Artificial Intelligences (AI’s) Versus Human Intelligences (HI’s) – Are We Thinking For Better Or For Worse?

“Digital Skills” are the obvious standouts in today’s world; chances are very high that you feel out of place if you were not holding one of those modern gadgets or tools: cellphone, iPad, laptop, MacBook, MP3 player, smartphone etc. Holding one of those and you “feel you belong,” right? (upper image from pixabay.com).

Here’s a press release from the Philippines, author unidentified (05 Feb 2024, PIDS, pids.gov.ph): “Current Filipino Workers Often Lack Soft Skills To Adapt To Digital Age – PIDS Study.” To quote from the Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS):

Filipino workers often lack soft skills like adaptability and collaboration, leaving them ill-prepared for the challenges of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies, according to a new study by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) titled “Toward Measuring Soft Skills for Youth Development: A Scoping Study”.

“The PIDS study was conducted by De La Salle University Distinguished University Professor and University Fellow Allan Bernardo, PIDS Senior Research Fellow Jose Ramon Albert, former Supervising Research Specialist Jana Flor Vizmanos, and Research Analyst Mika Muñoz. The study “reveals that this weakness in soft skills, also called “Transversal Competencies” (TVC), stems from the administration of training and skills development that are largely geared towards the pre-digital era.”

“The consequences are significant, impacting not only individual career prospects, but also hindering the Philippines’ economic competitiveness and innovation potential.”

Oh oh!

“As we move deeper into the 21st century, the need for a workforce proficient in TVCs becomes increasingly critical,” the authors say.

Just a minute! The Editor In Chief says. “You have your skills all mixed up!” Thinking is not simply the use of modern knowledge tools such as enumerated above but starts with any number of nine intelligences, the ones that Harvard professor Howard Gardner calls “multiple intelligences” (MI), which are:

1. Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (“Body Smart”),
2. Creative Intelligence (“Thinking Smart”), added by FAH,
3. Existential Intelligence (“Life Smart”),
4. Interpersonal Intelligence (“People Smart”),
5. Intrapersonal Intelligence (“Self Smart”),
6. Mathematical-Logical Intelligence (“Number/Reasoning Smart”),
7. Musical Intelligence (“Music Smart”),
8. Naturalist Intelligence (“Nature Smart”),
9. Spatial Intelligence (“Image Smart”), and
10. Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence (“Word Smart”).

I call them “Human Intelligences (HI’s), and the use of modern gadgets only amplify those intelligences, not supplant them! (image from Getty)

Again, from the PIDS study:

“Addressing this gap requires a concerted effort from educational institutions, policymakers, and industry leaders to redefine skills development frameworks and prioritize the cultivation of these essential competencies.”

I say the skills to further develop are the MI ones: body smarts, thinking smarts, existential smarts,people smarts, self smarts, number smarts,  nature smarts, spatial smarts, and word smarts.

Yes Sir, yes Ma’am, those TVCs such as “critical thinking and cognitive skills, interpersonal skills, and intrapersonal skills” need to be developed in persons in schools. Unfortunately, these are not enough: we need creative & cooperative thinking!@517

And yes, since nobody can perform all such skills wonderfully, we need contributions from many individuals much of the time!@517

Digital Is My (Whole) World Now – I Pity Those Who Are Not Digital! So, I’m At Your Service As The Editor In Chief

Young at heart (and mind) although not in body, at 85 (Sept 17), I am very happy to announce to the world what keeps me going (aside from the grace of God), is that I know, as a fulfilled digital person, I tell you now as self-advertisement that The Editor In Chief has a handful of abilities to offer the world: digital writing, digital editing & desktop publishing (good for commercial printing). I provide some details below.

(“Digital man” from freepik.com)

Now then, here are “Frank's 5 Digital Talents For Hire” – what I have to offer the universe of information, journals, knowledge banks, media, publications, research reports and science books – these 5 personal computer-based expertises:

(1) Digital Writer From Home (WFH)

Available as a WFH since 2007, when William Dar, Filipino agriculturist, was on his 7^th year as Director General (DG) of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), appointed me as WFH. I created and maintained the blog “iCRiSAT Watch.” At the end of 2014, when Mr Dar retired as DG after those15 years, ICRISAT had published 7 books of mine based on the articles in my blog.

(2) The Editor In Chief (TEIC)

Born 17 Sept 1940, and self-taught in digital works, I say age does not matter when talent is concerned, especially digital talents (plural). At 63 years of age, in 2003, I was hired as The Editor In Chief of the triannual Philippine Journal of Crop Science (PJCS), which was then 2 years late in its issues: 2001 and 2002. As a one-man digital band, with Teodoro C Mendoza as Chair of the International Board of Editors, I singlehandedly made the PJCS up-to-date in 2006, meaning as a one-man band I worked double time – and in 2007, made the PJCS included in the elite international journal list called “ISI” (now “Web of Science”). (All this should be in the Guinness Book Of World Records!)

(3) Blogger

As you can see, I continue to blog today that which I began to do sometime in the year 2000 with the digital publisher “The American Chronicle” (since extinct, sorry!). With Blogspot.com, as of today, I have blogged at least 40,000 essays of different lengths, mostly on the subjects of Agriculture and Editing.

(4) Apostle of Regenerative Agriculture (RA)

I Filipino am one of the world’s persistent pursuer of Regenerative Agriculture (RA), a component of Regenerative Capitalism (RC) (see my 16 Jan 2024 essay, “How Good Is ‘Sustainable Capitalism’ AKA ‘Creative Capitalism’ Vs ‘Regenerative Capitalism’?” Communication for Development of Vibrant Villages (ComDev2), blogspot.com); this is another blog of mine.

(5) Persistence in “Communication for Development of Vibrant Villages (ComDev2)

To simplify, I now say: “If your agriculture does not bring about the continued cultivation of vibrant or vigorous villages, it’s capitalistic agriculture; it improves the lives of the capitalists while millions of farmers remain poor.”

Now then, how can I stop proselytizing for the tens of millions of poor Filipino farmers?@517

 

The Editor In Chief, For Writers: The One And Only For You!

Manila: Today, Thursday, 26 July 2025, I suddenly decided to directly encourage writers and wouid-be writers, by declaring myself "The Editor In Chief, For Writers" with a blog and the slogan, “Write for better for more.”

Unable to create a new blog – “You have too many blogs,” says Blogger.com – I have decided to rename my old blog “The Editor In Chief” to “The Editor In Chief, For Writers” to encourage more people to write more for the better of more people! (image from sg.images.search.yahoo.com)

The clue there is “encourage.” And you know whom I would like to encourage to write more? The whole UP Los Baños! But especially those currently connected with as well as the graduates of the College of Development Communication (CDC).

Their silence is defeaning!

CDC should be most active in cultivating people’s talents of writing positively for Philippine agriculture!

Like me, I write about Regenerative Agriculture (RA) despite the fact that my alma mater, University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), is ignoring it!!

The concept originated by Robert Rodale of the Rodale Institute, RA is pro-poor: farmers and gardeners. So why are UP Los Baños people not talking about it in their classes and works?

A writer should not be easily discouraged by others. In this new/old “revised” blog, I will be offering many advices, plural, for writers and would-be writers. Here are the first ones:

1.    The art of writing is to share a part of your soul with the world.

2.    Write down your thoughts. Me, I have a notebook ready in several places at home, each one with a writing pen. (When that beautiful thought is gone, it’s gone!)

3.    Don’t compare your Chapter 1 to someone else’s Chapter 17.

4.    One of the things that draws writers towards writing is that they will get things right that they get wrong in real life.

5.    You write for better, not for worse.

The only writer you should compare yourself is the writer you were yesterday.

“You fail only if you stop writing” – Ray Bradbury

“You can’t think yourself out of a writing block; you have to write yourself out of a thinking block.” John Rogers

To write is human, to edit is divine” – Stephen King

“The scariest moment is always just before you start” – Stephen King

“Start writing no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” Louis L’Amour

Of course, I am still whom I call “The Editor In Chief” but with a new self-declared mandate:

To encourage, help, inspire, people to write – especially about science for the people. By science I mean: agriculture, botany, forestry, plant breeding, zoology – you know the rest associated with the general subject of Agriculture.

Since I had too many blogs, according to the feedback of Blogspot.Com, I couldn’t create any more blogs – I decided to rename my old blog, “The Editor In Chief” as “The Editor In Chief For Writers.”

Slogan: “If you can say it, you can write it!” (You may just need encouragement.)@517

Does China Really Have The Largest Library In The World – 1.2 Million Books (Volumes) As The Above Photo Is Claimed To Show? And If So, So What?!

I saw the image above on Facebook Wednesday, 25 June 2025: “This is the largest library in the world. Just opened in China and has 1.2 million books.” My first thought: “Do you think the Chinese librarians counted the number of books right?”

To illustrate the use of such a vast physical library – let us do an Internet search on the definition and/or explanation of “knowledge” – ready?

“what is knowledge” – the Internet said it found “35,900,000” entries, and how am I going to read all those?!

“define knowledge” – the Internet still had 154,300 search results, stil too many for me!

“explain knowledge” – the Internet gave me even more, 6,610,000 search results!

Never ever think you know everything about a subject because other people may know more – or differently!

That is why when I write, I never say something like, “This is it. If what others have written is against it, they’re wrong!”

Suppose Maria Ressa, Filipino winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize for Peace says, “Ferdinand Marcos Jr is a bad President.” Would you accept the judgment because it is given with some authority?

I would not!

That is why I am writing this article – if you want to judge people, you have to do it on your own.

I practice my own, which I call “THiNK! Journalism.”

True? If True, is it
Helpful? If Helpful, is it
Inspiring? If Inspiring, is it
Necessary? If necessary, is it 
Kind?

THiNK! Journalism.

On the Internet, I just typed “wisest American,” and the Internet showed me the book “Emerson The Wisest American.” That is the view of only one man, the author of the book, Philips Russell.

In any case, you have the right to disagree!

The Library & Information Science Community says (lisedunetwork.com):

A public library is a cornerstone of community education and enrichment, offering free access to knowledge and resources. It is an inclusive sanctuary where individuals of all ages, backgrounds, and socioeconomic statuses can engage in lifelong learning and cultural exchange. Beyond its traditional role of lending books, a public library facilitates access to digital media, hosts educational programs, and provides community services that foster literacy and digital competence. These institutions are not merely repositories of books; they are vibrant, dynamic spaces that adapt to the evolving needs of their communities, promoting equality of access to information and empowering citizens in a democratic society.

What is a public library? Library & Information Science (lisedunetwork.com) says:

“Public libraries play a crucial role in modern society, extending far beyond their traditional function as mere repositories of books. Today, they serve as dynamic hubs of education, technology, culture, and community engagement.”
That is to say, if the library does not actively, readily and happily assist would-be learners in finding out something or other, it is missing on its original function of helping readers search for knowledge!  

Library users, in the meantime? “The Largest Library In The World” means nothing. Use your head!@517

 

 

 

Atok Farmers Cooperative In Benguet, Mt Province Ventures Into Coffee Processing – Cheers? Eyeing For Export – Cheers!

“Do you know what the Turkish say about coffee? It should be black as hell, strong as death, and sweet as love.” – Holly Black, Black Heart (inspirationfeed.com), How sweet!

I’m finishing a cup of coffee right now, not black, but as dark as it can get to keep me awake as I write this, from an afternoon nap. (image from Shutterstock, shutterstock.com)

Debbie Gasingan writes from up there in Atok, Benguet that “A farmers cooperative in Benguet venturea into coffee processing and marketing” as an income-generating common project for its farmer-members (23 June 2025, pia.gov.ph). This is the Caliking Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative (CFMPC) whose manager is Conrado Baldino.

There are 1,009 members of the Caliking coop – 200 are coffee growers from barangays Caliking, Topdac, Abiang, and Poblacion. They are now embarking on a huge project to serve the world of coffee drinkers like me.

(I’m now volunteering to help market the product by coming up with a sweet-strong name to attract customers. Shakespeare’s Juliet says, “What’s in a name. That which we call a ‘rose’ by any other name would smell as sweet.” Actually, that’s a Juliet naïve in marketing!)

Of them coop’s 1,009 members, around 200 are coffee growers. Coop Manager Baldino shares that the coffee produce of their coop members, around 200 of them from barangays Caliking, Topdac, Abiang and Poblacion), is now being bought separately and in bulk to make their personal dreams come true. (I’ll drink coffee to that!)

Baldino says, “Idi, dagitoy members, i-roast da ti kape da, ikarga da iti paper bag and cellophane ken ipan da iti coop. Napanunot ti coop staff a nu ngata i-improve tayo ti products dagiti members tayo tapnu mayat ti kaledad na.” (There was a time our members roasted their coffee, put them in paper bags and cellophane, and brought them to the coop. It was the coop staff who thought of what to do to bring the coffee to quality.)

Processing with care is the secret. Processing to satisfy the hard-to-satisfy members is the unsaid secret!

Not to forget:

“The cooperative tapped the assistance of the government, particularly the Department of Agrarian Reform, providing the infrastructure for the coffee processing center, the Department of Trade and Industry for the coffee processing equipment, and the Department of Science and Technology for the training to improve packaging and labeling.“

Now then, the Caliking coffee is a common project of the DAR, DTI, and DOST.

Coop Manager Baldino said that “they already hired a Quality Control Officer to check on the quality of the coffee produce they are buying from the farmers. They also go directly to the farmers. He said that the price depends on the quality of coffee. Meaning, it depends!

There are additional advantages if members sell their coffee to their coop:

“(Baldino) added that aside from the higher buying price of the cooperative compared to traders, (the) farmer-members (sellers)… will receive a patronage refund at the end of the year. Transportation costs will also be reduced.”

Cheers!@517

ChatGPT, Easy For Your Writing! Writer Or Not, How Do You Improve Your Writing Skills?

Wikipedia says (en.wikipedia.org), “ChatGPT is a generative artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI and released on November 30, 2022.” For one, ChatGPT can generate an essay for you and nobody else would know! (image from bigthink.com)

Yes, but that would be cheating yourself in the first place!

Do you want to learn how to write, or do you want to just submit a paper or two so that you can graduate?

We have quite a few misunderstandings of Artificial Intelligence (AI) such as represented by ChatGPT:

“Study Reveals That ChatGPT Erodes Critical Thinking Skills” (emphasis supplied) – Ron Lim, (GMA Lifestyle, gmanetwork.com/lifestyle). I writer & editor say that that is not correct! What it erodes is Creative Thinking – because you allow the machine to think and write for you!

“A study conducted by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab has shown that students who used OpenAI's ChatGPT to write SAT essays … consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels.” Of course! They learned to copy, not to think for themselves. Copycats, not Creators.

“Study Reveals That ChatGPT Erodes Critical Thinking Skills” – Ron Lim, (GMA Lifestyle, gmanetwork.com/lifestyle):

“There's a prevailing perception that the use of AI (artificial intelligence) means a person is less competent, and now a study has come out that may just prove that that perception is actually reality.”

Reality: AI is a choice – and we cannot choose for other people.

“A study conducted by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab has shown that students who used OpenAI's ChatGPT to write SAT essays ended up with the lowest brain engagement and ‘consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels. If you use AI like ChatGPT, you lose your originality, or at least do not develop it. Those who used AI also eventually indeed up copy-pasting by the end of the study.”

When you use ChatGPT, you are simply a copycat, not an original – do you like that?

I say now, paraphrasing Shakespeare: “With ChatGPT, Frailty, thy name is human!”

“Meanwhile, those who used just their brains, as well as those who used Google search, were more engaged and curious and were satisfied with their essays.”

Yes, but it’s so much easier to use ChatGPT!

Those who use ChatGPT to produce the essay or story they want or need are not using their heads, only their hands!

But – This Editor In Chief says, “The only way to learn how to write is to use your head, not your hands!

In the title, I mentioned Multiple Intelligences (MI), and here is the MI list: 1. Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (“Body Smart”),
2. Creative Intelligence (“Thinking Smart”), added by FAH,
3. Existential Intelligence (“Life Smart”),
4. Interpersonal Intelligence (“People Smart”),
5. Intrapersonal Intelligence (“Self Smart”),
6. Mathematical-Logical Intelligence (“Number/Reasoning Smart”),
7. Musical Intelligence (“Music Smart”),
8. Naturalist Intelligence (“Nature Smart”),
9. Spatial Intelligence (“Image Smart”), and
10. Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence (“Word Smart”).

There are 10 different ways being original. Of course it’s much easier to just be a copycat!@517

Thinking Of An Ala-Facebook “Faithbook” To Cultivate Catholics To Become Deeper & Better Catholics!

Facebook must be the most popular single platform for all kinds of people of all colors for all kinds of interests – and reading about the suggestion of last October’s Synod on synodality, I Roman Catholic believe t’s time for the Catholic Church to evangelize – and continue to evangelize – via the digital world. How about “Faithbook”? It will be designed as “The Catholic Facebook.” (image “Catholics in the Internet” from amazon.nl)

I have come across, read and re-reread with favor & fervor Christopher White’s sharing, “Catholic Digital Leaders Urge Modern-Day Missionaries To Learn The Internet” (22 Feb 2024, National Catholic Reporter, ncronline.org). And why is that? These reasons:

(1) You have to get to know people, learn their language and appreciate their local customs and culture. Only then can you begin to evangelize. That takes a long time – you have to begin somehow.

(2) “Sending missionaries into new frontiers entails risks, including that of martyrdom.” So – No more martyrdom for Catholic converts and converters! The Catholic Faithbook should guide you to friendly territories – and warn you of any dangerous terrains.

(3) Ideally, do not expect converts overnight. Mr White says, “When Francis Xavier reached India or Mother Cabrini arrived in the United States, neither believed they would make converts overnight.” Today, with a Facebook-like Faithbook, you could make simultaneous converts overnight anywhere in the world!

(4) Mr White says, “José Manuel De Urquidi makes the case that the Internet is 'a place of encounter' and that 'it's not a tool, but rather a culture.'” Differently, I say as a digital denizen since 1991, the Internet is a tool as well as a culture – and that is exemplified by Facebook. Everybody loves Facebook!

(5) Mr Urquidi also says, “Like those earlier missionaries of centuries past, the digital space is ‘a place where we need to be. We need to learn the language and to engage.’"

Well, I taught myself the language of the Internet, literally from zero, from typewriter-based journalism, beginning Innocents Day 1985, with WordStar Version 1 (Nobody talks about Wordstar anymore that I know.) Anyone can learn the Internet as long as one has the interest – and the perseverance to learn something new, including the intricate and/or complicated – and later master everything.

I say, why not “Faithbook” – inside or outside Facebook?

“Facebook is most popular social media platform among Internet users in Philippines – Pulse Asia,” Kaela Malig says (GMA News Online, gmanetwork.com). An Internet hound since 1991, I love the move that –“Catholic Digital Leaders Urge Modern-Day Missionaries To Learn The Internet” (Catholics on the Internet Paperback – 15 Oct. 1997. English edition by Brother John Raymond, auteur, National Catholic Reporter, ncronline.org):

“Next to sex, religion is the most popular reason people explore the Internet. And with 70 million members, the Catholic Church and its members are extremely active in cyberspace.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson says: “Religion is to do right. It is to love, it is to serve, it is to think, it is to be humble.” So? That Faithbook will be perfect anytime!@517