Shortest Cut To High Intelligence And/Or Creativity – Reading!

Here is our good friend Ramon Yedra quoting Washington SyCip on PH public education: “So the emphasis on a good public education so that the poor can use education as an equalizer, that’s essential.”

From the EsquireFebruary 2012 issue[1], here is the more complete paragraph:

My father insisted that the whole family go to public school because public schools could compete. I went to Mapa High School and Burgos Elementary School. I could compete with any La Salle or Ateneo graduate. Nowadays, you cannot. So the emphasis on a good public education so that the poor can use education as an equalizer, that’s essential.

I was thinking of overhauling the whole public school system, but no, let us simplify.

I went to a private institution, attending the high school department of Rizal Junior College(RJC) – which practiced liberal education, even if they did not call it that. The secret? RJC had a welcoming library full of book classics American and British, and American magazines: Look, Newsweek, Reader's Digest, TIME. My best teacher was not a person – it was the Reader's Digest. Some lessons: How to think, how to write, how to enjoy life.

I am a UP Los Baños BS Agriculture graduate major in Ag Edu. Among other things, I taught myself to be a creative as well as a critical writer. Inspired thus by our good friend Ramon:

I am proposing the simplest and fastest change in PH schools – from high school to college – Put up libraries well-stocked with classics (books) and old copies of American magazines, including of course National Geographic.

Who am saying all that? Here is this bold claim of mine that is at least 5 years old and in public, in my blog Creative Thinkering:

“World's creative genius online,
most prolific writer of non-fiction:
Frank A Hilario, Guru”

Thank God, going on 81, since January 2020, I have blogged every single day an essay of a minimum 500 words each – I have created several blogs along the way, the latest being: Asa Ka Pa!, Brave New World, THiNK DiFFERENT, and the latest ToCA: Towards Organic Cooperative Agriculture. (But now I have gone back to Brave New World as you can see the name above what you’re reading.) The blog names themselves will tell you how I think about what I think.

Encourage students to write, yes – but before that, encourage them to read first. They will not be able to appreciate their own writing if they have not read brilliant or creative or inspirational writing from first-rate writers and/or first-rate minds.

Since 2005, I have blogged at least 5,000 long essays of 1,000+ words each – and that is not a joke. And I have published at least 10 books authored by me, subjects from ICRISAT science to Indios Bravos: Jose Rizal As Messiah Of The Revolution.

A good education is on Thinking. A good education in thinking is Reading. Want to write like crazy? Read like crazy! That’s how to open many windows – then you can choose the one(s) you love.@517

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[1]https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/what-ive-learned/we-remember-washington-sycip-through-his-words-of-wisdom-a00011-a1521-a1881-20171008-lfrm

I, The Wizard Of Ws

This is all about those Wonderful “Ws.” What you’re looking at above is a collage created by Windows 10itself on 26 April 2018 in my workroom-bedroom 04:05 in the morning – I took the photograph with my Lumix FZ100 digital zoom (my long shadow I superimposed only yesterday).

Anyway, what exactly did I do to cause Windows 10 to work out a hidden wonder? I don’t know. But I’m glad it did. You never know what you cannot do until it’s done!

What I want to point out is this: A jumble of ideas, that’s how my mind works most of the time. So, if you are an aspiring writer, take heart!

This time, I decided not to give you a formula for writing, simply encouraging words.

At 80 going 81, thank God, how could I have blogged every single day in the last 17 months? Explanation: The “Wonder of Ws” expressed as “WFH.”

WFH:
Windows For Home. Version 10, I have been using for the last 7 years. Happily.

WFH:
Work From Home? No, Werk From Home – it’s not work if you love what you’re doing!

WFH:
Workhorse For Hours. Lenovo ThinkPad laptop, since 2013. Great!

WFH:
Werk From Home Fibr. PLDT, fast.

WFH:
Word From Heaven. No, I never write or rewrite my draft with a ballpen; yes, I always work with Microsoft Word.

WFH:
Word From Hell. A hell of an app, Word has helped me desktop-publish several volumes, including a coffee-table book for the Agricultural Credit Policy Council.

WFH:
Word From Here. When I open Word, automatically and at once it shows a long list of recent files I have been working on. How convenient is that?!

WFH:
Write From Habit. Make it a habit to write; then it becomes easier and easier.

WFH:
Write From Hate? No, Write For Help. I write to help, not hate.

WFH:
Wait For Hints? Sometimes.

WFH:
Wait For Hope? Better: Write From Hope!

WFH:
Write Furniture to Have? I have an executive chair, a 4-compartment computer table, another table for my HP 4-color desktop printer.

WFH:
What Fan to Have. I have a swinging little electric fan on top of the computer table. On the wall, a medium-sized Conduraaircon.

WFH:
What Food to Have. Packets of Milo, Twin Packs Nescafé Brown, an occasional ready-to-cook pork tapa from the variety store a few houses away. Easy to fry – I love it! Often, bananas – lacatanand saba (Ilocano dippig), thanks to my wife Ampy.

WFH:
Wash From Here. My daughter Gracielatakes care of my unclean clothes, brings to the laundry shop a tricycle drive away – or has them washed at our washing machine right outside my room.

WFH:
Watch Fireflies Here. We live in the countryside where a few feet away is Mother Nature. There is also a climbable mountain in the distance.

WFH:
Write From Habit. If you want to be a good writer, you have to cultivate the habit of writing.

WFH:
Write For Hours. Mostly, enjoy!

WFH:
Work for FH? No, Wonderful for FH! I love my Ws!@517

“Happy Mother’s Day!” To Amparo “Ampy” Medina Reynoso-Hilario

 

My wife looks like that most of the time, a caring woman, if strict, passionate. I took that photograph with my Eastman Kodak handy camera, point & shoot, 17 years ago, on Sunday, 13 June 2004. Always a simple lady, born 30 October 1945, she was 59 years old; I was 64. I loved her the first time I saw her!

Got married in Bay, Laguna 18 March 1967, birthday of her father, Gabriel Reynosofrom Tayabas, Quezon; she did nottell me – did not tell her father either, and he was mad! (When you are in love, you do foolish things.) Tagalog, Ilocano – extrovert, introvert. 

Our children:

Cristina Marie (Tina)
Jose Mario (Jomar)
Maria Lorena (Dida)
Paul Benjamin (Jay)
Teresa Leonor (Techie)
Cynthia Mae (Cynthia)
Julio Salvador (Dinggoy)
Jennifer Claire (Jenny)
Ernest Charles (+) (Ernie)
Daphne Cassandra (Daphne)
Neenah Bonafe (Neenah)
Edwin Dante (Edwin)
Graciela Antonia (Ela).

No, I cannot remember the dates of birth. Too many! I have to ask Ela, #13.

Ela was barely 7 months old when Amparo Medina Reynoso and Frank Agapito Hilario joined the New Year’s Day 1991 Marriage Encounter (ME) Seminar sponsored by the Bukás Loób sa Díyos (BLD) Community, now the BLD San Pablo District. I readily joined because I knew I had been not as much a loving husband as I should, and Ampy wasn’t perfect either! (I learned much later she had doubted that I would say “Yes” to the ME invitation – we never talked church or religion! It’s a long story but at that time I was already an agnostic.)

As ME prerequisite, we had to get married in church; we chose the San Antonio Parish Church and got a church wedding 29 December 1990. Note the name “Graciela Antonia” – Ela was born on the feast day of San Antonio De Padua.

The church wedding and ME brought us closer, much closer – I am not a very demonstrative person, unlike my wife. Look at the above photograph again: She is all smiles as she offers the whole bunch of luscious-looking rambutan. (As luscious as those lips!)

Many years ago, I asked her why she chose me among her several suitors, including a Professor of UP Los Baños, and I was only an Instructor. She said it was because I was the only one who made her laugh! Ha, ha. I don’t remember any of the jokes, but they must have come from the pages of the Reader's Digest, my favorite reading matter when I was in high school in Asingan, Pangasinan. And how could I have afforded to buy that magazine when the Dionisio Hilarios were not well-to-do? The library of our school, Rizal Junior College (HS Dept) was well-stocked with reading matter: books of classic English literature, American magazines like Life, Newsweek, and Time. I was a lucky voracious reader.

Differently, Ampy took up Stenography and, as she was good at it, she passed the government exam. She chose Los Baños as first priority of assignment. And that’s how we met. And the rest is our story.@517

Marshall McLuhan Revised: “The Message Is The Message”

My title: That’s what I’m saying as a teacher (University of the Philippines '65, PH Civil Service, Professional Level, year beforegraduation), and as a self-taught digital person: Author’s Editor, Blogger, Digital Publisher, and Technical Editor in Agriculture and Forestry publications & books, plural.

Main image: One of my early-morning photographs of ricefields in my hometown Asingan, Pangasinan, taken early morning during the opening day of the 8^th National Rice Forum held 30 March 2019 and sponsored by the Department of Agriculture (DA): Senior DA Technical Adviser SRO had told me about it. The message of the composite image: “The shadows undermine our geniuses as we are overjoyed by our conduct of webinars” (inset image of a webinar[1] from Better Meetings). As of today, our webinars are in fact worse than our seminars because they overwhelm everyone!

Compared to 2019, if you browse Facebooktoday, you will not miss webinars, or seminars either having been, being, or to be conducted over the Web (Internet). Now, what I can say is that whether in my country the Philippines, or in India or the United States:

All those webinars are not maximizing the powers (plural) of the Internet: aural and textual and visual and mixed – and are ignoring the virtual (pun intended) ease of drama.Not to mention repetition.

I go back to Canadian communication theorist Marshall McLuhan and what he minded in 1964 (in his book Understanding Media: The Extensions Of Man) – “The medium is the message.” If I understand him right, he meant you must use the medium, in its most attractive form, to convey your message.

And what are the presentors in today’s webinars doing with their medium, messages and materials?

If the medium is the message, then a webinar presentation is more than a paper with very readable texts, plenty of data-filled tables, and very pleasing images – it is a single idea that plays on the mind over and over again. Even after the webinar is over.

Ha, ha.

Having come out with that insight, I now revise McLuhan: “The Message is The Message.” Forget the medium! I mean, beginning with a Main Message, the webinar speaker should build up the presentation to expound on that main message – repeating without repeating – the same message but varying in shape, size and signs! The mixed powers of the Internet.

What is happening in webinars today is what has been happening in seminars – the papers presented are manuscripts designed to be published in journals, not to be presented as memorable visual cum textual contents.

We have forgotten that a presentation must be memorable; otherwise, it is forgettable, even if astounding in impact and details – it’s the Message, not the Medium!

So, I am revising Marshall McLuhan: “The message is the message.” If you don’t have a clear, coherent, concrete & concise message, you are wasting everyone’s time.

Whether you have only 5 minutes or 50 minutes for your presentation, your audience will forget your mix of text, audio & video – but not your message: If you got it right!@517

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[1]https://bettermeetings.expert/blog/webinar-best-practices-formats-engaging-interactive-webinars/

Reinventing A.G.R.I.C.U.L.T.U.R.E., Celebrating May As Farmers’ & Fishers’ Month

As a communicator for development (ComDev) in the broad science of Agriculture and related fields, differently I am celebrating May as The Month for Farmers & Fishers. As my photograph above indicates, we must collectively work towards farmers & fishers having happy children, not necessarily feeling rich but feeling happy!

I am celebrating by way of this acronym:

Appropriate ways & means.
Greens.
Research continuing.
Information from practices.
Cooperative.
Unselfish & unsung.
Learning for everyone.
Technical knowledge.
Understanding needs.
Relationships cultivated.
Ecology & economics.

A.G.R.I.C.U.L.T.U.R.E. – 11 letters taken not as separate parts but a whole-in-one, the components making a complete package.

Appropriate ways & means.
Methods or manners must be shown to be technologically feasible as well as economically viable as well as environmentally sound as well as socially acceptable. Climate-smart as well as client-smart. Organic farmingis one such complete package. Some tools and techniques fail to satisfy those 4 requirements that must always come together. There are many breakthroughs but only few great-throughs.

Greens.
Appropriate food crops for humans and animals. They must be grown in environment-friendly ways, not contributing to the pollution of bodies. Organic agriculture is black, but I see it as the one to grow the greens.

Research continuing.
For new or improved ways & means. But in the end, any of those new or improved ways or means must prove to be Appropriate (see above).

Information from practices. Feedback from the field is important, nay necessary.

Cooperative spirit. As we are witnessing today, cooperative agriculture is the Name of the Game where everyone wins! In a cooperative, you compete for people, not against.

Unselfish & unsung. No, the medium is not the message. Yes, the medium and message in one is what is important, not the messenger.

Learning for everyone. There is always room for improvement or advancement in whatever one is doing.

Technical knowledge. What research brings out is technical in language. So that a 3^rd year high schooler can understand and explain to the father farmer who happens to be illiterate, the need for science to be translated into popular language cannot be over-emphasized.

Understanding needs. Everyone concerned must be aware and take to heart Abraham Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs.”

Relationships cultivated. Progress is best achieved when people and positions come together for one common goal. The title of my new blog tells us with whatand how to do – Towards Organic Cooperative Agriculture.

Economics: In the end, it must redound to the good of everyone in society. In agriculture, that especially concerns the poor farmers and fishers whom we must assist to rise from poverty and stay up there!

Yes, ComDev (communication for development) is my extension model, not DevCom (development communication). With acronym sharply contrasting, in 1980 I invented ComDev as a contradistinctive choice for encouraging people to adopt new or improved technologies or systems – while DevCom is content with one or two stories related, ComDev is a series of related stories cultivating belief and acceptance – such as via this blog.

Campaigning for A.G.R.I.C.U.L.T.U.R.E., give me ComDev anytime!@517

Filipino Militant Press Cultivating Apí-Culture And I, Agri-Culture

Yesterday, Monday, 03 May 2021, was “World Press Freedom Day” as declared by UNESCO, and some Filipinos celebrated the day specially because Filipina Maria Ressa, CEO of Rappler, won the “World Press Freedom Prize 2021.” Miss Maria has been practicing “Journalism Without Fear Or Favor.”
(“Without Fear Or Favour” image[1] from Bush Radio)

A journalist myself, with 45 years experience, I did not celebrate because I know the award will attract even more ill-will towards the lady, who believes she is trying hard to do good for her country. Note that the logo-type is rendered such that it shows the opposite of what it is saying: “Journalism with fear or favor.” Ironically, in practice that is what the current journalism is – unfortunately.

Prize or no prize, my journalism is of Agri-Culture – the Science of Agriculture serving the hierarchy of needs of the Filipino people in their varied native cultures, plural, such as Aeta, Bisaya, Ibanag, Ilocano, Isneg, Muslim, Pampango, Pangasinense, and Tagalog.

And so am I trying hard to do good for Miss Maria’s country, which happens to be mine, following the UNESCO slogan: ”Information As A Public Good.” Actually, Miss Maria handles information differently, limiting the public good to exposing the private bad!

Her journalism is what I call “Truth Journalism“ while I call mine “THiNK! Journalism.” And yes, we are pursuing our works in 2 entirely different fields – she in Politics and I in Agriculture. She is cultivating “Api-Culture,” where “apí” is a Filipino word meaning “abused, maltreated or oppressed.” And I am cultivating “Agri-Culture,” where agri is abbreviation for “agriculture” and separately “culture” refers to us Filipinos as a culture within which our practice of agriculture must fit in a sustainable way and help us grow in knowledge and justice as a country.

Inevitably, Miss Maria’s practice of apí-culture leads to a clash of wills and, with politicians, that will is strengthened by position and influence both overt and covert. You can’t win if your “foe” has political power and uses it to the utmost as s/he may think necessary. And s/he is not awed by the power emanating from a World Press Freedom Prize.

In that case, I will never win the UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize or some such thing because I practice my journalism with the voiceless and never will win public attention because I follow the careful steps of Secretary of Agriculture William Dar and not try to find fault with any of the policies and procedures of the Department of Agriculture (DA) emanating from his “Servant Leadership” as he himself terms it. Nobody is perfect!

Yes, my journalism for Agri-Culture is based on the UNESCO slogan, “Information As A Public Good” (image[2] from UNESCO). I call it THiNK! Journalism, where I start with the question, “Is it true?” and proceed thus:

If True, is it Helpful?
If Helpful, is it Inspiring?
If Inspiring, is it Necessary?
If Necessary, is it Kind?
If Kind, go write ahead!

I am always avoiding the private bad and looking for the public good!@517

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[1]https://bushradio.wordpress.com/tag/unesco/

[2]https://en.unesco.org/creativity/news/debating-arts-creativity-public-goods-during-world

Women Journalists, “Access Is The New Civil Right” – The Black Wall Street Times. I say, “THiNK! Before You Access”

03 May 2021 is “World Press Freedom Day[1]” and worldwide, more than the men, women journalists are celebrating. For Filipinas, the big news is our very own Pinay journalist Maria Ressa, CEO of Rappler, received her “World Press Freedom Prize for 2021” yesterday, Sunday.

At the same time, the women journalists are bewailing the fact that they have become victims of harassment of one kind or another, not to mention threatened rape or imprisonment. Actually, sorry to say this, but it’s the women journalists who are endangering themselves!

About my title quote, I say, “Access to what is key.” If you ask Maria Ressa, she will reply, “Access to the facts.” The dream of every journalist – access to the facts. I shall call their practice Truth Journalism.

And Frank A Hilario’s kind he calls THiNK! Journalism. The THiNK! part comes from Zig Ziglar, and I ask a series of questions to myself. The first: “Is it True?”

If True, is it Helpful?
If Helpful, is it Inspiring?
If Inspiring, is it Necessary?
If Necessary, is it Kind?
If Kind, go write ahead!

Let me note that my THiNK! Journalism, though not in name, officially began on 16 April 1975, or 45 years ago, when I was employed by the Forest Research Institute (FORI), where I became the founding and Editor In Chief of 3 FORI publications: monthly newsletter Canopy, quarterly technical journal Sylvatrop, and quarterly color magazine Habitat. Yes, that is all in forestry – but you see, a journalist is a jack of all trades, a master of some.

In 2005, I began contributing to the digital American Chronicle. When that US-based media expired for some reason, I began blogging on my topics of choice. In 2007, I began blogging for the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), which is mainly agriculture – and which fits my background as I am a BS Agriculture graduate of UP Los Baños.

THiNK! Journalism is my brainchild. I invented it 3 years ago, on 22 October 2017 – see my essay “Think! Journalism: Calling For Nobler Kinds Of People In Media[2]” (24 October 2017, Creative Thinkering, blogspot.com).

Why am I discussing my kind of journalism? Because I pity the world’s beautiful lady journalists – they do not realize that they themselves are actually the ones asking for trouble! Because they are just after the Truth and do not think some more.

I shall continue to think & write for Filipino farmers & fishers, especially those below the poverty line. Today I invite journalists all over the world, male & female, to practice THiNK! Journalism, where Truth is only the Start. For Maria Ressaand her Rappler media group, I am prescribing the medicine with the commercial name of THiNK! which is good for the Body, Mind and Spirit.

All for the glory of God and the welfare of the Filipino people, especially in these islands the millions of farmers and fishers whose lives are deprived and destitute!@517

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[1]https://en.unesco.org/commemorations/worldpressfreedomday

[2]http://creativethinkering.blogspot.com/2017/10/think-journalism-calling-for-nobler.html