Philosophy of Water

Unknown to many outsiders, Indonesia had many philosophers which do not share the same fame as that of the Greek’s. Unbeknownst to most Indonesian, their philosophy lives on through their upbringing, instead of thick books, and is influencing their present way of life.
The water philosophy however, can not be confirmed to be rooted to those ancient philosophy, but very apparent in everyday’s Indonesian life.

Getting into an elevator, one can see this philosophy in motion. Like water, people will fill all voids in front of the elevator door, the first who arrive shall take the nearest position to the door. Pregnant women or parents with strollers, if they arrive later, will not be prioritized. When the elevator finally arrives, the door opens, and like water, the current from inside the elevator slams against the current from outside the elevator, and those larger molecules (pregnant women and parent with strollers) need to compete with smaller and more agile molecule. Note that many times escalators may be placed nearby, that the smaller and more agile molecules can instead take those escalators instead of taking up room for those who really need the elevator.

One can see this behavior also on the streets, especially that of big cities. All molecules of all sizes, motorcycles, cars, SUVs, Buses, Trucks, will fill every empty void in the road whenever possible, disregarding any traffic signs. This of course will cause traffic jam, because unlike water, vehicles can’t be somewhat be compressed and produce higher pressure when passing through small openings.

As such, to go with the flow does not seem to be a good idea. Only do that if you have no other choice.

Myths

Indonesia is a country full of myths, believed to be absolutely true, sometimes even when scientific evidence shows otherwise. These myth-believers come from every strata of the society. The myths themselves are not necessarily those existing for hundreds of years. New myths seems to be invented every day.

Example of old myths are:
1. the legend of Malin Kundang, the son who disown his mother for being poor, became a rock after being cursed by the mother.
2. the legend of Jaka Tarub, a guy who stole the wings of an angel to marry her.

Aside from nation-wide known myths, local myths also exists. For example, a lake may be believed to be the lair of white crocodiles, who can turn magically into humans in certain days of the year. A tree may be believed to be the resting place of genies.

Nevertheless, the "newer" breed of myths are the ones that are more interesting. examples of these myths are:
1. shaking your car while refuelling generates more space for the fuel. Physics confirms however, that liquids shall follow the form of its container. imagine shaking a bucket full of water, does it generate more space for the water?
2. On the road, motorcyclist can do no wrong. What ever you do as a motorcyclist, however damaging to other motorists you are never wrong. This of course, is not stated anywhere in Indonesian law, however, is believed to be true by most motorcyclists.
3. common cold is caused by devilish germs, that cure must involve numerous kinds of medications, including anti biotics, even when the cold is caused by viruses.
4. ... and many others.

Debunking the myths may take a lot of time and energy at times. So when not totally necessary, just let the myths live and prosper.