FADE IN.
Act 1
INT - STUDY - DAY
PETER checks his phone notifications.
PETER (V.O.): Here's a Quoran asking a question at the analytical level.
We see prints in bold on Peter's phone screen: The use of atomic weapons against Japan divides historians as some historians have long debated whether this was the deciding factor in the conclusion of the Second World War. What are your thoughts on this matter?.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): What's the deciding factor? In logic, it is a sufficient condition ie the presence of the condition resulting the event.
Reading some small prints.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It seems that the Quoran is not satisfied with the long and detailed answers he got earlier.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But no one has mentioned about a common fallacy in logic on cause and effect.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.): Many people assume a necessary condition of an event as the sufficient condition for the event to occur.
Act 2
INT. STUDY - CONTINUOUS
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): What is a necessary condition then?
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It's a condition that must be present for an event to occur.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In my matriculation days, I read many books and thought I should score distinctions in public exams.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I didn't. And I didn't know why, as I thought I was diligent.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd):As I passed all the papers including History, I should have a basic understanding of the subjects. But my level of explanation couldn't be high.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The sufficient condition to get distinctions in exams should require a sharp distinction among similar performance, separating one's performance from others.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd):In the World War II context, Japan had initial quick wins in South-East Asia and in Pearl Harbour.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Pain, suffering and deaths of other peoples outside of Japan was an irrelevant factor in Japan's acts of aggression against their countries.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Japan was better than them. The goal of Japan's military then was to dominate them. That's the sufficient condition to cause Japan's invasions then.
Peter surfs the web.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In his August 15, 1945 broadcast to his good and loyal subjects, Emperor Hirohito says: "...we declared war on American and Britain out of our sincere desire to ensure Japan's self-preservation and the stabilization of East Asia."
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): China and other countries in South-East Asia which Japan had dominated weren't worth mentioning.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Soviet Union's violation of its 1941 Neutrality Pact with Japan, a betrayal - the same.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The sequence of events leading to Japan's unconditional surrender and the conclusion of World War II in August 1945 were these: August 6: Hiroshima atomic bombing - August 8, Soviet Union's declaration of war against Japan - August 9, Nagasaki atomic bombing.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): For Japan's military, would any weapons of mass destruction frighten them at all if they were not afraid to die?
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Emperor Hirohito continues: "...well-being of our subjects is the solemn obligation which has been handed down by our imperial ancestors and which lies close to our heart."
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Many civilians died due to massive bombings and resulting fires in Japan.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Emperor Hirohito continues: "...the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage, while the general trends of the world have all turned against her interest."
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): He continues: "...the enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to damage is, indeed, incalculable, taking the toll of many innocent lives."
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Here's the sufficient condition: "...how are we to save the millions of our subjects, or to atone ourselves before...our ancestors?"
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The Emperor would be failing his ancestral solemn obligation to see his good and loyal subjects annihilated, whether by conventional or atomic weapons, in the end.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd):That sealed that fate of the unkilled Japanese way back when.
Act 3
INT. STUDY - CONTINUOUS
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When I worked with the Government and deliberated on intellectual property (IP) policy, creating public value had been the deciding factor or the sufficient condition of any IP legislation in Hong Kong.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Developed countries often pushed for higher IP standards. I took into account international standards and norms and the special Hong Kong circumstances. And so was the legislature.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When new laws were passed, lobbyists claimed their lobbying effort as the deciding factor.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But when IP bills weren't passed, no lobbyists took responsibility.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Putting myself into the shoes of the then Japanese Cabinet chaired by the Emperor on the unconditional surrender agenda, I believe they concluded that enough was enough for their subjects' pain, suffering and deaths.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The buck stops with Emperor Hirohito.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Thus, the atomic bombings are some of the necessary conditions, but not the sufficient condition, in concluding World War II.
Peter begins to type his answer on the phone.
FADE OUT.
THE END
Comments