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[Book Review] Eternal Life in a Vat: Is it Evolution or Mummification? (The Singularity Is Nearer - Ray Kurzweil)

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  1. "Commercial Thirst" Hidden Beneath a Flood of Data Ray Kurzweil, the titan of futures studies who has returned after 20 years, remains as confident as ever. He pushes forward countless statistics and graphs, striving to prove that we have reached the threshold of exponential growth. However, the impression felt as a reader is closer to "fatigue" than "wonder." The massive volume—which feels as though it is forcibly fitting recent data into the logic of his previous work—reveals more of an old master’s obsession with proving his prophecies weren't wrong, or a commercial intent to achieve success by leaning on the reputation of his past work, rather than a pure desire to present a future for humanity. 2. 100 Years Without "Scarcity": Can We Be Happy? The author asserts that humanity will conquer aging and disease through three stages of life extension. But here, a fundamental question arises: Is a life of over 100 years, where everything i...

[책리뷰] 통 속의 영생, 그것은 진화인가 박제인가 (마침내 특이점이 시작된다 - 레이 커즈와일)

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  1. 데이터의 홍수 속에 가려진 '상업적 갈증' 20년 만에 돌아온 미래학의 거물, 레이 커즈와일은 여전히 확신에 차 있다. 그는 수많은 통계와 그래프를 들이밀며 우리가 기하급수적 성장의 임계점에 도달했음을 증명하려 애쓴다. 하지만 독자로서 느끼는 감상은 '경이로움'보다는 '피로함'에 가깝다. 전작의 논리를 반복하며 최신 데이터를 억지로 끼워 맞춘 듯한 방대한 분량은, 인류의 미래를 제시하려는 순수한 열망보다는 자신의 예언이 틀리지 않았음을 입증하려는 노장의 집착, 혹은 전작의 명성에 기대어 성공을 거두려는 상업적 의도가 많이 보여진다. 2. '결핍'이 사라진 100년, 우리는 행복할 수 있는가 저자는 수명 연장의 3단계를 통해 인류가 노화와 질병을 정복할 것이라 단언한다. 하지만 여기서 근본적인 의문이 든다. 모든 것이 충족되고 부족함이 없는 100년 이상의 삶이 과연 축복일까? 인간의 뇌는 결핍을 채우고 한계를 극복하는 '변화의 순간'에 행복을 느끼도록 설계되어 있다. 80년대 일본의 애니매이션 '은하철도999'에서 주인공 철이는 영원히 고통없는 기계인간이 되고자 했다. 하지만 기계가 되어 영생을 얻었지만 삶의 의미, 행복, 그리고 또다른 지배자의 도구로 전락해 버린 존재들을 목도하면서 철이는 기계인간이 되기를 포기한다. 고통도, 죽음의 공포도 사라진 채 완벽한 상황이 지속된다면, 우리는 그저 '산에 서 있는 나무 한 그루'와 다를 바 없는 존재가 될지도 모른다. 마감 기한(죽음)이 없는 삶에서 열정은 희석되고, 모든 성취는 무의미한 반복으로 전락할 위험이 크다. 저자가 약속하는 풍요의 시대는 어쩌면 '거대한 권태의 시대'의 다른 이름일 뿐이다. [은하철도999] 3. 클라우드 권력과 '관리자'의 탄생 책은 모든 이가 일할 필요가 없는 유토피아를 그리지만, 그 시스템을 유지하는 '인프라의 소유권'에 대해서는 침묵...

[Interview] Yunsik Choi, a Korean futurist

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An interview with a Korean futurist: Yunsik Choi Interviewee Profile As Korea's most popular futurist, he is the author of more than 50 books (including futures scenario books such as ‘2030 A Bold Future’). His books have been published in South Korea, China and Japan. In addition, he served as the president of the Institute for Future Technology Management, State University of New York in Korea, research professor at the State University of New York in in Korea, and head of the executive course at the International Business School. Recently, he founded the Asian Future Research Institute to train futurists and study future scenarios. In addition, he communicates with the public through various lectures. He graduated from the University of Houston with a BA in Foresight.  Q: How did you find out about foresight, and how did you start your career as a futurist? Q: It seems that foresight is not widely known in South Korea. Do you agree with my opinion? And where do you see the cause...

Can we see our future? If so, can we change the future?

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Can we see our future? If so, can we change the future? Daegon Lee, Master of Science in Foresight at the University of Houston We have control over our 'preferred future' We are probably wondering what my future will look like. If a bright future is promised for you, would you not put any effort into it? Or, if you see a dark future ahead of you, will you give up on any efforts and despair? Let's say you have a fragile body. Say you want to get out of this bad situation and have a healthy and strong body. If you make an effort to overcome this situation (such as exercising harder or eating better), you will be able to find health at least to some extent. However, if you do nothing, you will still be unhealthy. I just thought of our two different futures. A healthy future you, and an unhealthy future you. Of course, you may suddenly and completely unexpectedly fall ill with an incurable disease. I don't think it's out of your control that you get an incurable ...

[Book Review] A Crude Look At The Whole by John H. Miller

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A Crude Look At The Whole by John H. Miller Who is the author? John H. Miller holds a B.A. in Economics and a B.S. in Finance from the University of Colorado. He received his PhD in Economics from the University of Michigan in 1988. Since then, he has joined the Santa Fe Institute as a doctorial fellow and is currently Professor of Economies and Social Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University. His research fields are as follows, and we can see that his research fields are very broad. Agent-based Modeling, AI/Machine Learning, Behavior, Biology, Economics, Evolution, Finance, Psychology, Risk & Uncertainty, Social Science, Strategy/Decision Making, Complex Adaptive Social Systems (Source: Santa Fe Institute website) Why did the author write this book? As an economist, his main research field is focused on the study of economic mechanisms or finding and studying economic patterns based on the theory of complex systems. In fact, we all know that the economy is only a small fraction (or ...

What is Foresight?

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What is Foresight? Daegon Lee , a member of Association of Professional Futurist, a graduate student in Master of Science in Foresight at the University of Houston Many people have never heard of the words foresight or futures studies, or even if they did, they don't know exactly what they mean. Webster's Dictionary defines foresight as 'an act or the power of foreseeing' or 'an act of looking forward'. In other words, foresight means work or action to see the future, and the result. So some of you may ask, 'Is foresight predicting the future?' or 'Are you a psychic?' Futurists for foresight are different from fortune tellers for prophecy. Foresight collects information from the past and present and uses it to create multiple future scenarios that are likely to occur through causality, logic, and rational creativity. Foresight differs from prediction, which uses magical powers inaccessible to ordinary people to ‘precise blow’ a single future. I m...

[Essay] Scenario forecasting of South and North Korea facing sudden unification

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Scenario forecasting of South and North Korea facing sudden unification Daegon Lee, Master of Science in Foresight at the University of Houston 1. Introduction Korea suffered the Korean War for three years from 1950, and since then, the Korean Peninsula has been divided into South and North Korea and has existed as two de facto countries. Among them, South Korea has been pursuing continuous industrial and economic development with the help of the United Nations and the United States since the end of the war, and as of 2020, South Korea has become a developed country with per capita GDP reaching $31,000.[1] On the other hand, North Korea has built a socialist state system with the help of the former Soviet Union and China, but now North Korea is a one-man dictatorship centered on Kim Jong-un. In 2020, North Korea's GDP per capita is only $1,700,[2] which is going through a very difficult time economically because North Korea has thoroughly shut off the entire country from the outsid...