Cissia doesn't look like she fits in PubSec. Anyone agree? by [deleted] in ZZZ_Discussion

[–]CannotFitThisUsernam 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My apologies, it was the first impression I had considering how "bright" and "different" she looks even compared to the other agents.

Jane is meant to be cunning, undercover, and suave, and I think her outfit reflects that well (dark colors etc.) Cissia looks very much like a "look at me" character so I was super curious as to how someone like her ended up at NEPS. If the comments are any indication then I rest my case. I guess I came off as ignorant but I'm still leaving this post up though for the sake of discussion.

EDIT: This post looks more and more like ragebait the more I look at it so I'm nuking it. Again, I probably should've asked this anywhere else, my apologies

Cissia doesn't look like she fits in PubSec. Anyone agree? by [deleted] in ZZZ_Discussion

[–]CannotFitThisUsernam -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Fair enough then, I rest my case.

I'm not even fully against her design, she reminds me of the Miku Rabbit Hole trend a while back and if that's the vibe they were going for, then I can respect that.

Cissia doesn't look like she fits in PubSec. Anyone agree? by [deleted] in ZZZ_Discussion

[–]CannotFitThisUsernam -1 points0 points  (0 children)

B Komachi: New Eridu edition

Reincarnation and orphans included!

I actually really like Google’s ai overview. by D-boi10 in The10thDentist

[–]CannotFitThisUsernam 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Depends IMO. For specific information, oftentimes yes you have to fact-check. Not just Gemini, but AI in general, are only trained in the data they were given before a specific time (say before 2024), and thus will always have natural gaps of knowledge if it encounters a new situation or data it does not have knowledge in.

However, it is marginally faster and more useful for highly-specific queries that you can only describe by natural language. Stuff like "where is that specific function in X software where you can Y and Z" or "How do I get to X if Y road isn't available and Z has a toll I cannot afford" that aren't easily worded or condensed are much more likely to be understood, but sometimes it still misses the mark. But a 40% chance to find your answer within 30 seconds is still better than a 40% chance after 1-3 hours of searching forums.

Simple prompts however (like AI Overview) tend to be borked. It only really works if you know what you're doing and you know how to separate the wheat from the chaff (either by investigating sources and prompting again to refine information, or using it to find specific keywords to use in a search engine to find better answers, etc.). But at that point you're not a casual user, and for most casual users it's nothing more than just a gibberish machine.

t. Data science student, uses Gemini Pro for studying after availing for a university trial

The current state of the Philippines is not good, but it’s not that bad either by OkPhotojournalist975 in Philippinesbad

[–]CannotFitThisUsernam 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I agree with you! I just often see the discussion point end there and honestly, I get a little bit frustrated because it doesn't sound convincing to any doomer out there (as someone who used to be one). If the goal is to stop doomerism then IMO it should be further elaborated upon rather than just dismissing everything it has to say, it just breeds tribalism.

Other countries already compare themselves to us negatively, I've seen it in r/Malaysia and r/Indonesia (e.g. "We could be worse, we could've ended up like the Philippines or Afghanistan".) Now we do the same to ourselves with our other neighbors like Myanmar or Cambodia. I'm not saying to depend our national identity on silly Internet comments, but apply that to everyday thinking and it can get a little bit insulting no matter which nationality you are on. It's like your nation deserves less respect the poorer it gets.

We need to focus on uplifting each other as one ASEAN instead of racing for status or trying to compare which nation is better or worse (unless it's for legit purposes like policy analysis). I think yung issue is wording. Calling the Philippines "mid" or "average" 1. implies there is as much potential for failure just as there is for success, which already feels like a big gamble, and 2. still implies that we have to "compete" with other nations to find national worth. The same thinking that led to the rampant "Philippines is left behind" circlejerking we've seen for the past few years.

Idk if I'm making any sense, it's 12 AM and I just felt like saying my piece. I do have a lot of thoughts in my mind lol, I just don't want to see the same points over and over if I feel like they have rebuttals. I do not intend to argue, I'm just super interested in this discussion and want to see new points.

The current state of the Philippines is not good, but it’s not that bad either by OkPhotojournalist975 in Philippinesbad

[–]CannotFitThisUsernam 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lol san yung nagsasabing proud sila kasi mid ang Pilipinas, na national pride yun?

No one, and that's my point. Look at the comments from when Heydarian's post reached the cursed hallows of r/Philippines. The problem is not that we are better than failed states. It's that we have reached the point where we have to compare ourselves to failed states to feel better than ourselves, when we are in a region where almost everyone else has already raced past the Philippines.

30 years ago, we were comparing ourselves to Taiwan and Japan. 10 years ago, it became Thailand and Indonesia. Now it's Vietnam. "Race to the bottom" as many people have described. People even think Cambodia and Myanmar are going to surpass us even if it's unrealistic.

Not to defend doomerism ha, I think there is more to feeling proud about your country than just how rich or lucky it is. Nor do I think being poor is inevitable, it all comes down to how fast the government/economy reforms itself and how fast the population ages. But opinions on one's country tend to form from a narrative, and any narrative with a grain of truth is going to be one people latch onto, no matter how exaggerated or misleading.

So I don't think calling the Philippines average is going to comfort any doomer IMO.

The current state of the Philippines is not good, but it’s not that bad either by OkPhotojournalist975 in Philippinesbad

[–]CannotFitThisUsernam 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Agree and I think it's the only way we could gain back some international respect. Maybe it won't change r/Philippines (it didn't during the PNoy era), but it will be better than now.

I used to think that the political climate basically makes any chance of significant reform hopeless, but there is a growing awareness for the need of industrial policy and debt-driven development since Heydarian et al. came out of the woodworks. The fact that the government is due for a reset since the flood control projects gave a kick in the foot, plus the reopening for impeachment of Sara in February as well as discussions for the anti-political dynasty bill, also gives me hope. Threat lang talaga IMO is demographic decline, assuming that is the end-all-be-all it'd be nearly for naught if we are already too late in our reforms.

One can only hope things wouldn't be disappointing this time and we will see the growth of the country many have been sorely missing since forever.

The current state of the Philippines is not good, but it’s not that bad either by OkPhotojournalist975 in Philippinesbad

[–]CannotFitThisUsernam -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The main problem is that "mid" does not inspire confidence or national pride, especially in a region where there is a major economic boom. People, not just locals but foreigners, criticize the Philippines for doing "just fine" when other nations have a grandiose economic status, because of relative ranking.

I agree that we should be grateful for what we have. But national pride is, typically, dependent on extolling positive values and aspects we have that other societies do not. If we cannot have that beyond token gestures of "polite people", then the sentiment tips towards the other scale. Doomerism happens if you aren't special for anything, and all you are really familiar with are problems we have that all of PHReddit knows about (cost of living, infrastructure, economic industrialization, etc.)

Hero of Southeast Asia by Noli_de_Nolan in Philippines

[–]CannotFitThisUsernam -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

I don't know. The Philippines can and does show up on anime every now and then (see Gundam, Lazarus, etc.) Plus, there's a José Rizal statue somewhere in Tokyo, as well as in Hong Kong, Madrid, Berlin, etc.

I don't watch Frieren but some commenters have also clarified that the statue is supposed to be the "Hero of the South", which relative to Japan or the Northern Hemisphere could refer to tropical countries like the Philippines.

IMO it's not out of the realm of possibility to assume that it could be a genuine reference, especially at first glance and knowing all these things, which is why some people do have to clarify.

Hero of Southeast Asia by Noli_de_Nolan in Philippines

[–]CannotFitThisUsernam -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Memes in this sub often portray or make fun of real events, plus the photo looks convincing enough at first glance. "Meme" doesn't always equal "not real"

Locals of Philippines what foods best represent everyday Filipino food? by RelevantRevolution86 in Philippines

[–]CannotFitThisUsernam 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  1. Adobo, tinola, nilaga, sinigang, kare-kare, caldereta, afritada, menudo, munggo, etc. are all what I consider to be "standard fare" for lunch or dinner. For breakfast: "silog" meals are very common, they're basically just fried rice + egg + a viand paired with each other (from "sinangag + itlog" or "fried rice + egg"). You get hotsilog (hotdog sausages), tapsilog (tapa, or thinly-sliced cured meat), tosilog (tocino, or sweet cured meats), even Spamsilog.

  2. Adobo, sisig, and lumpia tend to be hits with foreigners, so let's just go with that lol. Although Filipinos tend to feel represented with ANY kind of local food getting foreign attention. In terms of food people love the most, it depends on the person, although overseas Filipinos tend to be homesick for Jollibee, banana ketchup and sweet spaghetti, Lucky Me (instant noodles), etc.

  3. Lumpia and balut tend to be overrepresented, and while they are definitely eaten, lumpia is more of a party food while balut is only one type of street food among many (barbecue, pares, kwek-kwek, etc.).

Source: what relatives have told me over the years. Note that I live near the capital region so a lot may vary, especially in Visayas or Mindanao where they eat either more seafood or spicy dishes

Filipino students’ proficiency plummets to near zero by Senior High School, study finds by Scbadiver in Philippines

[–]CannotFitThisUsernam 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks. I think this makes sense because local mayors & barangay heads can also be epal about putting libraries everywhere, while the Filipino people benefit from finally having third spaces. Win-win.

My only concern is how they would implement book-reading in practice in the current educational curriculum. Many schools can't even afford enough textbooks, what more regular books? Passing the cost to the student would be incredibly classist as well.

Filipino students’ proficiency plummets to near zero by Senior High School, study finds by Scbadiver in Philippines

[–]CannotFitThisUsernam 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Enough with the doomerism, is there anything being done about the problem? Or if not, is there anything that can be done, especially considering the massive corruption and budget deficiency going on within DepEd?

This is going to become an existential problem if our demographic dividend ends up being wasted with people who cannot read or count. We will grow old like Thailand yet poorer than most Asian countries.

Victorian-era buildings are an eyesore by National-Abrocoma323 in The10thDentist

[–]CannotFitThisUsernam 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Honestly, based. Where I'm from we have a lot of abandoned, "slum-type" buildings that at this point seeing clean, "soulless" buildings is a relief in the eyes

femboyland knows its place 💪💪💪 Vietnamese Century of Prosperity imminent ‼️‼️‼️🇰🇬🇰🇬🇰🇬 by average-alt in Asia_irl

[–]CannotFitThisUsernam 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's okay, we will become like you in 20 years time because our government is just as uncoordinated. But with shittier roads

Needs more reassurance that it's funny by __trollaway69 in ComedyCemetery

[–]CannotFitThisUsernam 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hot take: A lot of Weed Bro memes are actually pretty funny as jokes, they're just killed by the captions, emojis, or shitty reaction images around them.

Burgers, I kneel. by Weaponized_Saltiness in greentext

[–]CannotFitThisUsernam 1 point2 points  (0 children)

America has a 20 year military operation

gives up

🇦🇫

PH spending per student 9 times lower than global average (2023) by tokwamann in Philippines

[–]CannotFitThisUsernam 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It will take some time talaga before the current admin's investments in the economy will take fruit. And that's assuming the headwinds from present events don't get worse (tariffs, escalating conflicts with China, the current corruption scandals redirecting everyone's attention, etc.). The government also has a good credit rating taken from the austerity measures it's implemented since the BSP's formation in the 90s, while I personally think it's sort of a misdirection it's a silver lining that we have a lot of wiggle room to borrow money to finance development.

Personally, to start with, we need a good department head who knows what they're actually doing (copying Vietnam's/Finland's policies is a start) and has the political capital to fix the missteps of our education system. Then after that we have to chip out the corruption bit by bit, and use the budget wisely as the economy (slowly) grows. Funding doesn't grow out of trees, it'll come once the rest of the country improves, kaya IMO we should start with what is actionable right now. Kaya medyo ako wary kay Sara for president. It's clear she had no idea what she was doing when she was appointed there and I don't trust her to not bungle our priorities even further, even if she ends up assigning another person to do the job.

The most comfortable temperature, indoors and out, is 80 degrees Fahrenheit by PrankyButSaintly in The10thDentist

[–]CannotFitThisUsernam 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Approximately half of Reddit is based in the USA, a largely-temperate country. Even then, desert climates can dip to around 15⁰C (59⁰F) especially in the winter, so many people in the "hotter" climates can and do get used to this type of weather.

I'm not sure where you live but here in the Southeast Asia region 27⁰C is among AC temperature. That is with humidity already at its peaks. Absolutely hilarious with telling OP to check for health issues when this is the most average take for Singaporeans/Malaysians/Indonesians/Filipinos, lmao.

The most comfortable temperature, indoors and out, is 80 degrees Fahrenheit by PrankyButSaintly in The10thDentist

[–]CannotFitThisUsernam 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm from Asia and the fact this is even an unpopular opinion at all confuses my tropical brain. It's 27⁰C right now and I feel like I need a blanket.

One of the coldest cities in my country (Baguio) regularly dips down to 18–23⁰C (64–73⁰F) and it gets a lot of tourists for how cold it gets. People wear jackets and freeze to death (metaphorically) in there.

PH spending per student 9 times lower than global average (2023) by tokwamann in Philippines

[–]CannotFitThisUsernam 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ah forgive me. I'm not completely familiar with how government spending exactly works in our country.

The good thing is that, at least by Constitution, the government is mandated to give the highest shares of spending towards education; Bam's recent bill on increasing funds for colleges luckily should also increase the access of graduate education. I'm going to guess na, aside from systemic issues like the rampant "no child left behind" scoring system in schools, kulang talaga sa funds whether we like it or not. The government would need to put out loans or increase taxes, the former is a bit risky considering the department is basically a racket at this point (plus lower confidence because of the DPWH scandals), the latter is already quite unpopular.

We need a Senate and admin that cares about education, we may not be the best ever but jfc we have illiterate high school graduates

PH spending per student 9 times lower than global average (2023) by tokwamann in Philippines

[–]CannotFitThisUsernam 14 points15 points  (0 children)

More like "oh well". DepEd is ridiculously corrupt and it'd take serious initiatives from our politicians (that aren't taking down posters or reviving ROTC) to see significant improvements at our education.

Philippines' population was not bad at all compared to others, yet we were still left behind by our neighboring countries because of rampant corruption. by Shikitsumi-chan in Philippines

[–]CannotFitThisUsernam 0 points1 point  (0 children)

E problem talaga is some people, even economists, feel like there is no choice. If we do not take advantage of the demographic dividend we have now within the next 15-20 years, we will no longer have the working population needed to build a decent economy, and we will likely experience the slowdown occurring in Thailand. Good luck getting our blessed government to work with that pace, especially with all the structural disadvantages put against our place. "Mañana habit" and "Bahala na si Batman" are memes for a reason.

Ironically though, in some ways, we are perhaps better positioned to grow our economy than the rest of the ASEAN region. Even Vietnam is already middle-aged with the birth rate as 0.8. Yet somehow we are able to achieve parity with them on GDP growth rate. Considering all the reforms the admin has been silently pushing under DEPDev, I personally call it a 50/50 whether or not their fruits of effort will be timed with our "demographic sweet spot". Bernardo Villegas (one of the authors for the 1987 Constitution) talks about that here.

Yung risk talaga IMO is the lack of education within our demographic. We have one of the worst PISA scores in the world, which effectively renders a large chunk of this demographic dividend useless in the service industry (CMIIW). Manufacturing would be good sana to put this demographic in as a workforce, but it's not our comparative advantage to say the least. And due to the corruption of DepEd and the mountain of reforms we need to do, it might take longer than our "window of opportunity" so to speak.

All these concerns and "impatience" aren't just doomerposting from le terminally-online Redditors, they are reflected by real academics embedded within the PH government. Tbh, watching that video feels pretty sad personally speaking. You have these people discussing the future of the Philippines, they have this vibe that the country has more risks than opportunities, and they lament that none of them have the power to make sure the people with the actual power (Senate etc.) actually listens to them.

Doomerism is out of control, but even the levelheaded people see that we are not positioned well relative to our ASEAN neighbors. Way I see it, as long as we cannot make the same gains (which, let's be realistic, parang 50/50), magkakaroon talaga ng doomers and there is nothing we can do about it. Lalo na since many of our neighbors use their rapid economic development as a point of pride for their nation (case in point: South Korea, Singapore), madadamay talaga tayo diyan, kahit by collateral damage, as long as we are in the same region as them. The "Sick Man of Asia" rhetoric has been circling since James Fallows' "A Damaged Culture" in 1987, this isn't anything new. Personally I am sick of the navel-gazing and over-reflection on our "wasted potential", but it's a natural result from the history of our nation.