MODULE A : REALITY & KNOWLEDGE

Epistemology
What is reality?
→ everything we experience & everything that
appears to our five sense.
→ “ reality is that which, if you stop believing in
it, does not go away” - Philip Dick
→ study of what we can know about reality
→ Scientific approach: can generate unbiased,
generalisable knowledge
→ Interpretative approach: knowledge is specific
to a particular time & space

Is common sense also knowledge?

 Yes, if it rests on a body of evidence
(induction) or a reliable theory (deduction);
originates from day to day experience of
people.

What is knowledge?
→ facts, feelings, or experiences that re part of a
person’s reality
→ state of knowing (from experience or
learning)
→ organized information in my head

Approaches to viewing reality

A.Scientific approach
B. Interpretative approach
Differentiated on the grounds of:
→ Ontology
→ Epistemology

Ontology
→ study of what is the nature of reality
→ study of a set of beliefs about what the world
actually is
→ Scientific approach: objective & independent
of our perception or experience of it
→ Interpretative approach: constructed by us as
we experience it

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MODULE B : SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY,
TECHNOLOGY & SOCIETY
MILESTONES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF
SCIENCE
Miletus/Milesians
• 600 BC
• Thales of Miletus (624 – 546 BC)
• “What is reality made of?”
• Supernatural explanations is unreliable
Pythagoras
• 571-491 BC
• equation of a right triangle: c2= a2+ b2
• “truth should not be accepted but be proved”
• Legend says that he believed that eating beans
is sinful and he drowned a student for revealing
the existence of irrational numbers to the world)
Aristotle
• 384-322 BC
• Induction and deduction
• Promoted systematic observation and thought
in biology, physics, law, literature and ethics.
Ptolemy
• AD 127-145, Alexandria
• Claudius Ptolemaeus
• The Earth is the center of the universe
Modern Period of Science
Francis Bacon
• 1561-1626
• Physical causes and laws of nature
• Essence of a thing is deduced through a
process of reduction, and the use of inductive
reasoning
Rene Descartes
• 1596-1650
• “cogito, ergo sum”
• founder of “rationalism” = observed data is
inferior to pure reason
Karl Popper
• 1902-1994
• “A true scientist should look to falsify theory
with observation that contradict them”
(foundation behind the scientific method)
For a statement to be scientific (ruling of U.S.
Judge William Overton)
1. It must be guided by natural law.
2. It has to be explanatory by reference to
natural law.
3. It is testable against the empirical world.
4. Its conclusions are tentative.
5. It is falsifiable.
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
→ Scientific method is a process to construct a
reliable, consistent, and non-arbitrary
representation of the world.
SOCIAL SCIENCE AS SCIENCE?
→ Yes!
→ The “social world” is part of the “natural
world”
→ Scientific naturalism : a philosophical
approach using tools that are akin to those of
the natural sciences
Theory or Law?
Similarities:
1. Both are based on tested hypotheses
2. Both are supported by a large body of
empirical data
3. Both are widely accepted by the vast majority
(if not all) scientists within a discipline.
4. Both are falsifiable.
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Law : Abridged History of Technology
“a well substantiated statement that describes a → Stone Age - tools from wood or shards of rock
natural phenomenon.” and the discovery of fire.
→ Bronze Age - work with metal
Theory : → Iron Age - work with other kinds of metals
“a well substantiated statement that explains a → Modern technology - an advancement of old
natural phenomenon” technology.

Example 1: in physics → gravity

If we hold an object above ground, release it at a
certain height, and, observe it fall down, then we
say that the object falls down because of gravity.

Law → describes the object falling – its

acceleration as it falls, the time & speed at
ground impact
Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation
- Gives us a mathematical formula to calculate
how strong the gravitational pull is between the
Earth and the object you dropped.
Theory → explains why the object falls
Albert Einstein’s General Relativity Theory
- Can explain that the object falls (gravity’s effect)
is a consequence of the curvature of
four-dimensional space-time.
Is a “law” higher than a “theory” in the level
of “truthfulness”?
→ a law is neither "better than" nor “worse
than" a theory
→ a theory is not a “law in waiting”
What we gained from technology use:
→ Ease of access to information /
communication
→ Ease of travelling; shelter; entertainment
→ Ease of access to natural resources
→ Improved health and lifestyle
What we sacrificed from technology use:
→ Social isolation
→ Job loss
→ Increased dependency on technology /
decreased competency
→ Data security / privacy
→ Increased potential of destructive
conflicts
→ Environmental degradation

Society: the aggregate of people living together

in a more or less ordered community.
“Technology is as much as for the benefit of
society as it is for the good of the individual”

Technology
→ Noun
→ “science or knowledge put into practical
use”
→ “the branch of knowledge dealing with
engineering or applied sciences”

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 MODULE 3 : MAJOR CIVILIZATIONS &  Sumerian Civilization
HISTORICAL ATECEDENTS OF SCIENCE & Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
TECHNOLOGY (STS) • Origin: Turkey
• 644 km parallel to each other
• Join into the Persian Gulf
Major Time Periods: • 5000 BCE - beginning of agriculture and
• Ancient Period irrigation in lower Mesopotamia
• Middle/Medieval (5th Century- 15th Century) • Environment: Arid with unpredictable annual
• Modern Age (16th Century- Present) floods
• Philippine inventions • Creation of large agricultural cities
ANCIENT PERIOD Famous inventions & places
1. Asia and Africa (Sumerians, Egypt and China) • Cuneiform
2. Europe (Greeks and Romans) • Irrigation & dikes
3. The Americas • Sailboats
• Wheel
ASIA AND AFRICA • Plow
• 15,000 BCE (before current era) - warmer • Uruk city
climates, melting of glaciers in the north. • The Great Ziggurat of Ur
• Raised sea levels, exposed land and inland
lakes.  Babylonian civilization
• Natufians - hunter-gatherers of Southeast Asia • Tigris and Euphrates rivers
• 11,000 BCE - Younger Dryas Event → bursting • Great builders
of glacial melt from Canada to Gulf Stream. • Hanging garden of Babylon
• Resulted in the conditions of the Late Ice Age
• Mesopotamia  Egyptian Civilization
• The valley of the Nile
• 6400 km
• Benevolent river
• Swells in late summer, deposit fertile silt

Egypt is strategically located (and

geographically isolated)
• East and west: deserts
• North: the sea and the Nile Delta
• Cataracts- rapids
• Stability
Natufians
• Forced to congregate in small, semipermanent Egypt and Agriculture
villages along rivers and streams • Intimate relationship with the environment
• Switch from hunter gatherers to planting and • Labor intensive with aid of some animals
domestication • Digging, weeding, planting, harvesting
• 1st farming settlements appeared in the • Pharaohs as god king
Levantine Corridor (present day Israel, Syria and
the Euphrates River Valley) Famous Inventions
• Papyrus
Early practices of Agriculture • Hieroglypics
Mesopotamia - (Greek) “land between the • Ink
rivers” (present day SE Iraq) • Cosmetics
• Wig
• Water clock/Clepsydra

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 Chinese Civilization
• Most isolated of all civilization
• Agriculture and metalworking (independent)
hunter-gatherer of millets
• divided into the dry northern flatlands and the
better-watered southern valleys
• 7000-6000 BCE - settlements along the Yellow
River Loess
• terracing, diking, irrigation
Yellow River
• named for the color it assumes because of loess
being windblown and deposited in it.
Yangtze River
• 10,000 and 7000 BCE - wet rice farming and
hunting
Key Characteristics of Chinese Civilization
• Reverence for ancestors
• Big significance of family
• Prestige of being educated
• Importance of the written word
Famous Inventions
• Silk
• Tea Production
• Gun powder
• Great wall of china
Europe: Greece and Rome
 Greek Civilization
• Indo-European nomadic group
• 3 Epochs
1. Minoan-Mycenean Age - 2000 BCE-1100
BCE
2. Hellenic Period - Homer to mid 300 BCE
“Classical Period” - golden age of Greek
philosophy and art
3. Hellenistic Period - 300 BCE to 1st Century
CE (99 to 0 BCE)
• Small islands of the Aegean, western end of
Asia Minor, mountainous southern tip of
Europe
• Little land for large scale farming
• Dozens of protected harbors and bays
• Expert sailors → ships and shipping
• Mountains that are difficult to traverse
• Accessible by the sea
• Seaborne commercial trade established small
but wealthy states ruled by kings.
Best Known for:
• Classical period - art, literature, science,
philosophy
• Systems of government (Monarchy, Aristocracy,
oligarchy and democracy)
• Engagement in wars
Famous Inventions
• Alarm clock
• Water mill
 Roman Civilization
• Succesor to the Hellenistic Greece
• Found halfway down the western coast of the
Italian peninsula
• Tiber River flows through its fertile plains.
• Indo-Europeans around 1500 BCE
• Not-so-advanced farming practices
3 Major Groups of People that settled in
Rome
• Etruscans - highly civilized, but little written
account
• Greeks - migrated due to crowding in Corinth,
Thebes and other cities
- South Italy into a prosperous region,
constant fighting with Etruscans and
Phoenecians
• Phoenecians - came through Carthage
- builders of powerful ships
The Romans are known for applying scientific
knowledge to everyday problems in society.
• Innovation in Warfare: The Corvus
• Rome waged war with Carthage for more than
20 years to control Sicily.
Famous Inventions
• Newspaper
• Bound books or codex
• Roman forum in italy
The Americas
• 3 waves of migration: Amerindians, Central
Asia, Northeastern Asia
• Between 20,000 and 10,000 BCE
• Beringias
• Inuit Eskimos of N. Canada and Alaska
• Reaching the Americas: Beringia - On foot or by
small boats
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3 Periods Problem Addressed: Close magnification for
1. Paleoindian Period medical doctors
2. Archaic Period Solution Provided: The first compound
3. Agricultural Revolution microscope

 Paleoindian Period Telescope

• Hunting for Survival: Colder Climate
• Clovis Point
• Folsom point
 Archaic Period
• continuous shifting of climate to warmer and
drier conditions
• Gathering of wild plants
• less specialized, more for gathering plants
• Hunting of smaller animals
• Organization: small, temporary groups
 Agricultural Revolution
5500 BCE - Mexico - chile and pumpkin
4000 adn 2500 BCE - maize
1500 BCE - Pit houses of farmers
• corn, beans, squash, chile
• Agricultural productivity → Mesoamerican
civilizations
(Olmecs, Mayans, Teotihuacan, Aztecs)
THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD
• Massive invasions and migrations
• Wars
• Greater technology for development
• Population decline and rise
• Trade and commerce = transportation
technology
• Most innovative minds
The purpose of inventions
• Problem = solution
• Original
• Evolution
Printing press
Description: Used for automated printing of
publications such as in literature, news, etc.
and for publishing books to reach people at a
faster rate.
Problem Addressed: Reliability and efficiency
Solution Provided: A more reliable and efficient
printing press
Microscope
Description: For examination of infinitesimal
figures, objects, or organisms that are invisible
to the naked eye.
Description: For observation of far and wide
sites
Problem Addressed: Distant magnification for
navigators
Solution Provided: Close magnification at a
distance provided by powerful lenses
War weapons
Description: Made for the purpose of the
prevalence of combat in the middle ages
Problem Addressed: Better weaponry
technology
Solution Provided: Cross/long bows for
open-area battles and iron-body armors for
close-combat
Mechanical clock
Description: A large, typically publicly displayed
device for time-telling/keeping
Problem Addressed: Inaccuracy and poor design
Solution Provided: Accuracy and better design
Medieval glasses
Description: Supplementary aid for seeing things
better – clearer and closer
Problem Addressed: Problematic eyesight – near
and farsightedness; impracticalness of
magnifying glass
Solution Provided: Portability, practicality, and
efficiency provided by the eyeglasses
Science and Technology in the Philippines:
Pre-colonial period
References on life before the Spanish
Colonization
• Rizal's Annotated edition of Sucesos de las Islas
• Filipinas by Antonio de Morga
• The Boxer Codex
• Archeological evidences
Earliest evidences of agriculture
• Andarayan, Solana, Cagayan Valley
- 3400± y.a.
- rice planting
• Banaue Rice Terraces
- 2000 y.a.

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The Boxer Codex • Late Pleistocene period, or around 50,000 to
• 307 pages, Spanish 67,000 y.a
• Life in Luzon and Visayas • Using fossilized teeth, hand and foot bones
• Charles R. Boxer

Money Matters
• Piloncitos
• Laguna Copper Plate Inscription
• 900 AD
• Ancient Javanese

Pampanga
• Candaba Neolithic Adze
• H. Otley Beyer, 1930
• 3000 BC

Candaba Swamp
• Metal Age and Protohistoric Period
• Donya Simang Site
• Known ruler: Dionisio Kapolong (son of Rajah
Lacandula)
• Regular travels up north through Pampanga
River
• Tradewares as heirloom pieces, dowry, status
symbol

What else can we learn from the Candaba

Swamp Archaeological Site?
• Evidences of metal craft technology
• Clue #1: Iron slags
• Clue #2: richness of vocabulary of natives for
metals implements
• Important for hunter-gathering and warfare
• Evidences of trade with China, Thailand,
Vietnam and maybe even Japan
• Elaborate burial practices (grave goods)

MODERN INVENTIONS
• Pasteurization
• Petroleum refinery
• Mechanical Calculator
• Telephone
• Salamander Amphibious Tricycle
• Salt lamp
• OL trap
• Medical incubator
• Electrical jeepney

Maria Orosa - food scientist, banana ketchup

inventor and war hero

Homo luzonensis
• Armand Mijares with Philip Piper
• Human evolutionary research

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 MODULE D : INTELLECTUAL REVOLUTIONS
What are intellectual revolutions?
• Brings about change by challenging a long
standing belief.
• One of the results that comes after a revolution
is change.
• It is a change in a way we see things around us
and an explanation we give for observed
phenomenon.
• Intellectual revolution wouldn’t be possible
without someone or a group of person
challenging a long standing belief.
• A belief that has been taken only or as the sole
explanation through something that is
observed through nature.
Since the ancient times, man had always been
curious about the world around them. But due to
limitations in tools available to them,
explanations to natural phenomena were limited
to what their naked eyes could see. Often, what
their senses could not explain they tried to
explain through religions and magic. Some of
these beliefs and explanations were taken as
true for some time until a curious mind comes
along and questions such belief. Not only
question but also look for proof or evidence of
their correctness.
Intellectual revolutions in human history:
1. Copernican Revolution
2. Germ Theory of Disease
3. Information Revolution
1. COPERNICAN REVOLUTION
Ancient Greeks
•were known for their curiosity about natural
phenomena.
• They looked up to the skies and sought to come
up with explanations with what they see.
Plato and Aristotle (4th Century BCE)
• Earth was a sphere and the stationary center of
the universe.
• The stars and planets were carried around the
Earth on spheres or circles arranged in order
of distance from the center.
Anaximander
• stated the same thing in the 6th Century BCE.
Eudoxus of Cnidus
• Geocentric theory
• “uniform circular motion” for all heavenly
bodies around the Earth which was at the
center.
• all heavenly bodies are in concentric,
crystalline or transparent spheres around the
Earth.
• The spheres were made of incorruptible
substance called “aether” and moved at
different speeds to create the rotation of the
bodies around our planet.
• Believed in the Prime Mover that initiates all
motions in the universe.
Aristarchus of Samos (310-230 BC)
• Proposed a theory opposite to the geocentric
theory.
• Heliocentric theory - based on the large size of
the Sun.
• The sun is at the center of the universe and not
the Earth.
• The planets around it are the ones moving.
• Lacked data to support his theory.
Hipparchus of Nicea (165-127 BC)
• Greatest astronomer of the classical period.
• Known for producing star maps and catalogues
of 850 stars.
• Precession of the equinoxes - positions of the
stars were shifted in a systematic way; it was
not the stars that were moving but rather the
observing platform, the Earth.
• Determined the lengths of the seasons and
became the first one to accurately measure a
year lasts.
• Known also for his systematic use of
trigonometry in astronomy in figuring out all
of these things.
Ptolemy (150 AD)
• An astronomer and geographer of the later
classical age at Alexandria.
• Furthered the work of Hipparchus.
• Planets move in epicycles or small circular
paths.
• European scholars relied on Greek sources for
their education, for centuries most people
followed the teachings of Aristotle and
Ptolemy.
• By the 15th and 16th century however,
astronomers were facing problems. The
astronomical calendars of the past were
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 becoming inaccurate. Plotting religious
holidays became problematic.
Nicolaus Copernicus (1514)
• Proposed an explanation in favor of the
heliocentric view of the universe.
• Attributed the rising and setting of the sun and
the cycle of the seasons and the movement of
the stars is because of the Earth’s movement.
• Earth rotates on its axis and it take a year for it
to complete its revolution around the Sun and
correctly explain retrograde motion of the
planets.
• His book was “De Revolutionibus Orbium
Coelesteum” (On the Revolutions of the
Heavenly Spheres) was completed in 1532
where he discussed his model of the solar
system and how the planets moved around the
Sun. But because this model opposed the
geocentric model so favored by many,
including the Church, it was not published
until 1543. He died soon after this. True
enough, the book was banned by the Church in
1616.
Galileo Galilei and Johannes Kepler (17th
Century)
• provided the much-needed scientific support
for his theory that resulted in Galileo’s trial
and imprisonment for heresy.
Isaac Newton (17th century)
• his work on the universal laws of gravitation
provided the rest of the missing pieces of
Copernicus’ model of a heliocentric universe.
• This led to it eventually becoming accepted in
Europe and eventually to the rest of the
world.
2. Germ Theory of Disease
• Before the germ theory of disease, various
explanations were given to why people get
sick.
The ancient Greeks
• believed in the 4 humors: black bile, yellow bile,
phlegm and blood. As long as these 4 are in
balance, a person stays healthy. Imbalance
results in disease.
• Other explanations were rooted in astronomy,
religion, magic, and supernatural phenomena.
• Miasma theory purported that disease was
because of "bad air" or "noxious air" from the
decomposition of organic matter.
Girolamo Fracastoro (1546)
• proposed the existence of small entities that is
called as spores that can stay in air and may
land on surfaces called “fomites”.
• it did not gain much traction because people
found it hard to believe that invisible particles
can account for catastrophic events such as
pandemics.
• This was, after all, 200 years before the
invention of the compound microscope.
Louis Pasteur (1864)
• introduced pasteurization to prevent spoilage
of food products like milk caused by
microorganisms.
• He did this successfully after demonstrating
that microorganisms called yeasts are
responsible for fermenting sugar to alcohol in
the absence of air.
• A few years later, his help was once again
sought, this time to help fight the silkworm
diseases that were ravaging the silk industry
in Europe.
• Years before this, Agostino Bassi proved that
another silkworm disease was caused by a
fungus. Pasteur discovered that the causative
agent for the outbreak during his time of
investigation was caused by a different
microorganism, a protozoan. Eventually more
and more evidence of the effects of these
minute organisms on living organisms
followed.
Ignaz Semmelweis (1840)
• observed that physicians who do not routinely
wash their hands in between patients or
procedures are more likely to spread
infections like puerperal or childbirth fever.
Joseph Lister (1840)
• Started to disinfect his surgical instruments
with carbolic acid. It resulted in significantly
less infections and death after surgery that
soon, more and more physicians adopted the
practice.
Robert Koch (1876)
• The germ theory of disease was finally proven
through his experiment.
• First, he saw rod-shaped bacterium in the
blood of cattle that died of a disease called
anthrax. This bacterium is called Bacillus
anthracis. He cultured the bacterium and then
injected them in healthy animals. The animals
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 became sick and died. He collected blood
samples from them and saw the same
rod-shaped bacterium from before.
• The steps involved in this experiment is now
known as Koch’s postulate. This helped
establish that some diseases, such as those
that result in outbreaks and epidemics, are
caused by microorganisms.
• This paved the way for other significant leaps
in health and medicine, such as the
development of preventive procedures such
as vaccination.
3. Information Revolution
• Humans are social beings and one of our needs
is communication.
Some early means of communication
• Smoke signals
• Beating of drums
• Drawings
• Spoken word
• Written word
Medium for recording
• Cave walls and natural dyes or inks
• Stone tablets
• Paper and ink
• Digital
Oldest form of communication
• Cave painting
The oldest cave painting in the world
• found in Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc Cave, Ardeche,
France.
• These cave paintings are estimated to have
been done between 33,000 to 30,000 BCE and
presented animals like bisons.
• Angono Petroglyphs, 2000 BCE
• Found petroglyphs in the walls of caves in
Angono, Rizal Philippines
• Discovered by the National Artist Carlos
“Botong” Francisco in 1965 and declared as
National Cultural Treasures in 1973.
• They are composed of characters etched on the
rocky walls of caves and are estimated to be
around 2,000 years old.
Oldest system of writing
• Cuneiform
• world’s oldest alphabet
• developed by the Sumerians who lived along
the Mesopotamia sometime between 3100
and 3000 BCE.
• While their contemporaries in Egypt and other
parts of the world also developed their own
system of writing, the cunieform was
considered to be the most efficient.
• Each symbol stands for a syllable, several
syllables put together form the words.
• The Sumerians etched their writings on clay
tablets.
Pre-Hispanic Script: Baybayin
• there already exists a system of writing
called baybayin, long before the Spaniards
came.
Kapampangan Ancient Script: Kulitan
• In Pampanga specifically, our ancestors used
an alphabet called kulitan.
• Composed of the indung sulat (consonant) and
anak sulat (vowel)
• Written top to bottom
• Endangered script
• Even the medium on which the alphabets or
drawings were written changed through time.
The cave walls eventually were replaced by
clay tablets. Later on, with the development of
paper and ink, we now started to see the
alphabets forming written words.
• Alphabets and the medium on which they are
written on made it easy to record information.
This information may include chronicles of
important events, natural and cyclic events
such as the coming of the season and flooding
of bodies of water.
• Later on, these established records that
became useful for weather prediction that
guided agriculture. The introduction of
newspapers and books soon followed.
Johannes Gutenburg (1454)
• invented the printing press, causing print
media to take a huge leap forward. From
books that were copied by hand, limiting their
supply and increasing the chances of errors
being inserted, manuscripts can be edited
before mass printing.
Earliest Printed Book in the Philippines
• Doctrina Christiana
• A religious prayer book that contains basic
teachings of Christianity
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Industrial Revolution
• produced the telegraph and the typewriters;
telegraph made it possible to send messages
long distances.

Alan Turing (1936)

• a brilliant mathematician described a
computing machine that could carry out any
possible computation on its own and keeps
record of information.
• This computing machine called the Turing
machine later on became one of the
foundations for the development of the
computer.
• His machine caused us to attribute thinking
and decision making to machines; capabilities
we only attribute to living organisms like
humans before. Today, computers have
completely revolutionized almost every aspect
of human life. We are now living at a time
when machines can be programmed to
perform tasks.

SUMMARY
• Intellectual revolutions happened throughout
the course of human history.
• Challenged and disproved long-standing beliefs
• Paradigm- shifting
• Paved the way for other discoveries and
innovative ideas

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 MODULE E : ISSUES & CONSEQUENCES OF
TECHNOLOGY
Topics:
• Martin Heidegger & The Question Concerning
Technology
• The Way Forward: Select Philosophical
Thoughts
A. Martin Heidegger and The Question
Concerning Technology
• Born on September 26, 1889
• Messkirch, Germany
• German philosopher
• Studied Theology at the University of Freiburg.
• In 1911, eventually shifted to philosophy.
• most known for his works on phenomenology
and existentialism
• The Question Concerning Technology.
Technology is a means to an end
Technology is a human activity
Terms
• Aletheia - unhiddenness or disclosure
• Poiesis - bringing forth
Aristotle: Technology is producing something for
a purpose
• Techne - skill, art or craft
What is the purpose of technology?
• Technology is supposed to be a mode of
revealing, it should be something; a poiesis
that reveals & brings out the truth and this
truth is about out immediate environment.
MODERN TECHNOLOGY
• is a “challenging forth” - tends to be very
aggressive in its activities
MODERN TECHNOLOGY & OUR
RELATIONSHIP WITH NATURE
• “Modern technology views Earth as a huge gas
station representative of the extraction,
drilling & rape of Mother Nature.”
• We tend to use Modern Technology or
products of Modern Technology to extract, to
obtain resources from Mother Earth to serve
our purpose to meet or needs & wants
• Examples:
• Mining
• Cutting of trees
BEFORE: OUR ANCESTORS LIVED IN HARMONY
WITH NATURE
Wetlands of Pampanga
• “pampang” - river bank
• People on the river banks
• Thriving communities living along the banks of
Pampanga river
• Pampanga & Guagua Rivers
• Candaba Swaps - famous place for bird
watching
• Bangkung Malapad Estuary, Sasmuan
• Consuelo, Macabebe
Results of having plastic technology:
• Plastic pollution in our rivers
• Our river & oceans are choking with plastics
• Endangering the lives of aquatic animals
MODERN TECHNOLOGY & ITS IMPACT ON
OUR RELATIONS WITH EACH OTHER
• Modern Technology has shackled us; limited
our experiences in the world
• We have forgotten how to enjoy & live in the
moment
• We have become too preoccupied with
snapping the perfect picture
• Phubbing - ignoring companions despite being
with them
Heidegger also stated that Questioning is the
piety of thought. As modern technology brings
forth the truth, it can cause us to engage in deep
thinking and reflection. As science and
technology helps us understand nature, the
design of living things, we cannot help but be at
awe at the new things we learn. This can cause
us to think and ask more questions. This leads us
to self-discoveries that lead us to realize our
place in the world.
Questioning Modern Technology
• Preventing us from living in the moment
• Modern technology enframes us
• Enframing blocks poiesis; experience of what is
true
B. The Way Forward: Select Philosophical
Thoughts
 Confucianism
• started in the 6th Century BCE in China
• Confucius (K’ung-fu-Tze or Master Kong).
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• Considered as one of the greatest philosophers
of the Hundred Schools of Thought
• Good - knowing the difference between right or
wrong
• Does not believe in all-power deity
• Advocated a strict code of ethics to live a life of
peace and prosperity & called this code the
Five Constants and Four Virtues:
• Ren - benevolence
• Yi - righteousness
• Li - ritual
• Zhi - knowledge
• Xin - integrity
• Xiao - filial love and piety
• Zhong - loyalty
• Jie - contingency
• Yi - justice/righteousness
• These are all equal in their importance, but
everything begins with filial love and piety,
meaning everything begins in the family. It all
begins in the family.
 Taoism
• Daode-jin (Tao Te Ching) introduced on
3rd-4th century BCE
• often attributed to Laozi (Lao Tzu) though he
was not along in writing
• “Dao” is a way of path that is the appropriate
way to behave and lead others.
• Chi - energy that flows through the universe is
because of the balance of the yin and the yang
• Yin - dark, feminine and passive
• Yang - light, masculine, and active
• Heaven is yang and Earth is yin.
• The balance between these two forces that
allows the chi to flow is believed to be needed
to achieve good health, fortune and
prosperity.
• Embraces nature
 Zoroastrianism
• monotheistic (one-God) faith
• Started by Zoroaster in Persia between
(1500-1000 BCE).
• There is only one supreme being named Ahura
Mazda (Lord of wisdom) who created and
sustains everything.
• Good Thoughts, Good Words, and Good Deeds.
• As long as one follows the precepts of Ahura
Mazda, one lives a happy, fulfilling life. Not
doing so will cause suffering and confusion.
• This is done by:
• Telling the truth always
• Practicing charity
• Showing love for others
• Moderation in all things (in way of life,
food, etc)
• Quiet & moderate funeral practice
• Sagdid or dog glance - a rite wherein a dog
is brought into the room to scare away
evil spirits
• Towers of silence - body is left exposed to
the elements, to be picked clean by
vultures then only the bones are left,
these are collected and buried
 Catholicism and Laudito Si’ by Pope
Francis I
• Laudato Si’, mi Signore means “praise be to you,
my Lord.”
• encyclical letter of Pope Francis on the care of
our common home
• derived from the canticle of Saint Francis of
Assisi
• Inclusive dialogue with the people on how we
are affecting our planet.
• Obstructionist attitudes ranges from denial of
the environmental problems to indifference,
giving up that the problem will ever be solved
to resting one’s confidence on purely scientific
solutions
• Pressing environmental problems
• Environmental injustice
• Cares for the environment as corporal acts of
mercy
SUMMARY
• We have become holders and beneficiaries of
scientific knowledge.
• Modern technology is aggressive in its
activities and can block our experience of
what is true.
• Modern technology is something we should
continuously question.
• Maybe the way to deal with the new & the
future of S&T is to turn to the old: age-old
philosophies and bits of wisdom.
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 MODULE F : ECOSYSTEMS, GLOBAL Laguna de Bay
ENVIRONMENTALISM, BIODIVERSITY AND • Largest lake in the Philippines
CLIMATE CRISIS • Reported to have been contaminated with
heavy metals, industrial chemicals, antibiotics,
Humans have lived for just 200,000 years, but steroid hormones, protozoa, and fecal bacteria
our impact on Earth is so outstanding that from both animals (hogs, and ducks) and
scientists around the world are calling for our humans.
period in the Earth’s history to be named the • The poor water quality led to periodic algae
‘Anthropocene'. infestation in the lake.
• Although it is the third largest lake in
Ecosystem Southeast Asia, cannot be a major source of safe
- unit of biosphere composed of living (biotic) water for Metro Manila.
community and its associated non-living (abiotic) • Fish kills were also recorded in the area.
environment. • Experts have suggested measures in the
rehabilitation of the lake.
Food chain
- sequence of transfers of matter and energy in 2. Biodiversity and Human Health
the form of food from organism to organism. • Seventy percent (70%) of emerging viral
diseases have been acquired by humans from
Human activities have resulted to a number of animals.
dramatic changes to different ecosystems. • Ebola
• Urbanization • Dengue
• Industrialization • Bird Flu
• Kaingin - Agriculture • Covid-19
• Recreational facilities • Deforestation may result to the spread of
disease
One of the consequences of anthropological
activities on ecosystem is the loss of biodiversity. Medicinal Plants Approved by DOH
• Guava
Biodiversity • Sambong
• refers to the variety of life on Earth- plants, • Garlic
animals, microorganisms. • Pansit-pansitan
• includes the variability of these organisms, • Ampalaya
genetic differences among the organisms and • Akapulko
the communities in which these organisms • Niyug niyogan
occur. • Yerba Buena
• Data show that species are becoming extinct • Tsaang gubat
100 times faster than they would without • Lagundi
human impacts.
3. Biodiversity as part of the solution to
Roles of Biodiversity climate change
• By 2030, nature can provide at least 30% of the
1. Services provided by Ecosystems emission reductions to prevent climate
• Food catastrophe.
• Nutrient Cycling • Deforestation is responsible for 11 % of
• Pollination greenhouse gas emissions.
• Medicine • Conserving forests could stop the release of
• Protection of water resources these greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
• Soil fertility and stability • Forests and wetland ecosystems serve as
• These services could be less likely to be crucial buffers to extreme typhoons and
delivered if the ecosystems are weakened due to flooding related to climate change. These
the loss of biodiversity. ecosystems are more resilient to the impacts
of climate change.

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4. Biodiversity and Economy
• Ecotourism
• Lake Sebu, South Cotabato
• Bucas Grande, Surigao del Norte
• Souvenir products
• Jewelries

5. Social Benefits of Biodiversity

• Natural parks and other protected areas
provide recreation and also serve as
knowledge resources for visitors.
• Source of inspiration for artists and designers
• Durian - inspired architecture found in The
Esplanade, Singapore
• Biodiversity is being utilized in education and
research

Environmentalism
• Refers to social movement or as an ideology
which is focused on improving the health of the
environment.
• It aims to protect, preserve, conserve, restore
the natural ecosystem from human activities.
• The biggest climate mobilization in history 7.6
million people take to the streets and strike for
climate action.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:

Everything around us is linked. Biodiversity is
crucial in maintaining the balance of nature. It
also plays major roles in human society. Since
we are benefiting from it, we have to do our
share in protecting and conserving our natural
resources.

GATBONTON, ID BSMT 1-E

 MODULE G : COVID 19 PANDEMIC
History of 1918 Flu Pandemic
• 1918 Pandemic (H1N1 virus)
• H1N1 virus with genes of avian origin - caused
of deadliest Pandemic
• 500 million people or one-third of the world’s
population infected with this virus during
1918-1919
• No vaccine and no antibiotics
• Control efforts worldwide were limited to
non-pharmaceutical interventions such as
isolation, quarantine, good personal hygiene,
use of disinfectants, and limitations of public
gatherings, which were applied unevenly.
What is COVID-19?
• COVID-19 (known as “2019 novel
coronavirus”)
• Novel virus was named as Wuhan coronavirus
or 2019 novel coronavirus (2019- nCov) by
the Chinese researchers
• The International Committee on Taxonomy of
Viruses (ICTV) named the virus by WHO as
SARS-CoV-2 and the disease as COVID-19
• Corona virus belong to family Coronaviridae,
order Nidovirales
• Minute in size; 65–125 nm in diameter and
contain a single-stranded RNA.
• size ranging from 26 to 32kb in length
Structure of SARS-CoV-2
• SARS-CoV-2 possesses the typical coronavirus
structure with spike protein and also
expressed other polyproteins, nucleoproteins,
and membrane proteins, such as RNA
polymerase, 3-chymotrypsin-like protease,
papain-like protease, helicase, glycoprotein,
and accessory proteins.
Sign & Symptoms of COVID-19
• Mild to moderate illness and recover without
hospitalization.
• Most common symptoms:
• fever
• dry cough
• tiredness
• Less common symptoms:
• aches and pains
• sore throat
• diarrhea
• conjunctivitis
• headache
• loss of taste or smell
• a rash on skin, or discoloration of fingers or
toes
• Serious symptoms:
• difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
• chest pain or pressure
• loss of speech or movement
• 5–6 days from when someone is infected
with the virus for symptoms to show, however
it can take up to 14 days.
• SARS-CoV cause:
• acute lung injury (ALI)
• acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)
which leads to pulmonary failure and result in
fatality.
Prevention of the spread of COVID-19
• There is no vaccine preventing the virus
• The best prevention for the general population
is to prevent exposure to the virus such as:
• Increase immune system by taking vitamins
• Protect yourself and others from the
infection
• Alcohol-based hand rub
• Avoid touching your face
• Refrain from smoking
• Cover your mouth and nose
• Practice physical distancing
• Stay home if you feel unwell
• Wear mask, face shield and PPE
Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic
• It is major public health concern
• Leading cause of hospitalization & death
• Particularly for middle & old aged people
Examples of Impact:
• PAL lays off 300 personnel after revenue losses
due to COVID-19.
• Philippines quarantines island of 57 million
people which results to daily wage earners, no
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 work no pay so no choice and social distancing
is impossible.
• Effects of Covid-19 outbreak on environment
and renewable energy sector: Medical masks
collected by some environmentalists from the
sea in China (Robert 2020)

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GATBONTON, ID BSMT 1-E