Greatworks C36
Camille Lim November 25, 2015
11300116
Pakikipagkapwa , Pagsasaayos at Pakikiramdam are the three main topics that were thoroughly discussed during the term which are all related to Psychology, Political Science and Sociology respectively. This paper’s objective is to show what the learning outcomes are by discussing all the topics that were covered throughout the term as well as including the realizations or learning that comes along with it.
As an individual, we would naturally want to be part of a group where we people will welcome us with open arms. To be part of a group is not an easy task it is based on how you will connect and earn this people’s trust and respect which leads to the importance of knowing how these three will play an important role in one’s life. Knowing these three will give you the first step to the path that will lead you to creating a new relationship with another individual.
During the start of the term, I thought that “pakikipagkapwa” is a simple word that means “just socializing or simply just starting a conversation without even trying or understanding a person”. Thinking that it is an obligation not something that is done on your own accord but after further understanding what it is I realized that it is actually a fundamental relationship with oneself and the other or another person that is not based solely on obligation but on how you actually want to connect or understand this person in order for you to get along in another understanding level. In this lecture, I learned that pakikipagkapwa is a shared identity, equality and getting along/being with others.
In this lecture I learned how people interact with each other if they are an outsider or not. We were able to discuss how these people exercised pakikipagkapwa through different mediums but mainly through food knowing that the Filipino culture are mostly focused on food. As we read on the assigned readings that were given to us. We discussed what are the different ways on how a person should interact with the people who they will be conversing with, what dishes to be served if there are outsiders present, what are the dishes that make the outsiders feel more welcomed and what body language you should show. Through this reading I was able to comprehend that pakikipagkapwa is not just merely being there but engaging with the individuals that are present there. This pakikipagkapwa will determine the outcome of the relationship of the person to each other base on how they will connect as they learn to know more about each other along the way.
We also analyzed what SELF is right after this lecture. I learned that self is different from identity. Self is something that we are already born with meaning our gender, physical characteristics or anything we already have when we were born . On the opposite side, Identity is the character that we grow to be. It is the development of the self or the outcome of what a person aspired to be. This is greatly influenced by the people we are with like family, society and the many circumstances of existence most of the time. I understand these two as something that when united will form a personality but if this learned identity is in conflict with the innate self then there should be an attempt to correct this schism or this will have a psychological problem on the person.
Under self we discussed the different kinds under it and self worth was one of the things that we discussed that really caught my attention. It is said that in psychology term, self worth is the sense of one’s own value or worth as a person. Oftentimes, self-worth is used as a synonym of self-esteem which means a feeling of having respect for yourself and your abilities but in truth self-worth is all about valuing appearances. It is basically saying that it is about whom you really are not what you do or have. Self-worth cannot be found by comparing yourself to another individual. Because in this time of life the personalities of most individuals are competitive & comparing yourself will just be unhealthy for one’s mental health. It may lead to stress, anger and relationship conflicts etc.
Through this exercise I was able to properly distinguish the different selves of people through the interaction of all the students with everyone giving outputs on how they project what the actual self is. (ex. Self worth, self-discipline, selfless, self-loathing)
During the second phase of great works I was able to learn what pagsasaayos is and the different views of it from different perspectives. In this phase, we talked about what are the different situations where pagsasaayos occurs. We also discussed the cause and effect of each situation, what are the methods on how to settle this different opinions, how to avoid conflict/complications, who is the key to fixing such complication if it happens and who is the person to go to or the person who holds the power to make decisions for specific situations.
Part of this topic we talked about the justification of an absolute surrender of rights. I learned that (1) Surrender and subjugation is a better alternative than civil war and death (2) The sovereign is assumed to be just and fair and (3) It would not be in the interest of the sovereign to reduce all subjects to impotence since the sovereign’s strength consists in the vigour of those citizen-subjects.
We were also introduced to Hobbes’s Concept of Social Contract which is Monarchy which is designed to tame the passion of men. In this type of ruling the constitution introduces the idea of citizen giving up power to a sovereign so that no one of them could diminish any one’s power by force.
Followed by Hobbes’s Concept was Locke’s concept which is Representative Democracy. This state of nature, as the original political condition, is said to be the one of perfect individual freedom, in which one has a title to all rights and privileges of the law of nature equally with all others. In this type of ruling, individuals become both the judges and enforcer of natural law but this state of nature can easily degenerate a state of war. In this state of nature, men usually give up their right of self-preservation of property to the community. Individuals in this state of nature gave up their natural political power to a group or to an individual who will represent them and enforce the law for the protection of each individual.
According to Rousseau any civil order there will always be a legitimate rule of administration stating that men are taken as they are and laws as they may be. He always endeavoured to unite the right sanctions with what is prescribed by interest, in order that justice and utility may in no case be divided. He argued that the civil society is a description of the way men was actually found in the society.
I learned from Rousseau that men in nature are people without morality but definitely not evil as well. Men are not corrupted by nature but are corrupted as they grow by their ownership of by the forming of the society. This topic actually revolved around the “consent of the governed”.
Lastly, the pakiramdam or sensing your own feeling and of the people around you. In this topic, we discussed different situations wherein you will have to practice this pakiramdam through different perspectives. It is a deep interpersonal connection. Some of the words that I learned that are associated with pakiramdam are pagtatantiya, Tiyempo, pagsusuri, Timplahin, and pakikibagay. These words are keys to understanding pakikiramdam that can be related to empathy as well. We thought of a situation that highlights a social interaction. Then we provided different perspectives of different persons involved together with their roles and how these individuals were able to agree on one decision through pakiramdam. I learned that Pakiramdam is the shared inner perception of each individual. It is when a person tries to feel and understand the feelings of the other individuals and sometimes the intentions as well. It is being aware and sensitive of the feelings of another person. I also learned that pakiramdam is a highly valued among the Filipinos especially may it be verbal or non-verbal. It is not just limited to Filipinos but also to all other cultures, this is actually the best way to form camaraderie because if you are able to practice pakiramdam without talking verbally to another person and understand what he is feeling you will be able to get along with him without having any problem even if you have a different culture from them. In pakiramdam intuition is practiced rather than rgumentation. This avoids different types of conflicts which may rise from different situations which will turn into a heated conversation if not addressed properly because of lack of pakiramdam.
There are times that pakiramdam is not always right which causes a person to hesitate on what is the next step to do. It is usually a “testing the water” kind of action because you are still weighing if the other person will be okay with what you are about to do. Pakiramdam is not usually a direct action or an impulse decision. Oftentimes, people who are good at practicing this are known to be thoughtful and caring because not everyone can read another person’s action. Having a sense of Pakiramdam mostly leads to positive outcomes such as making people more flexible and adaptable to changing situations, it also makes relationships smoother since you are leaning more on the side of complimenting someone rather than saying criticisms, it also improves your intuition and sensitivity which is a good training for emotional intelligence and lastly it trains the person to be more open minded about the different cultures present at the moment.
To conclude everything I’ve learned for the term these three things are part of the most important things that makes up the self. It is something that everyone should have or learn throughout their entirety in order for them to be a person who will get along with other and most important get along with themselves. Why themselves? Well, because if you don’t know how to get along with yourself or understand what your self is composed of you will never understand another person. Having these three will always lead to peace, understanding and will definitely give an output of a good relationship.