Philippine E-Journals

Mindscapes: Probing into the Paulinian Consciousness

Joseph Guiang Balaoing

Discipline: Social Science, Sociology

 

Abstract:

 In the level of human experience, the externalizations of consciousness, the thoughts, ideas, behaviors, values, and other expressions become meaningful symbols. Every little thing is a symbol of something. This is evident in how an almost insignificant item is held dear and important by people. The value of the thing is no longer measured by its monetary worth but by the meaning it bears to the person who possesses it. Everything is, thus, rendered meaningful. 

 

Human experience is a composite of streams of consciousness. The present study ventured to probe the state of affairs of consciousness of the stakeholders of St. Paul University Manila (SPU Manila), particularly in terms of focal vocabularies and focal images, and what they reveal about consciousness. Mixed methodology was employed combining descriptive research and phenomenology. A total of 344 respondents participated in the analytic inquiry using a special research instrument to gather their reflections through text and images. Analysis was carried out by tabulation, classification, ranking, counting, reflection, organization of themes, and description. 

 

Findings revealed that the focal vocabularies of students showed a strong slant towards their relatedness with other people. On the other hand, at the top of the consciousness of the faculty were three important vocabularies--love, family and God--with love as the basic principle of existence and foundation of any relationship. The focal vocabularies of the support service staff disclosed a striking result with the word “friend” on top of the list over “family” and “love.”