1. Wake Up Little One
I was only 12 years-old when this happened. It was a Friday afternoon. I was
walking on my way home from school. While kicking an empty can of sardines,
something popped up on my mind. I remembered our lesson in my Science subject that
was about sustainable society. My teacher told us that to better understand the current
situation of the world, one must know the definition first of the basic concepts: the
society, science, technology and culture. She defined society as a group of people
inhabiting a same territory and sharing the same norms and values. I could not forget
when she said that science and technology are elements of society. Science is the
know-why wherein it is where the gathering of knowledge takes place and technology is
the know-how or the so-called applied science which includes better methods. These
two elements are also the determinant of economy that determines also the
development of that society. The culture has four elements, these are: systems of belief
or ideology; social institutions or organization; industrial skills and tools or technology;
and material possessions or resources of the people in a society.
I often heard those words but ignored it a hundred times. I got sleepy when it is
the topic. I did not care anymore of the lesson because nothing happens from what I
learned from the four corners of the classroom. I could somehow say that it was only
good to say powerful words but a powerful act was not an easy task at all. I was only a
kid when I thought of those things and feared the world as it is.
When I was about to enter the door of our house, my temperature suddenly rose
up. I had a fever. I guess it was due to the changing weather. I quickly went to my
bedroom and decided to only take a nap so I would woke up to eat my snacks.
For the first few minutes of sleeping, I was like a time traveler. I was riding a red
carpet. The carpet took me to the ancient times. I saw that the early people only sought
for food one day at a time. Their resources were not yet exploited by them. They
discovered and invented their basic needs. They still had rich cultures which were free
from borrowed ideas from other places in the world. They lived in an unpolluted
environment. In short, they lived their lives simple. After the first stop, the red carpet took
me to the Scientific Revolution. I was so amazed. Man started to wonder why this and
that thing happened. They had their own way of perceiving the world. They got their own
standpoints on seeing what the world is. I saw and meet, Isaac Newton, Galileo Galilee,
Kepler, Ptolemy, Copernicus, and Brahe who were also once our lesson in my Science
subject when I was a fourth grader. They discovered and invented things again. I could
really see their love for Science. It was a dream came true. I met those brilliant-minded
people way back then. Few clouds covered my sight. I was surprised when I saw first a
farmer plowing his farm. As I rode the red carpet, in a faraway mountain, I saw lots of
farmers. I could not really believe seeing myself these past events. They were using the
crop-rotation method. This era was during the 8,000 B.C. I was not mistaken, that setting
was during the Agricultural Revolution. That dream was too good to be true. That was a
lesson I remembered again where my teacher did not proceed until all of us in the
classroom would not be familiar with it. The red carpet continued to travel. We went to
the next stop of the adventure. In just a few seconds, I saw a mill. I went closer to it. It
was a cotton mill. I was not wrong. The setting was in England during the 17th century. I
would describe it as a more modern world had begun. Factories followed soon after the
new inventions were created. England, as what I could remember in our lecture in class,
wanted to keep its industrialization a secret. For that very good reason, they prohibited
anyone who had worked in a factory to leave the country. This scenery was during the
Industrial Revolution. In addition to that, that period brought severe consequences to
society in general. Factory owners who needed cheap and unskilled labor profited much

2. by using children and women to run the machines. In a not so faraway land, buildings
and factories were rising taller and taller. I thought of it as an end of my dream, but I was
wrong. I could see a banner. I could only read one word – information. I could hardly see
the second word. But, as the red carpet went nearer to the people holding the banner, all
was clear to me. It was written, “Information Revolution” and the people were shouting
“Hurrah! Hurrah! Welcome!” Employers had a more advanced jobs. Service jobs were
more common than jobs in manufacturing or agriculture. I remembered this lesson again
taught by my teacher. She said that this era refers to the dramatic changes taking place
during the last half of the 20th century. Furthermore, I heard it from her that the
Information Revolution began with the invention of the integrated circuit or computer
chip. Those chips have revolutionized our lives, running our appliances, providing
calculators, computers, and other electronic devices to control our world. As what I
observed from the people, some were happy that this period arrived however, many
people were suffering in pain due to the fact they knew someday, the general public
would surely experience misery when nature would take its revenge. After that journey
with the red carpet, I saw dark clouds and strong thunders. What did it mean? Was it a
sign that in the near future, the products of man’s desire for wealth might give him
struggles or even end his life?
I could hear voices, an inconsistent intensity and rough tone of a voice. A creepy
sound surrounded me. I could feel in my senses a touch of little hands in my arms. I
woke up. My conscience woke me up. It was a horrible incident. She grabbed my hands.
She looked so anxious. Her eyes were rolling around. She had teary-eyes. Quickly, she
opened the door. I was uneasy that moment because it was raining so hard outside, the
thunder was so strong and the wind blew intensely. I could not predict what she would
do next. She led me outside. In the balcony, we both sat. At last, she uttered a word.
She murmured while looking straightly in my eyes, “Why you looked so apathetic,
my dear?” I was surprised. But, what she said was true. It was not my hobby anymore
joining groups and movements to help save nature. Unexpectedly, she started to remind
me of the things I ought to do in this world as the defender of nature. She recalled many
things. Like when the time technology came in, everything changed. The products of it
become man’s partners on everyday life, made their lives easier, and pushed them to be
dependent to it. From the low to high type of technologies, the public uses it in two ways.
They use it in improving, advancing, and civilizing themselves and their society. She was
so cheerful in saying those words but she hastily said, “However, together with those
advantages technology contributed to them, disadvantages are also present.” She stated
further that due to the wide demand of those products of human brains especially in the
21st century, companies and manufacturers produced lots of it. Man becomes eager to
produce a large number of their products. The rate of extraction of the resources
expands. They do not even mind how many parts of the worlds they exploited. They do
not even mind how cruel they are towards nature as long as they become wealthy at the
end of the day. Lastly, they do not even care how to replace and take good care of the
resources they used for their own benefits.
Later on, she put her face near mine with an angry tone of her voice. She
furiously said that in the long run, what man did will lead to surplus of those products.
Competition slowly shows up. Capitalism gradually exists. Since the ‘few’ mostly has the
capacity to investment and contribute inputs to the means of production, they can have a
full control of how to run the company and use the profit. I could somehow relate this to
what my Science teacher told us that just like during the Middle Ages when feudalism
happened. Middle Ages were also called as the Dark Ages. It was also the fall of the
Roman Empire. Feudalism refers to the system of loyalties and protections during the
Middle Ages. The peasants, in order for them to protect themselves since they could no

3. longer count on the Roman army, they turned to the landowners or lords. These lords
owned a typical manor consisted of a castle, small village, and farmland. Many peasants
became free, but most of them became serf. A serf was bound to the land. He should
buy first his freedom before leaving the land. A serf must work three or four times for the
lord as his rent.
Then she continued to say that those capitalists of society might think that a
primary solution to the surplus or the wastes they made might be reducing the
company’s employers. It implies that sooner or later, unemployment will be experienced
by the many, not by the few people. Then afterwards, she mentioned the environment
while relating it to man’s wrongdoings. To quote with, she said, “After exploiting man’s
natural resources, capitalists oppressed other people in order for them to survive and
make themselves richer every day. The environment, where the huge companies and
manufacturers get their raw materials, is a finite source. Here, we can see that the
humankind is getting the supply from a limited resource. The problem would be shortage
of reserve materials and additional bunch of garbage everyday. Those are only some
consequences of man’s greediness that will lead to turmoil.” Then, her tone of voice
shifted. It became lively. She was walking round and round while I was looking up to her
wondering what and when to react. Moreover, she said that it is just okay if the people
know how to use and replace those resources in order to attain a sustainable society.
She was making a sermon. The idea had just sunk in. In addition to that, she talked
about urbanization. She shouted the word urbanization. She said in low tone of voice
that urbanization is not a bad thing if and only if there is no population growth every year,
every month, every other day, everyday and every minute. She even said that the
problem with the humankind is that they always think that the supply is unlimited and
assure themselves that another person will do the responsibility of replacing the
treasures of nature. “This is the depressing part of embracing innovation,” she said.
“People do not want to hold responsibilities but they want to hold the whole universe on
their hands,” she added.
Her voice echoed. I was bowing my head down when she whispered those last
words. Abruptly, she disappeared when I was about to ask her why she was saying that.
I did not notice it, it was already dawn. I could see the sunrise from the east, the
sunrise that signifies hope for the people. After hearing those words, I reflect and
examine the Philippines in relation to what my conscience said to me.
I was swinging my feet as I did my reflection. I talked to myself for half an hour.
The Philippines, as an agricultural country has not yet totally converted itself to a highly
urbanized one. We cannot compete with other countries because of the environment
that we are used to. The white beaches, the green mountains and nice sunset are some
of the indicators that Philippines is not yet on the peak of participating itself to
globalization. The green surroundings of Mindanao, they are still with nature.
Urbanization is not an option for them. Tourists from different corners of the world visit
our country since one of their purposes is to experience nature. If development will be a
trending topic all over the globe, Filipinos will still not want to shift completely from the
traditional to modern living since again, we are used to the agricultural society. A big
question might be, can we have a sustainable society by remaining at this type of level
we are used to? But the country is struggling and trying to be part of globalization. As
what we can see right now, we are importing products from other countries that we
assume to push the country at a higher level. However, the aim for change of a country
is not an individualistic journey. It requires cooperation among countrymen. Let us see
for example Singapore, it is only a small state but look, they are doing their very best to
maximize everything they all have. They know to sacrifice something that would
absolutely and surely benefit them. However, sooner or later, nature will give its revenge

4. to us. But take note, we cannot deny the fact that Mother Nature is gradually getting
what we steal from her.
My very own philosophy on Science, Technology and Society is that what we are
experiencing nowadays is the product of man’s illegal behaviors. I strongly believe that
development is not a problem if and only if we know how to be a responsible keeper of
the gift of nature. Right now, I consider history would only repeat itself if we allow history
to repeat itself. In addition, we can only identify what is wrong to our present situation
when we try to comprehend our past. I am not against urbanization. If doing it will benefit
us, then why not go for it. I am with the idea that as long as the general public knows
how to handle circumstances if they do one thing that could change the lives of the
people in the globe, there is no problem with it. The saddest thing will be when only few
people benefits urbanization while many are suffering in pain. From the simple manner
of living 2,000 years ago, the world changed a lot. There is nothing constant in this
world. But, whatever changes we had came across up to this moment, mankind has the
greatest responsibility to achieve a sustainable society. Let us all wake up from sleeping
in apathy.