Daniel Lance C Miranda ENG 13 – THX4

202110878 September 25, 2021

Life Without Academic Papers: a meaningless existence

Truth and knowledge should be factual and evidence driven. It is the facts that give
substance to a being and give meaning to existence. In this post-truth society, with the help of
newer technology and media, facts are easily twisted, lies are rampant, and stories are effectively
made. It has become harder for the truth-seekers, the academes and their academic papers, to find
and preserve what is true. However, discovering the truth is very critical in finding the answers
to the problems of this post-truth world. People must be passionate in discovering this whole
truth, not just about the past, but also about how they impacted the happenings of today – for it is
the only way to understand how to address our society and to know how to serve our purpose in
life.
On September 21, 2021, Human Rights Violations Victims' Memorial Commission
conducted a series of webinar about Martial Law entitled Essential Truths. Retired Professor
Maria Serena Diokno of the History Department of the University of the Philippines discussed
the fundamental theories and concepts of historical revisionism. Although Diokno explicitly
stated that historical revisionism is really a part of academically discovering and revealing the
real truth, Diokno also implied that many today uses this to hide their dark past or for their
propagandas and future agendas in our society. Diokno was able to establish this strong stance by
citing evidences from international historical revisionism issues like the holocaust and from local
revisionisms, per se the Martial Law era. Diokno provided pictures and documents as proofs with
complete factual details about its source and context while also connecting and relating this
pieces of the past to the current situation of our society. This connection and “relatable”
approach of Diokno made it possible for networks of conversation to be formed specially with
the youth who have not experienced the Martial Law era, confused about the truth, and are
worried for what the society may become. Diokno also implied that when history is repeating
itself, like today, these evidence which are also found in academic papers are walkthrough to
save our society from falling again into chaos. With the use of academic conventions, such as
providing hard evidence, Diokno’s arguments made it impossible to question her story of the
past – for what she said was the truth. Similar to Diokno’s skillful and professional account of
the past are the academic papers which is, in the same way, skillfully written and very evidence
based. Implicitly, it holds the truth of the society – on how it could be understood and how can
the people effectively resolve the problems which arise in it. History-wise, the knowledge based
on facts and experiences that people will get from academic papers will give them the glimpse of
what happened in the past and what solutions can be made today. It will make the people
appreciate the sacrifices back then and they would be able to genuinely and righteously honor
and commemorate it. It will also give the society a warning of the impeding catastrophes in the
community which is repetitively caused by those in power. Generally; the truth, which is the
foundation of knowledge provided in academic papers, is the only way to solve a problem. It
effectively determines the problem so that people would be able to assess it and produce a
solution. Just like in natural science, where lies about the anatomy of the heart would only cause
further problem to the patient rather than the cardiologist being able to effectively address it.
However, the process of discovering the truth is never-ending where academic papers may
criticize or correct other papers from the past, using new evidences of course, for the sake of
Daniel Lance C Miranda ENG 13 – THX4
202110878 September 25, 2021

unfolding the real truth and providing the best knowledge. In this sense, this process is very
similar to revisionism but it is important to note that it should be based on indisputable evidences
and not powered by selfishness and self-interest. Diokno and her astonishing real life based
explanation truly emphasizes the importance of the truth, the academic study, and the academic
papers. Her presentation that is full of examples and parallelism with the current society
embodied what evidence driven academic paper is and surely gave a notion that pursuing to be a
professional carry a responsibility to the truth, through the academic papers that we will produce
– for it is the key to a better and just society.
Dioknos’s webinar taught me that Martial Law era is the best example of a dark past full
of injustice and violence that is slowly fading in our history due to negative revisionism. As
future professionals, especially as future graduates of social sciences, it is our mandate to
discover and preserve the truth – not just for the victims in the past and their families but also for
the improvement of our society and for future generations to come. As they say, lies are only
temporary solutions for it cannot really solve the problem – because it would not even be able to
identify its root. This is the essence of a factual and evidence driven academic papers. Its purpose
is to make people truly understand something so that they would be able to provide an effective
insight and create a solution in case a problem arises. It would start intellectual and worthwhile
discourses, rather than senseless babbling, which will lead to the improvement of our
community. In the current society where people are deprived of the truth and lies are used as a
mean to achieve something from the people; academic papers, just like what Diokno produces
and spend her life with as a historian, will stand and protect what is true and will continue to
provide substantial knowledge. What should be done is for the people to passionately continue
seeking the truth, through academic papers, so that the humanity may serve its purpose of saving
and improving the society. The loss of this evidence based academic paper, the loss of truth and
knowledge, would only mean a life without substance or a meaningless existence.