis

2) Holistic Judgement

 

 

Social Justice a Social Cancer

Throughout our stay in Xavier, we’ve been constantly educated and at the same time exposed to the elements of Social Justice; we always give the “appropriate” resolution to a certain problem, but to no avail never properly execute in reality. If we ask ourselves, ” What are the causes of social injustices,” , we normally respond with an answer  that involves politics and economics. The thought process may be there, but certainly ,action through that process is not present, so information is merely stored at our heads. Therefore, I believe ignorance or inaction is the primary cause on to why Philippines is suffering from social injustices. First of all, what the SM Immersion elicited was the idea of solidarity or to sympathize with our co- workers in an ideal working environment- everything provided was rudimentary ranging from worker’s quarters to salary and aside from this fact, they received acrimony from the customers proving inequality. From an observer’s perspective, I see that wealth or power held by the people of the upper bracket draws the distinction between the two – inequality and yet, the irony there is about our ability to identify the problem (being the gap between the two social classes), but not able to address the issue.  Seemingly, that evanescent solution will slowly be revived as long as we are unceasingly presented with the problem due to our inability to act.

I want the eggs….

Cooked underwater! Get your diving suits ready cause its gonna get really wet !  With no fire, your breakfast favorite, eggs, cannot take into full shape unless if you are willing to consume it in a liquid form.

Nutritional facts of a raw egg:

Calorie        ?

Fats    ?

Cholesterol    ?

Proteins   ?

Warning Disclaimer may include: nausea, stomachaches, headaches and many more.

So?! What are you waiting for? Get those wetsuits prepared and dive into the blue yonder where eggs can be cooked (well not throughly, but still, the eggs would be finished in a solid state)

Some facts:

Altitude: The appropriate cooking process would take place below sea level, approximation of more than 1000 feet.

Temperature: Cold Temperatures reaching up to the negatives

Atmospheric Pressure: Really f***ing high and we mean it

Outcome of the egg: A relatively cold product , but consistency of the state still counts

Instructions:

1)  Your egg

2) Customize wetsuits composed of compact materials – to drastically reduce the effects of a heavily pressurized area

3) Oxygen tank – to help keep your respiratory tract receive oxygen

4) Diving Skills – for you to maneuver underwater

5) Company of friends – for increased excitement

Why have the eggs cooked below sea level?

The accumulated pressure underwater compared to the recorded pressure on top of a mountain is distanced by a large factor to an extent where the pressure underwater can actually implode parts of a body. Temperature wise, the temperature on top of a mountain is lower compared to underwater since the temperature underwater ranges from a relatively cold temperature to an extremely lower temperature. Then, when taking altitude into account, the measure of this is what affects both temperature and also pressure. Hence, placing an egg under constant high pressure, the internals would become compact as the molecules would begin squeezing with each other.

 

 

BLOG 4 Language (SM)

The events that struck me the most was when every time the customer would delightfully respond back with a smile and a simple word such as thank you. Words itself have a profound meaning and it can be utilized in both a good way and bad way. Meanwhile, the nagging of customers such as them swearing right in front of me pierces me as it is an indication that my services provided are of insufficient.