© Airgela Reinkaye S.

Querrer | 11 STEM 11 | UST-SHS

Answers to Thesis Statements/Questions

1. In the advent of social media and modern technology, does

critical thinking have an enduring relevance for 21st century
learners?
- Critical thinking will always be relevant no matter what the
circumstances are. Regardless of how modern the world may
become, critical thinking will always be needed for survival.
In fact, it has become more relevant for 21st century learners
because as the world becomes more modernized, it is a
dangerous practice to just accept what we see on social media
as the truth. Modern technology has the ability to alter the
truth and present a seemingly true depiction of everything.
Hence, I personally believe that critical thinking is now one
of the most effective weapon for survival in this modern
world of social media and advanced technology. “Fake news”
has become widespread as well, which is why 21st century
learners could be brought further away from the truth they
are seeking for. This is where critical thinking comes into
play. We 21st century learners, as rational human beings,
should be able to recognize which truth is acceptable,
through critical thinking. We should be able to think for
ourselves using our own knowledge. In addition, modern
technology attaches the learners to the material world. This
would spoon feed them with knowledge without making them
wonder first, or explore beyond the obvious. They would focus
more on what modern technology has given them, leading to
lack of time in philosophical reflection and critical
thinking. Due to this, they are only settled for the “truth”
provided by the social media, and not give birth to their own
truth. Moreover, we can’t fully trust social media, for
critical thinking is relevant and has always had a great
importance in our lives, even back in the past, present and
future, because it is our ability to understand the ideas,
detect mistakes through reasoning, identify and evaluate
arguments, and lastly, how to make judgment about what is
true and what is not in this world full of lies.

2. Can artificial intelligence eventually replace human

ingenuity in a not so distant future?
- Artificial Intelligence can never replace human ingenuity in
the future. There’s a saying that goes, “The spring cannot
rise above the source.” And this holds true with Artificial
Intelligence. Humans are the creators of robots and machines.
Without the intervention of humans, robots and machines have
 © Airgela Reinkaye S. Querrer | 11 STEM 11 | UST-SHS

limits. Artificial intelligence won’t be able to duplicate

our whole personalities, feelings, and emotions. They can’t
make mistakes, which is far from human ingenuity where we
need to be able to criticize ourselves to be morally
transformed. They may be able to acquire lots of knowledge
higher than human beings, but they can’t be able to understand
and reason out things like our critical thinking skills. They
don’t know how to love, how to care, and how to show
conscience to others. They are only following what they are
programmed for. It can never and ever replace and duplicate
human’s originality and creativity. Our future relies on
human ingenuity. Our world needs uniqueness and real
humanity. The human mind, as we all know, is limitless.

3. In our modern times, why is length of information more

essential than its depth?
- For this question, I’m afraid I would have to disagree/ Depth
is more important than length. But come to think about it,
when we give more importance to the depth of information, we
become focused on a narrow perspective only. Modern times
equates to more complex and more complicated situations which
necessitate a more holistic approach. With the resources we
have now, information can come from many sources and we could
be easily misled if we don’t broaden our area of concentration
and just focus on specifics.

4. In a data-driven and consumeristic society, why is

philosophical reflection become passé?
- This is not necessarily true. On the contrary, social media
and the internet have become a medium in advancing
philosophical reflection on various issues. For instance,
Buddhist pages on Facebook which promote philosophical
thoughts and quotes are being widely followed. And as I have
observed lately, more and more people, young and adults, have
been taking a break from the modern world and retreating into
some place where they can refresh and think. I think, that
for as long as there are people who prefer to be real,
philosophical reflection will never be outmoded. In our
consumeristic society, philosophical reflection has become
out of date and no longer fashionable because we are living
in the time that most of us focus only on our goals, where
everyone only wants to get and acquire goods, most especially
shopping and buying items for their compensation or
happiness. Philosophical reflection is slowly being
forgotten, because as of now, money can buy happiness. But
 © Airgela Reinkaye S. Querrer | 11 STEM 11 | UST-SHS

one thing is for sure, we may get this happiness through

money, but our happiness has no meaning and value. We don’t
get the real happiness we are looking for. Philosophical
reflection develops our cautious attitude towards making
decision and evaluating problems before coming to conclusion.
It can make us grow as a person to look into different
perspectives and views. It is an examination of our life
situation where we think carefully and deeply. But then, time
has changed, we easily get attracted to things which we think
could make us happy, that’s why we decide quickly without
thinking of it carefully. We have become so blind to what is
really important and to make ourselves better.

5. Do you think human relationships are better off using the

‘Socratic method’ in preserving and sustaining the essentials
of life?
- I think human relationships are better off using the
‘Socratic method’ in preserving and sustaining the essentials
of life. In connection with the concept of critical thinking,
which I think is our greatest weapon of survival in this
modern world, it is always healthy to encourage each other
to draw out ideas and talk about these ideas intelligently.
When 2 human beings are open to the method, their relationship
will undoubtedly become better off and will reach a depth
that cannot be fathomed by other people. In the Socratic
method, there’s an argument between two individuals who throw
questions and answers to each other. Through this, human
relationships can be strengthened and can develop more bond
to each other, because we are sharing thoughts, ideas,
beliefs, and opinions to each other. Both must be open to the
ideas and opinions of the other. There are other ideas that
one can learn from other people, other sources, and new
experiences, so that we can preserve and sustain the
essentials of life. We give birth to our own knowledge, and
we should be able to share the knowledge we nurture. As the
saying goes, knowledge is not knowledge if it is not shared
to others. Also, through this, we become aware of what we
lack, and let people criticize in order for us to fully
understand ourselves. Furthermore, we become open minded to
accept and share the ideas we have, in order to give meaning
to life, build each other’s relationship, and the humanity
and unity will prevail.
 © Airgela Reinkaye S. Querrer | 11 STEM 11 | UST-SHS

6. The study of philosophy provides a healthy nutrition for the

soul and sustenance for the spirit. Does it even matter today?
- Why not? While I live in a modern world where nearly all
human intentions are questioned, I still believe that having
a nourished soul is the ultimate key to happiness. No matter
how modern our world may become, humans will always strive
to search for happiness. Philosophy gives color and meaning
to our lives that our soul and spirit need. It lets us reflect
on our daily experiences and lets us learn from it whenever
we make mistakes, in order for us to be a better version of
ourselves. If the study of philosophy nourishes the soul, and
if a nourished soul is the key to happiness, why would
philosophy lose its essence? If our soul is serene, there is
no need to search for happiness outside of ourselves because
we, ourselves, become the source of happiness, so my mom
says.

7. The most elementary questions in life is the profoundest and

ineffable. Why is it so?
- Maybe because these elementary questions are rhetorical –
they are not meant to be answered anyway. Or maybe, experience
is the best answer to these seemingly basic, but utterly
profound questions. Or maybe it’s because we don’t dig deeper
into its underlying cause that is why more questions kick in
when we answer these questions, because our answers are too
obvious. But in reality, these questions are tricky and it
can make our minds bewildered, leading us to other different
questions, which will lead us to questioning what the cause
of this is, leading to the uncaused caused, which will be
impossible to answer. I read a post on Facebook the other
day. “What is the most profound question ever asked in a
song? I read the comments – many said things about God, life,
death, love, war, peace, etc. but I particularly liked – no,
loved – this comment: “How much is that doggie in the window?

8. Can an atheist be moral or ethical? Why or why not?

- An atheist can be both moral and ethical. You don’t have to
believe in God to know what is right and wrong. Some atheists
are even more ethical and have a stronger and more impressive
moral fiber than some believers. Religion is not the basis
of being morally good, religion is just what divides us
according to our beliefs and which God we are worshiping. It
doesn’t reflect the ethical behavior of a human person.
Morality and ethics do not equate to religion.
 © Airgela Reinkaye S. Querrer | 11 STEM 11 | UST-SHS

9. The primary objective of philosophy is to seek the truth.

However, in reality if truth is rational why is it impossible
to possess?
- Because truth is not absolute, just like what Friedrich
Nietzche said. There are many fragments of truth. Truth is
rational, yes, but it is also relative. There are many truths
in the world, so they say. But why would truth be impossible
to possess? That is possible. Every human being seeks for the
truth. Everyone is capable of achieving it. However, it is
impossible to attain even though both human beings and the
truth are rational. This is because we all have different
perspectives about life and we have varying opinions towards
one issue. We have a stand on every topic since we have the
power to think, so as a result, all of us have different
ways/processes on how to attain this knowledge or the truth
we are searching for.

10.All questions must have an answer however implicit sometimes.

Why is the philosophical enterprise an open-ended project?
- Because people with philosophical minds always question
everything. There is no end to debate when both camps insist
on what they believe in. All questions have an answer, but
not all answers are clear, and not all questions are
elaborate. That’s why, Philosophy must be an open-ended
project. An open-ended question is one that cannot be
answered with a "yes" or "no" or what we called a
straightforward response. These questions are broad and
complex, so it must have a response which is meaningful and
complete knowledge, feeling, and understanding. Philosophy
must contain open-ended questions since it doesn’t provide a
definite answer, and this can only be provided by a close-
ended situation. These questions must be oriented in a way
that once it asks “why”, the answers would provide a variety
of opinions, and will branch out to several reasons, which
would help us attain the truth.

11.Critical thinking is different from creative thinking. Are

Filipinos directed or predisposed to be critical or creative
thinkers?
- Now that’s stereotyping. Filipinos think differently. With
all due respect, I think the question is not appropriate.
There will always be Filipinos who think creatively,
Filipinos who think critically, Filipinos who think both
critically and creatively, and many Filipinos who do not
think at all. Critical thinking is the objective analysis and
 © Airgela Reinkaye S. Querrer | 11 STEM 11 | UST-SHS

evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgment, meanwhile

creative thinking is a way of looking at problems or
situations from a fresh perspective that suggests unorthodox
solutions. Filipinos are predisposed to be both actually.
Since our brain is dichotomized, we are able to use both
hemispheres, but one may dominate the other that is why we
can't really tell if we are pure critical thinkers or creative
thinkers. Filipinos use more of their left hemisphere which
accounts for their critical thinking skills at times where
they need to decide whether which law is suited for one issue.
They reason through logic and analyze the issue well. This
can be seen in protests where Filipinos fight for their rights
because they have analyzed the situation already where they
don't agree with decision of the upperclassmen. However,
Filipinos become creative thinkers at times where they become
open to novelty, innovative, and reason through metaphor and
analogy. This can be seen in the attitude of Filipinos that
they are always positive but still can reason out well using
their optimism. For example, in times of problems, they
become innovative and just use alternatives if the required
thing isn't available. Furthermore, Filipinos can be both
critical and creative thinkers, it just matters on the kind
of situation they are in, and these two types of thinking,
elaborates, synthesizes, and uses abstract reasoning to solve
a problem as well.

12.In philosophy, why is it impossible to have a monopoly of

truth? Cite some relevant analogy.
- In Philosophy, it is impossible to have a monopoly of the
truth because you can never trap reality. We all have
different perspectives and views on life. What is true to one
may not be true to the others. There’s this story, I don’t
know if you’re familiar with it, about five blind men and an
elephant. The blind men were placed in front of different
body parts of the elephant. They were asked to touch the body
parts. They answered differently, but this doesn’t mean all
their answers are wrong. The Truth is represented through the
elephant and we are the 5 blind men. We all have different
perspectives when it comes to the Truth. All we can do is
take a bite from the truth and continue to wonder.

13.Should truth always be rational or logical? If not, what are

its primary traits? Defend your answer.
- Truth does not always have to be rational or logical.
Something may be true simply because it is the truth, without
 © Airgela Reinkaye S. Querrer | 11 STEM 11 | UST-SHS

the need to rationalize. However, we can dig deeper into it

through critical thinking and analyzation of the underlying
causes on why it became the truth we seek for. We use our
experiences that would provide the initial data for our
reason on why people came up with the truth. Our experiences
are our basis that's why we have different perspectives and
different reasons for the causes of our truth. To sum up,
truth must always be reasoned out in order for it to become
one generalizable knowledge.

14.The unexamined thought is not worth having. Why do you agree

or disagree?
- Agree, but only if the person’s mind is capable of doing so.
By this, I mean that if we talk about mentally challenged
persons, they are not expected to examine their thoughts, are
they? Otherwise, if you have the capability to examine your
thoughts but you refuse to do so, you are dead meat. You just
go with the flow, and you don’t have a predisposition, you
just exist, and you don’t live. Examining our thoughts leads
us to a better way of living – we understand more. According
to Socrates, life must be constantly examined because the
unexamined life is not worth living. I agree to his statement,
for all of us lack knowledge although we think we know
everything, our knowledge is still trapped in context and we
always seek for new learnings. We should know ourselves
first, where we should be able to assess what we are capable
of and which part of us needs improvement. To learn is also
to unlearn. We need to be able to criticize ourselves first
because through this we would be able to fully know ourselves.
If you don't know yourself, you can't live a life worth
remembering. Thus, in order to attain these we must be morally
transformed through recognizing things that we already have,
and things that we lack.

15.In philosophy, the essence of truth becomes illusory when it

becomes common and popular. Why is it so?
- In philosophy, when truth becomes popular and known, it gets
unrealistic, because there’s this word we call “rumors.” As
truth becomes common, the idea and meaning of it is being
filtered incorrectly by anyone. The real meaning of it is
removed twice or thrice, and may be possibly added by
unnecessary ideas which the truth becomes unreliable and
 © Airgela Reinkaye S. Querrer | 11 STEM 11 | UST-SHS

illusory. As it gets known by everyone, it may face harm and

danger. Not all truths are safe from humans. For me, that’s
the reason why all truths are not being served to us by
philosophy, because it’s better to be hidden and remains a
secret, than being put in a dirt by someone who changes its
own purity.

16.Philosophy is impractical and useless but not worthless. Why

do you agree or disagree?
- Most of us would say Philosophy is nonsense, useless, and a
waste of time, but they don’t really realize the real essence
of Philosophy. Most of us want something useful and effective
in our everyday lives. Philosophy may not always be useful
in our lives, but it will always have a value and meaning.
Philosophy nourishes our soul and sustains our spirit. We may
not be able to notice or realize it as every day passes, but
we can be able to feel it. Through Philosophy, we give color
and meaning to things we experience. We are living in a world
where everyone wants practical answers, but not the value.
Science provides all the answers we need, but Philosophy
provides meanings to these answers. Philosophy lets us go
beyond what is obvious, and through this we would be somehow,
able to know the reason of our existence, even if it won’t
be monopolized by everyone.

17.There is nothing which philosophy cannot know and explain.

Why do you agree or disagree?
- I agree with this statement. We know that Philosophy is
defined as “love of wisdom” and take note, philosophy is the
science of the underlying causes of things as known by natural
reason alone. Therefore, why disagree when the real motive
of philosophy is to explain the reasons on why things happen?
Everything happens for a reason, therefore everything can be
explained by philosophy since it digs deeper into the causes
or reason of all things. Philosophy covers all the questions
and answers all over the universe, since it goes beyond the
impossible. It goes beyond what is seen by the naked eye.
Philosophy has unending questions, so it can be able to
explain and know all the secrets and mysteries. It is even
capable of knowing the possibility of the impossible since
philosophy itself is too broad, and can explain anything in
the world we are in right now, and the world beyond.
 © Airgela Reinkaye S. Querrer | 11 STEM 11 | UST-SHS

18.Reason and experience are the two basic components of

philosophical activity. Which takes precedence and why is it
so?
- I believe that experience takes precedence over reason
because personally, without experience, there will be no
reason. For instance, the saying “Everything happens for a
reason”, if I would interpret this in my own words, once you
experience something, there will always be an explanation
behind it. Another example is, say that your friend broke
your trust unexpectedly, that’s experience, but after that,
you would start to question why and what is the reason behind
her betrayal.

19.Can the Filipino concept of ‘pakikinig’ distinctive or

correlated to ‘critical thinking’ skills? Dissect the two
concepts and justify your position.
- The Filipino concept of "pakikinig" is correlated to critical
thinking skills. Let us define both terms first, the term
pakikinig refers to our listening ability whenever someone
is discussing something. Critical thinking, however, refers
to the process by which someone comes up with a philosophical
reflection. The two terms are correlated where the concept
of pakikinig is used to be able to critically analyze what
someone has discussed about and through critical thinking,
we would be able to dig deeper in what he/she said since we
have listened to his/her arguments that would support our
judgement.

20.Philosophy offers no definitive and final answer. Why is it

so? Defend your answer.
- Philosophy is the science of things in their ultimate principles
and causes as known by natural reason alone. However, philosophy
offers no definitive answer since we will never know the ultimate
cause of everything which we call as the 'uncaused cause'.
Philosophy can only provide temporal truth. What is true today
may not be true tomorrow since philosophy teaches us to wonder
and keep this curiosity burning, leading to more questions rather
than answers. In addition, philosophy let us unveil things beyond
what is observed that is why we can't come up with one definitive
answer because we view things differently. Lastly, philosophy
doesn't take much importance on the answer, but on how we give
meaning to it through the process, since in philosophy, questions
are more important than answers.