Skip to main content

The MARITES Pyramid of Learning Explained

There's the term MARITES which can be often said as Masters in the Art of Relaying Information Through Exaggerated Storytelling. Such people give a bad name to any woman named Marites. I wouldn't be surprised if women would stop naming their daughters Marites for that reason. I decided to make this simplistic meme to talk about what I'd call the MARITES Pyramid of Learning. The Pyramid of Learning has been used as a joke in many memes. 

One of them has the caption "Trust Me Bro" (read more about that here) at the tip which is the fallacy of Appeal to Emotion. If Trust Me Bro isn't enough then what happens next is, "If you don't believe them you must be (insert insult)." If there was a lesson I had to be taught many times, "Never get mad at insults. That just proves that the other person is either insecure, in the wrong, or has a very shaky ground that he or she is defensive. Get even and they'll play the victim." 

If there's any truth worth noting, it's that insults are the arguments often employed by those who are in the wrong. It's like how many times I try to disprove the myth of a parliamentary government in the Philippines, the need to pass 100% foreign equity ownership laws in the Philippines, that the Philippines needs to upgrade the constitution, and that parliamentary systems are more democratic--I get a hurl of insults. I think most of them are stubborn boomers who probably got too comfortable achieving much at such young ages, that they think their children should be exactly like them or have excellent academic records based on an obsolete education system. That's why I remembered how some people wanted to transfer their children to easier schools not because the children had a hard time but because the children no longer entered the honor ranks. What's the use of being an honor student decades ago when lessons were easier than today when lessons got harder? Yes, lessons will get harder because of new content. I wonder if they're too proud to learn anything new?

When I ask for evidence to back up their arguments, many of the arguments tend to just write CTTO which means Credit to the Owner. That one wouldn't always work since citing academic work requires an actual source. It's not enough to surf the Internet. One needs to go to the nations. That's why I even tell the person to go tell a neighboring ASEAN country that their arguments are valid. Instead, they start name-calling. I admit I'm irritated and I want to fight back. However, the truth of the matter is that they're not even worth punching. It's because using insults is just plain stupid. The Positive Writer really says this about using insults to win:

It’s a Sign of Incompetence

If your goal is to present a counter suggestion, idea or even to debate, then lacing comments with insults nullifies any useful input you may have. You effectively ruin an opportunity to give thoughtful feedback.

Sorry to say it, but that’s just stupid.

Once someone includes an insult, subtly or blatantly, the focus shifts from the opinion to the insult and people naturally tune out any points you may have had.

Worse, insulters are not considered competent enough to provide any meaningful input, because using insults make them look foolish.

I sincerely believe some people become insulting because they’re unable to compose a convincing argument and so they end up embarrassing themselves by becoming belligerent.

It’s little wonder why such comments are usually posted online anonymously.

I’d also hazard a guess that nine out of ten times, people become insulting because of…

Frustration and Anger

We all have succumbed at times to frustration and anger when we passionately disagree with something, and that’s normal.

It’s best to allow anger and frustration to dissipate before saying anything.

I take a few extra moments to collect my thoughts, make notes, and when I’m ready, I do my best to provide my side in a respectful manner. That is, if I want my opinion to be considered.

Frankly, I like for my comments to be taken into consideration and not disregarded because I was thoughtlessly blowing off steam.

I would really say that the problem with insulters is that they take great joy in insulting others. It's all about their assertion of dominance. They're probably just waiting for the right opportunity when the insulted had enough and finally gets even. There's a quote that some people will get the worst out of others and then play the victim when it happens. It's common especially when people can take advantage of their gender (ex. women) or their short stature (ex. short people who are small but terrible) to start a fight. Of course, expect them to cry foul when the other person finally has enough and stoops down to their level. The reason why insulters get mad when it's backfired is loss of dominance. Though, they can easily turn the tables by playing the victim


People who use insults and trolling are in the end, just losers. They think that they're practically just exposing stupid people online. They think they're so smart because there's the Duning-Kruger Effect. There's also cognitive dissonance. Facts don't matter to them, only their feelings. They feel like throwing a tantrum will change the facts. They feel like calling names will make them superior. Yes, it makes them feel superior, they can declare themselves the winner, but the facts remain the same. I can lose every argument with them. It's often said that it's impossible to win an argument with a fool. 


This illustration of the pigeon would really summarize the situation with the MARITES Pyramid of Learning. It overrides all degrees. These MARITESes can even have a Ph. D. and waste it by using Appeal to Confidence accompanied by an insult. They end up wasting all their years in school by becoming pigeons. Is it me or has it become a commonplace problem where people go to school and then forget everything they learned after they graduate? It's because the school system tends to care more about grades than learning. They act as if they never had a real education. They end up acting like pigeons regardless of educational attainment. They end up wasting their attainment when they choose to insult those who don't listen to them.

I've experienced such pigeons. I've been called names every now and then. All the name-calling and Ad Hominems are unavoidable. These people have their so-called superiority. The facts don't matter and they will figuratively poop on the board and strut around it like they won. In all ways, I don't care if those guys graduated from a prestigious school. What's the use of having a prestigious degree anyway if at the end of the day, all the person does is insult others who disagree with him or her? 

Popular posts from this blog

Nirvana Fallacy and the Die-Hard Defenders of the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines

IMGUR The philosopher Voltaire (real name  François-Marie Aroue ) was said to have said, "Perfect is the enemy of good." To define the Nirvana fallacy, we can look at Logically Fallacious to help us define it: Description: Comparing a realistic solution with an idealized one , and discounting or even dismissing the realistic solution as a result of comparing to a “perfect world” or impossible standard, ignoring the fact that improvements are often good enough reason . Logical Form: X is what we have. Y is the perfect situation. Therefore, X is not good enough. Example #1: What’s the point of making drinking illegal under the age of 21?  Kids still manage to get alcohol. Explanation: The goal in setting a minimum age for drinking is to deter underage drinking, not abolish it completely.  Suggesting the law is fruitless based on its failure to abolish underage drinking completely, is fallacious. Example #2: What’s the point of living?  We’re all going to die anyway. Ex...

A Parliamentary Philippines with Mandatory Weekly Questioning Will Be Better Than Its Mandatory Yearly Presidential SONAs

Rappler I must admit that ignorance of the difference between the parliamentary system vs. the presidential system is there. Some people still insist on the myth that the first Marcos Administration headed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s late father, Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr., was really a parliamentary system. In reality. the Marcos "parliamentary" years during the Martial Law era, were still presidential (read why  here ). A simple research would show that Cesar Virata was called by the late Lee Kuan Yew, as a non-starter and no leader. LKY would know how a real parliamentary system works. Sure, it's one thing that those who consider themselves Dilawan, voice their criticisms. However, the big problem of the Dilawans is their focus on political idolatry rather than solutions. I can talk with the Dilawans all they want that we do need to shift to the parliamentary system and some of them still cry foul, say that it'll be a repetition of the first Marcos Admi...

The Foolishness of Complaining About Stupid Voters and Stupid Candidates, While Insisting the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines is "So Perfect"

I was looking into the Facebook page of Butthurt Philippines . Honestly, it's easy to complain but what's the use of complaining if you reject the solutions? The art produced by its administrator shows some problems. However, if the administrator here believes that the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines is "perfect as it is" (and he seems to be throwing a "saving face" by saying it was just sarcasm, and I failed to detect it) then it's really something. It's one thing to keep complaining. Complaining can be good. However, what's the use of complaining if you reject the solutions. Even worse, complaining about the quality of candidates for the upcoming 2025 midterm elections , while still saying, "It's not the system it's the people!" Please, that kind of thinking has been refuted even by basic psychology and political science! It's really good to point out the three problems. Distractions? Check. Keeping people hopeless? ...

Don't Expect a Mahathir-Type Leader, Under the 1987 Constitution!

ABS CBN News Happy 100th birthday, Mahathir Mohamad! It's something that not so many people live up to 100, or more. The late Fidel V. Ramos passed away on July 31, 2022, at the age of 94. Ramos's advanced age may be the reason why the Omicron variant (which isn't supposedly fatal) ended his life. I'm posting this image of Ramos and Mahathir for one reason--Ramos wanted charter change back in the 1990s. However, plenty of anti-charter change commercials came in, the late Raul Roco said we only need a change in people, and we have Hilario G. Davide Jr. (who's in his late 80s but still active), and the idea that having a president who will rule for more than six years, is supposedly scary. Please, have they even thought that the late Pol Pot ruled Cambodia for just four years, but carried millions of deaths , that would make the late Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr.'s 20-year reign  look tame (read here )? I've read posts on Facebook saying the Philippines just needs l...

Why I Believe So Many Filipinos (Especially Boomers) Misunderstand (and Blindly Oppose) Charter Change

Okay, I'm no political analyst or historian. That doesn't mean I should just shut up and not share my opinion. I felt like I needed to publish this piece. This is where I want to examine another issue. I've noticed some people on Facebook are sharing the quotes of Atty. Hilario G. Davide Jr. Some would try to do Ad Hominem attacks on me because I'm no constitutionalist (which I admit that I'm not). Just because I'm not a constitutionalist, doesn't mean, that I can't quote from the experts . Do I really need a degree in law at one of those prestigious universities in the Philippines? Sadly, some people are supposedly smarter than me but are the ones spreading nonsense.  Understanding charter change We need to see the definition first to understand why so many Filipinos, especially boomers , are so against it. The Philippine Star   gives this definition of charter change: Charter change, simply, is the process of introducing amendments or revisions to the ...