Learning

A t-shirt isn't exactly the first place you'll look for when you want to find pearls of wisdom, but that's exactly where I found one recently. Proudly printed on a man's shirt was the pronouncement: "Everything I Needed to Know I Learned from the Three Stooges".

Who hasn't? Every time Moe attacks Curly's eyes with those two fingers, and Curly quickly blocks them with an open-palmed hand, aren't they teaching us something about Human Anatomy—that the width of a person's hand is longer than either the forefinger or the middle finger?

Or when Larry's head follows Curly's hand as it goes up and up and suddenly brings it down, aren't they teaching us Physics—specifically, the Law of Gravity—in that whatever goes up must come down?

And when they start hitting each other, one after the other, isn't that Social Justice in its purest form? For how can you more eloquently portray the adage, "What goes around comes around?"

When you think about it, everything around us—slapstick comedy included—is an instrument for learning, if we only view them as such. But that's not to dismiss the importance of the more conventional methods of learning such as books and audio-visual media. In fact, two of the things I've really appreciated since moving to the U.S. have been books and public television.

For starters, there's the libraries. Shelf upon shelf of up-to-date books—and videos—and every city/town has their own. Now, I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the type who'll be caught dead hanging out in libraries; I think the last time I was in a library back in Manila, I was still in college struggling with homework. Which makes it all the more remarkable that I now—voluntarily, mind you—frequent our local library to (what else?) borrow books and actually read them. Who knew?

And then there's PBS. Most Americans might consider PBS one of the most boring TV channels in existence. After all, why watch PBS when you can pass the time with Lost or My Name Is Earl (and I'm not even talking about cable)? But I've found some PBS programs to be both very interesting and educational. Programs such as Nova and even the occasional concerts have been surprisingly engaging. Clearly, this isn't the Kabayan Gerry Geronimo-hosted public television that I grew up with back home. Sure, I may have learned how to grow earthworms in my backyard, but compare that to learning how the universe started and you get my drift.

I wish there was some way to make these same programs available to people back home. Better yet, I wish that local educational programs are imbibed with the same production values as they are here. Admittedly, there are inherent economic hurdles that will need to be overcome, but what a hopeful thought to be able to give the Philippines' youth—its future, essentially—some of the best tools that will help them discover more of the wonderful world they live in.