Why Black And White Are The Alpha Colors

In general, I am in agreement with A. Bloom’s perspective as I also believe that going back to the most basic questions or the foundation of knowledge is one way of creating your own thoughts or ideals, a way that will lead you to a path of your own choosing.

I also believe that the trend on relativism amongst most universities today, although has great potential, will prove to be of less worth in the long run as these same universities failed to fully equip their students with enough knowledge or foundation that would have encouraged the students to develop their own ideas from what was taught. This ultimately revolved around a supposed “analytic philosophy” that dictates to the students to accept concepts at first glance with the opinions of the so-called experts in the field of their textbooks, which to my understanding then can be labeled as ironic. For instance, a Professor who wants his students to create a book review would instruct the student to read the synopsis of a particular book rather than encourage him/her to read the whole book. We have to take note that by reading the synopsis, we are already reading the interpretation of the one who created the synopsis and our understanding then is influenced by the said interpretation, hence, we unknowingly become part of a movement. Therefore, the idea that we thought was original was in truth, at a closer look, not original after all since someone else already owned it. Another good example that I can note was a statistical study that was conducted when I was taking my BA at UP Baguio, which comprised of respondents who were all members of the group ANAKBAYAN. When they were asked what their reasons were for joining the group, some had similar reasons (explanations were narrated exactly like the explanation of the leader of the group) while the others differed simply because they cannot pinpoint exactly what their reasons were and they perceived that what they were doing was what UPians should be doing. The bottom line is, the students these days are influenced by a thought that has been tainted with a little bit of influence form one person or another, which then makes it difficult for them to determine which thoughts were theirs and which ones were not. Further, this trend leads to the students’ inability to fashion a life for themselves that will go beyond the monotonous offerings of success via instant gratification and moral relativism.

These were the reasons why I agreed with A. Bloom’s urging that it is best to go back, study the historical/cultural materials in their original form, and create new thoughts based on our understanding of the said text.