Image from Cartoonstock.com
Senator Gordon is proposing to add a ninth ray to the sun of the Philippine flag. Going back to our Sibika or Araling Panlipunan (Social Studies) days, the eight rays of the flag’s sun represent the eight provinces that first rebelled against the Spanish rule (Manila, Cavite, Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Laguna, and Batangas). The ninth ray, says Gordon, will represent the Muslim community.
Should the committee approve of this proposition, history as we first learned it in our early elementary days will not be the same anymore.
But then, some things we learned in grade school are no longer true.
After probably three years of answering in tests that Pluto is the coldest and smallest planet in the solar system, a bunch of scientists decided to kick Pluto out of the planetary family. As of 2006, Pluto was no longer a planet, but a “dwarf planet.”
We’ve always considered sweet, sour, salty and bitter as the four basic tastes that our tongues can identify. According Wikipedia, there is a fifth basic taste that was just accepted this millenium: Umami, which relates to “savory” or “relish” or “meatiness,” was a basic taste in Korean, Japanese and Chinese cuisine, and is now gaining recognition in Western cuisine. Now I wonder, when will Spicy be a basic taste?
When asked what are the colors of the rainbow, the mnemonic ROYGBIV is no longer applicable. There have been suggestions to omit indigo as part of the rainbow’s colors, because it is a tertiary color and humans have a hard time distinguishing between blue, indigo and violet. Others, on the other hand, argue that cyan is a rainbow color, as blue and indigo have hues that are similar to cyan. So, we may answer that the colors of the rainbow are: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Cyan, Blue and Violet, or we can just go into an SMS spelling mode and answer ROYGBV (still read as ROYGBIV).
If Matter will be revealved to have a fifth phase, I suggest that we all enroll ourselves to a refresher course in grade school.
Note: Thanks to Pico Ruiz for his Facebook status, which made me aware that the things I’ve learned in grade school are already passe.
What recent piece of new research has affected your grade school memories the most? Share it with us!
I just checked the pics of the rainbow… and yeah, I do think cyan is more applicable. XD
I’ve never been able to effectively differentiate between indigo and purple and violet, I think. Haha.
I don’t like the idea of a ninth ray. Our flag is good as it is. Should we represent each community in the flag now? Chinese, Ifugao, Badjao? Some of these peoples are actually here before the Muslims. We are a very diverse country… I think we should let the three stars for Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao stand for all this diversity.
I’ve read this article regarding the ninth ray. If he’s going to add a ninth ray for the Muslims, might as well add another ray for the Christians, another ray for the Buddhist, and more rays for other religions. Haha
He explained that this is for unification purposes, but that is a lame reason. He just wanted his name to be included in people’s conversations. From a marketing point of view, it’s better that you are being discussed to be remembered (regardless of your image) rather than be a nobody at all.
I have these old Childcraft books that say “The only man-made object visible from space is the Great Wall of China”. Well, astronauts say they can see Egyptian pyramids, and even roads. (Google maps can see roads from space too. haha)
Maybe I’ll try digging up those old Childcraft books..
Well, your Childcraft book LIED TO YOU LOL. I think we posted an entry about those popular myths too.
Apparently, it’s not true (although for the longest time, I thought it was too!)
LOL indeed they did. i’ll go look for old books that teach really wrong things. haha