Ang Tanong ni Kia: Mnemonic para sa Type I at Type II Errors

Dalawang taon na ang nakararaan, may tanong ang kaibigan kong si Kia:

"Anong mas masakit na pagkakamali: Yung Type 1 error wherein you conclude that a relationship exists when in fact it doesn't OR Type 2 error where there is really a relationship but you fail to recognize it."

Isang paghihimay dito ang aking tinangka sa isang pinaglumaang sulok. Babalikan natin ito ngayon hindi upang muling sagutin, kundi upang paghugutan ng hindi bagong distinksyon.

Notes on the Bontok's view on relationships between men and women, nudity and sex

(The last of a series)

Of arranged marriages and love

It wasn't mentioned explicitly in the film, but the Bontok appeared to believe in monogamy. There were people who remained unmarried, but they believed in marriage.

The parents arranged the marriages. This did not mean that the Bontok never married for love-- they also did (we'll talk about that later)-- it's just that the parents were the ones who talked and finalized it. Often, it did happen that the couple, especially the woman, did not love the man she was betrothed to, but they would get married anyway in accordance with their parents' wishes.

Notes on the Bontok and work

(The fifth of a series)

One of the factors that may promote the concept of rape is idleness. As they say, idleness is the playground of the devil. A society where people can end up having nothing and doing nothing with their lives is no good in preventing crime.

Work in the fields

In the old Bontoc, there were no unemployed bums who just drank and gambled all day. The Bontok were a hardworking people whose work was central to their daily lives. Everyone able was sent to the fields to work. Those who cannot go to the fields (i.e. the elderly, the disabled) are left in the village to care for the children.

But work in the fields was not just work; it was a social activity. People get to interact while working, like some sort of bonding activity. In fact, it was where the youth fell in love and found their spouses. There was also food: owner of the field provided it as compensation. Perhaps the La Presa community in the hit local teleserye Forevermore is a nice depiction of what it had been like.

Notes on the Bontok gender beliefs

(The fourth of a series)

The restrictions imposed on Bontok women mostly had to do with war. As mentioned earlier, women were not allowed in the male dormitories and this was only because those were the venues for talking about war. Women should not at all be implicated in those matters since:

(1) women should not die in war
(2) women have other more important concerns

Respect for women

It was discussed previously that men were not supposed to kill women during war because the Bontok associates women with life due to their natural capacity to give birth. Women were to be respected for man comes out of her (double meaning unintended!). Precisely because of this was female genitalia not supposed to be gazed upon.

Notes on the Bontok customs of "tribal" war

(Or the third of a series)

Rape of women in the times of war is unavoidable, one of my classes in UP (or maybe UPIS) discussed. It is symbolic of the taking a place, a symbol of overpowering a nation, an exertion of power. That's why in history they call it "the rape of <insert place here>." And as it is said, rape is more of a crime of power than  a sexual crime. During World War II, the Japanese army even established the infamous "comfort stations"-- military-controlled facilities for sexual slavery created especially for the Japanese soldiers-- after the large scale rape of women and girls they committed in Nanking, China. [1]

That's the most horrible thing I ever "learned" in a classroom. War sucks, and it does even more when you're a woman. The scary part is that it is the soldiers that commit most of it. They who have been trained to be disciplined commit the most atrocious acts. That's when you're certain war brings out the worst in humanity.

Notes on the physical structure of Bontok communities

(Or the second of a series)

Previously, it had been suggested that if rape happened in Bontok, it couldn't have been outdoors because they believed that sexual intercourse in a public area would evoke the anger of the spirits, bestowing destruction upon the place. However, the physical structure of their communities wouldn't allow it to happen indoors, either.

Of houses without privacy

Notes on the spiritual and moral beliefs of the Bontok

(Or the first of a series)

Most of Bontok is now Christian, or to be more specific: Roman Catholic-- thanks to missionaries of the colonial period. The elders, however, do not seem to be satisfied with their relatively new faith and report that they were more morally upright in the past.

Being a Christian, I tend to think that it's probably not a matter of cultural superiority that makes pre-Christian Bontok more morally upright. Rather, it is likely that Christianity just has not been taught and understood properly. I do not know how to argue for this position and I will not attempt it here. But I admit that I find this disturbing.

I cannot elaborate on the Bontok's spiritual belief system because the film did not delve into much detail. The details it did present, however, did not stick with me. What I did understand is that they believed in a Higher Being. They performed rituals to please those that they believed in. They had a concept of "evil acts" and also of "acts which anger the spirits"-- both of which are prohibited.

The Bontok implemented their code strictly. They were very clear on what is right and wrong, and took that seriously.

A Series on "Walang Rape sa Bontok"

The eleventh film I watched in the cinema is a documentary entitled Walang Rape sa Bontok, shown in UP Theater. It investigates whether the Bontok culture (the old, declining one) has a concept of rape, for at the outset: (1) they do not have a word for it, and (2) their laws do not have punishment for its commission.

The film identifies six factors that had prevented the emergence of the concept of rape in Bontok:

1. Spiritual and moral beliefs
2. Physical structure of the community
3. Customs of "tribal" war
4. Gender beliefs
5. Views on relationships between men and women, nudity, and sex
6. Work in the field

What I like about it

A Short Reflection on Neurology and Epistemology

Sometimes, med is fun. Last year, Neuro taught us history-taking and neuro exam by making us interact with actual patients in the ward under the supervision of a preceptor. We were, then, individually assigned to write a clinical report. I liked it.

Moments like these remind me why I took this path. I like talking to patients, getting their information and putting together the pieces while figuring out which information I still have to ask. Sometimes, I'd have to discern if they're lying. When I learn enough, I'd have to figure out what illness they have, like solving a puzzle. That's basically what it means to take a patient's history, the most important tool for diagnosis.

If I don’t know what the patient has after I have taken the history, I am in serious trouble.

-Alan Yudelt, MD

Binhi't Kalansay

Ilang ulit ko nang napanood ang Magic Temple (1996) mula nang una itong pinalabas. Ito ang unang pelikulang napanood ko sa sinehan kung kaya naman hindi ko ito makalimutan. Habang nasa banyo at nagliliwaliw ukol sa paborito kong talinhaga, biglang dumaplis sa aking isipan ang isang eksenang ngayon ko lamang namalayan ang natatagong paglalaro ng lalim: ang laban ni Sambag at ni Diyablong Bungo.