Weekly Brief
It takes imagination to become an interesting people with interesting politics and interesting insight on the latter two.
In review and in prospect
In information theory, the notion of what constitutes something interesting has a precise mathematical definition. It’s something to do with the degree of uncertainty surrounding the behaviour of a system. A perfectly predictable system requires less information to describe it and is therefore less interesting. A less predictable system requires more information to describe it and is therefore more interesting. More uncertainty equals more interesting. Information theorists have developed the maths to calculate the amount of information a system emits; basically the number of binary digits required to encode the nature of this information. A coin toss, for example yields only two possible outcomes — heads or tails. Therefore, a coin toss only requires one bit (which has only two states — on or off) to describe it as a system. A deck of cards is a far more interesting system, because a 52-card deck can be dealt in vast number of permutations and combinations and, as such, supports a huge number of engaging games.
Cutting to a world closer to our reality, we find the news cycle in a bit of a funk. We see it in newspaper reporters and columnists scrounging around for news and insight to develop into news reports, op-ed articles, and memes. News nowadays is just not interesting. Information theory provides insight into why. The subjects are predictable and, therefore, require very little information to describe. There’s only so much one can write about, say, an Opposition fixated on Martial Law, “tyranny”, and the “plight” of the “poor”. When a certain day in February comes around every year, we can expect the same ol’ wistful thinking-out-loud of Opposition “thought leaders” about a certain street party that erupted back in 1986. When an unpopular directive is issued by the government, “activsts”, on cue, have the usual response to it — very likely something to do with “sinister” forces out to put one over the “hapless” Filipino.
Philippine politics may be a maddening morass of feuding tribes amidst an endless din of chatter sustained by, well, the chatterati but, taken as a collective, it has become an uninteresting subject. Still water, for example, belies the Brownian motion within it that can only be observed under a powerful microscope. From a macro perspective, these little forces merely cancel out one another. The collective, as a result, does not move forward. Whilst many journalists and analysts make livings out of making out the behaviour of subsets of this morass as having some level of importance worth writing about or “analysing”, the fact is, within the context of a bigger system of competing subsets, the big picture is basically a static one. This is why the Philippines is generally an uninteresting country; not even a quaint curiosity to outsiders. Its politics are predictable and, as such, the people who produce content about it don’t have much to work with.
It’s high time Filipinos think outside the proverbial square. Sure, yet another cliché to describe a solution to a system trapped within a massive cliché of its own design. This, however, is a serious imperative to consider if Filipinos would like to progress. They need to think bigger and extend the boundaries of their thinking beyond that which had made their lot an irrelevant splotch in the Asia-Pacific. Start perhaps with their politics. Is there more to Philippine political discourse than that tiring “fight versus tyranny” that polarises the landscape. Imagination takes a bit of intellectual work. Time for that for a change.
Last week’s blog posts
The Opposition MUST move on from their obsolete EDSA narrative and evolve into something BETTER
February 26, 2023 by Ramon Ortoll
"Ninoy, Cory and Noynoy are all dead. There were no more Aquinos left to carry on their narrative. On the other hand, there are a lot of Marcoses left. There is Imee, Sandro, Matthew, and Vinny who can carry the torch in the future."
Dear Bongbong Marcos: with vindication comes great responsibility!
February 25, 2023 by Ramon Ortoll
"The plan was for civil disobedience after Cory Aquino lost the snap election to Marcos. Without the coup attempt, it wasn't likely that Marcos was going to be ousted but the continuing political instability would take its toll on the economy."
Filipinos are SICK of the Yellowtard EDSA “revolution” narrative
February 23, 2023 by benign0
"The Yellowtards and communists — and the latter’s terrorist network, the New People’s Army (NPA) — stand in the way of social progress. It’s time Filipinos get on the right pathway forward..."
Who Declared The Philippines A Basketball Paradise??
February 22, 2023 by Gogs
"Only pinoys care about pinoy basketball and the NBA is the only league that pinoys give two flying sheets about that is not pinoy. This pinoy devotion to the game with the orange ball may be cute to pinoys but that is the best it can be."