Look in the mirror.

Let’s hold it right there.

This posting offers to “manage” the “automatic” operating system of our brains and explore how the “conscious” one can be our handrail. Those familiar with the blog will recall the treatise of the Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman.

The conscious side can be a vast expanse of knowledge from our experiences, including those in the subconscious. That is why cognitive development is a function of experience. For example, Singapore’s fantastic adventure in traversing poverty to prosperity explains why they can keep their advantage even when competing against well-developed Western nations. But that is too far advanced for Juan de la Cruz to internalize. Conversely, laggards like Latin American or African countries keep falling farther behind.

Or think of why we can’t make agribusiness a pillar of the Philippine economy. 

Consider: Have we been recycling the same tired, shortsighted programs despite such glaring failings as the inability to cover our own rice needs? In other words, when will a poverty cum livelihood program for farmers ever win in today’s globalized and highly competitive world? It has nothing to do with East versus West, and think of the successes of Vietnam and Thailand.

Question: How can we leverage our conscious mind to overcome the automatic side? Should we “design” Philippine agribusiness to be a successful commercial enterprise instead? How about “food security”? Nice try, but a commercial “bulldozer” will readily overrun that!

Let’s pause and shift gears: “Have you ever noticed that when you’re under stress, it’s so much harder to resist temptation? Or make any change in your daily routine, like starting an exercise program or kicking a late-night TV habit?

“That’s because stress primes the brain to take automatic action. Any impulse will be harder to control, whether craving Krispy Kremes or procrastinating on a project.

“Neuroscientists sometimes say that we have one brain, but two minds: a mind that makes conscious choices, based on self-reflection and awareness; and a mind that makes automatic responses based on instinct and habit.

“Each of these ‘minds’ is supported by different neural circuits—different systems of the brain in command of your thoughts, emotions, and actions. Stress selectively inhibits the circuitry of self-awareness and self-control and activates the circuitry of habit and impulse. Neuroscientists describe it like flicking a switch: stress hormones turn off the reflection mode and turn on the reflex mode.

“The result: When we’re under stress at work or home, we find ourselves feeling stuck and out of control.” [“Managing Two Minds: the conscious vs. automatic,” Kelly McGonigal, www.mindful.org, 23rd Dec 2011]

Once more, we need to pause:

Given that the conscious mind can be a vast expanse of knowledge to manage the “automatic” side, the posting covers an array of subjects. But we will keep them tied together – as in connecting the dots. And pause every so often to give us breathing room.

Here’s a good starting point:

We can’t be the laughingstock of the region and take it sitting down, and we can’t be Juan Tamad, Bondying, and Padre Damaso rolled into one; and represent a “perfect storm.”

Let’s do a bit of “unfreezing” [mental] exercise and take that as the hypothesis. In other words, is it time to do our collective examination of conscience as we did individually for our first communion? 

Enough of the ego trip – for us in the Philippine elite and chattering classes? [Yes, it comes from the “automatic” mind.]

Recall the following from a prior posting:

And imagine President Robredo speaking: “I invited you folks from Transparency International given your ‘mission is to stop corruption and promote transparency, accountability, and integrity at all levels and across all sectors of society.’

And the challenge?

1. Our instincts: We are parochial and insular. We value hierarchy and paternalism and rely on political patronage and oligarchy that ours is a culture of impunity.
2. We have three branches in the government. And we have the public sector and the private sector, too.
3. But collectively, we can’t even keep pace with Vietnam, where the US military dropped the most bombs than all the wars combined.
4. Where do we start? How can you help us?"

The bottom line: We need help, big time!

And we need help from ourselves.

Why?

1. We can’t wrap our heads around our instincts; see above
2. How can we even synthesize our instincts into a much simple hypothesis when we are Juan Tamad, Bondying, and Padre Damaso rolled into one?
3. The truth always hurts.

Enter: Franciscan theology.

How do we reconcile the good and the bad? How can there be Heaven and Hell?

Neither is a place but a state of mind.

And New Yorkers come to mind, i.e., the New York state of mind – as in, “can-do” attitude.

For example, New York has survived bankruptcy (the 1970s) and 9/11 (2001). And so, despite the fallouts from the pandemic, it’s risky to count the Big Apple out. For example, the New York property market, which was on a decline because of the pandemic – as people deserted the city for the safer, less populated suburbs – saw the market reversed in a significant way. News item: “New York’s thriving real estate market shows no signs of slowing in the third quarter of 2021.”

What’s the point?

It comes back to “cognitive development” – that beyond binary or dualistic thinking is relativism.

And it brings Fr. George Gorospe, SJ, to the fore: “No human formulation of ‘reality,’ no philosophical explanation of human experience can say: ‘I have grasped its entirety and meaning.’ Reality is too rich and is continuously changing; it can’t fall under a set of categories.

“Hence, there is a need today of a more dynamic and more existential philosophy inspired by the Neo-Thomist revival of the authentic thought of St. Thomas, i.e., it is not a ‘closed system’ but remains ‘open’ to the valid insights of other philosophies. For example, to the contribution of contemporary phenomenology and existentialism.” [“Christian Renewal of Filipino Values,” Vitaliano R. Gorospe; Philippine Studies vol. 14, no. 2, 1966; Ateneo de Manila University]

Let’s push the theology envelope.

Of course, Padre Damaso does not agree that Hell is a state of mind because he saw Juan de la Cruz as inferior. 

Yet, the Jesuits preach discernment. And just like cognitive development, it demands practice and experience—ditto for innovation.

Jesuit discernment goes by its buzzword, “examen,” but a layman version from AA is called the 12-steps. The common denominator appears to be a paraphrase attributed from St. Ignatius: God helps those who help themselves.

Enter: Innovation.

Why is “innovation” foreign to us Pinoys? We don’t respect and respond to the hierarchy of human needs, which is the heart of innovation?

Translation: We’re stuck “serving the bottom of the pyramid” because we saw a kindred spirit in the guru that preached it. Unsurprisingly, our eight top companies can’t collectively deliver $60 billion to the Philippine economy. On the other hand, Samsung Vietnam, singly, does it.

Disclosure: Over 30 years ago, the top managers at my old MNC-company listened to this guru expound on the value chain model. What he missed in his subsequent treatise is that beyond income class, there is the more abstract hierarchy of human needs.

And they are dynamic; while in a caste system, people take income class as static. In other words, the poor are free to aspire and dream. Yet, we give a stern look at squatters that have TV antennas above their shanties. That is from our caste system, i.e., instincts.

And these squatters suffer from abject poverty. In Vietnam, they are middle class. Why? Their leadership knew what the common good was. Except for Singapore, they now have the most FDIs in the region.

To add insult to injury, did they attract Samsung while we blew the chance? Why? So we can protect our top companies that can’t collectively match what Samsung Vietnam brings to their economy?

Sadly, Padre Damaso is an expansive undertaking. Think of the US political parties, for example, or the conservative wing in the Vatican.

Then consider: Which has been around longer, the Vatican or the US political parties?

In other words, the Vatican has moved from the Crusades (1096 was the start of the first; the fifth and final one ended in 1271) to the Inquisition (it had its beginning in 12th-century France) to Ecumenism (the Catholic Church started to engage other faiths under Vatican II, 1962-65).

Translation: Even the Vatican is a human construct; it is its faith that is central. That Pope Francis warned the US Bishops not to deprive politicians of the Sacrament of Eucharist even if they support abortion rights. And that is consistent with what Christ demonstrated in his battles against the scribes and Pharisees.

Recall that I have no respect for US politics – and chose not to exercise the right to vote. “Freedom and democracy are beyond merely winning – and beyond party, and it is about the common good, stupid!”

It was not the personal transgressions of the prostitutes, the tax collectors, and other sinners that Christ confronted, and he embraced the sinners but denounced those who trampled on the common good – as in tyranny.

How do we reconcile these many contradictions?

Enter: Christ synthesized the over 600 Jewish laws into the two great commandments.

Let’s stop right there – and drill down on the two great commandments:

Those familiar with the blog may recall using the same example to my Eastern European friends to introduce the Pareto principle. 

But not only:

(1) The challenge to synthesize is akin to the struggle with cognitive development and creativity  — as in connecting the dots. And even Steve Jobs acknowledged that in the absence of experience, you can’t “connect the dots.” And that’s why at Silicon Valley, they embraced “Design Thinking,” which entails rapid prototyping and testing. The operative word is “rapid” because innovation and speed are crucial in today’s globalized and highly competitive world.

(2) Our lack of experience in development as Pinoys puts us at a more significant disadvantage to our neighbors — their lead in traversing poverty to prosperity means we will keep falling behind.

(3) For example, big data poses the challenge of analytics, else we can’t separate the wheat from the chaff. And again, our neighbors have the lesser hurdle.

(4) The ability to synthesize is also critical in innovation — developing product concepts that measure and respond to human needs. See above; why innovation is foreign to us, Pinoys — we don’t respect and respond to the hierarchy of human needs, especially those in the lower caste.

(5) Even worse, because of the crab mentality, we are all over the board — aka “sabog.”

(6) And pits the academic and the real world, especially when there is no clarity on the value to the latter.

(7) And explains the distinctions between linear versus forward- and lateral thinking.

The bottom line is that we are deep in the abyss; we did not turn into the regional laggard overnight, and we kept taking the wrong turn at every fork.

Should we pause and ponder?

But let’s get back to the US political parties:

Can we learn something from them? Conversely, can they be saved – from running over the cliff?

“We Are Republicans With a Plea: Elect Democrats in 2022,” Miles Taylor and Christine Todd Whitman, The New York Times, 11th Oct 2021. [Mr. Taylor served at the Department of Homeland Security from 2017 to 2019, including as chief of staff, and was the anonymous author of a 2018 guest essay for The Times criticizing President Donald Trump’s leadership. Ms. Whitman was the Republican governor of New Jersey from 1994 to 2001.]

“Rational Republicans are losing the GOP civil war. And the only near-term way to battle pro-Trump extremists is for all of us to team up on crucial races and overarching political goals with our longtime political opponents: the Democratic Party.

“Earlier this year, we joined more than 150 conservatives — including former governors, senators, congressmen, cabinet secretaries, and party leaders — in calling for the Republican Party to divorce itself from Trumpism or else lose our support, perhaps by forming a new political party. Rather than return to founding ideals, GOP leaders in the House and many states have now turned belief in conspiracy theories and lies about stolen elections into a litmus test for membership and running for office.

“Many of us have spent years battling the left – over government’s role in society – and we will continue to have disagreements on fundamental issues like infrastructure spending, taxes, and national security. Similarly, some Democrats will be wary of any pact with the political right.

“But we agree on something more foundational — democracy. We cannot tolerate the continued hijacking of a major U.S. political party by those who seek to tear down our Republic’s guardrails or who are willing to put one man’s interests ahead of the country. We cannot tolerate the leaders of the GOP — in 2022 or the presidential election in 2024 — refusing to accept the results of elections or undermining the certification of those results should they lose.

“To that end, concerned conservatives must join forces with Democrats on the most essential near-term imperative: blocking Republican leaders from regaining control of the US House of Representatives.”

Here’s the refrain in the lingo of the blog:

“Freedom and democracy are beyond merely winning – and beyond party. It is about the common good, stupid!”

And that brings us back to Leni Robredo: “I made it clear: I am ready to give way and to help. If they succeeded, they also offered to join forces as candidates or as part of their administration. My reply: This is not about positions; this is not a mere transaction. The important thing is to unite – align principles, our shared dreams for the country, and the path we must take to achieve these.”

How?

1. Don’t expect me to recycle economic managers from the past. We are the laughingstock of the region. And for economists that are not present at this conference, I invite you to apply to my administration.
2. You know I want what is best for our country.
3. What is the best for the country? We cannot keep dishing out our limited tax revenues and expect the Philippines to be the next Asian Tiger and put poverty in the rearview mirror.
4. Can we shift paradigms, imagine the Philippines as Philippine Inc.?

What’s the difference?

1. In the private sector – especially in today’s highly competitive world where innovation is dizzying – the imperative of personal responsibility and the egalitarian ethos is pronounced. Translation: Rank has no privileges; miscreants pay the price.
2. And that is why we cannot have Marcos or Duterte as president because they have no credibility to attract foreign money and technology.
3. But we, the people, must share the blame too because we can’t accept – despite being well into the 21st century – that foreign money and technology are not treason. If we still cannot wrap our heads around the magic behind the Asian Tigers, indeed, we are doomed as a people, economy, and nation.

So, who must be the next president?

“The next president must preside over Philippines Inc. by doggedly pursuing commercial success, innovation, and being a paragon of good governance, not a culture of impunity.

Why?

1. “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. Learning and innovation go hand in hand, and the arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow. Think Philippine Inc., not the Philippine economy.
2. “You know what I want. I want what is best for our country.”

What then is our responsibility in this election?

1. The blog has spoken to the candidacies of Mayor Isko and VP Robredo. That whomever we support, we better figure out what it is we are supporting.
2. For example, have we internalized the distinctions between leadership and tyranny? 
3. Have we defined the job of the president? The next president must preside over Philippine Inc. by doggedly pursuing commercial success, innovation, and being a paragon of good governance, not a culture of impunity.
4. And innovation borrows from the instincts of Steve Jobs. He defined creativity as simply connecting the dots. And it presupposes forward- and lateral thinking.

The bottom line:

1. We can’t be the laughingstock of the region and take it sitting down, and we can’t be Juan Tamad, Bondying, and Padre Damaso rolled into one; and represent a “perfect storm.”
2. Let’s do a bit of “unfreezing” [mental] exercise and take that as the hypothesis. In other words, is it time to do our collective examination of conscience as we did individually for our first communion? 
3. Enough of the ego trip – for us in the Philippine elite and chattering classes? Yes, it comes from the “automatic” mind.

Gising bayan!