In this blog post, I’ll share my thoughts on the choices we make “in this very moment,” based on my experiences with the people I met during a backpacking trip I took after completing my military service. While I was in the military, I always longed to travel abroad. I had planned to visit as many places as possible once I was free to travel overseas after my discharge. However, after...
How was PCR technology—which amplifies a single fragment of DNA into hundreds of millions of copies—developed?
In this blog post, I’ll summarize the background, principles, and process behind the invention of PCR, as well as its impact on genetic engineering and its various applications. In modern society, technologies such as GMOs and human cloning have become major topics of debate due to the ethical issues and safety concerns they raise. Since these technologies are all based on genetic...
How did the automobile change people’s lives and become an essential part of modern society?
In this blog post, we’ll explore the structure, history, classifications, and social impact of the automobile. The automobile is the mode of transportation most deeply embedded in Korean society. Every morning, Seoul is blanketed with cars used by commuters, and every night, yellow headlights and red taillights illuminate the cityscape between buildings. Many children spend their days...
Have wearable robots become a reality?
In this blog post, we’ll explore the development trends and operating principles of wearable robots, as well as research examples from both Korea and abroad. Why wearable robots are no longer a distant future When people hear the term “wearable robot,” many think of characters like “Iron Man” or “RoboCop” from movies. Due to the influence of this pop culture, wearable robots may still feel...
Why was artificial intelligence created, and how have its development goals evolved?
In this blog post, we’ll take a chronological look at why artificial intelligence was created and how it has evolved, against the backdrop of the heightened interest that followed AlphaGo. Early Objectives and Concepts: From Neuron Models to Thinking Machines Interest in artificial intelligence surged following the match between AlphaGo and Lee Sedol, and many people came to view it as an...
Will Humans Kill Other Humans? — The Extinction of Homo sapiens from the Perspective of Inorganic Engineering
In this blog post, we examine how advances in inorganic engineering might influence the future of Homo sapiens and the possibility of its extinction. Background and Problem Statement One event that many people remember is the moment when artificial intelligence defeated the Go champion. The entire nation’s attention was focused on a single Go board, and people gathered in small groups on...
How Did Altruistic Humans Survive?
In this blog post, we’ll examine how altruistic behavior could have been maintained evolutionarily, focusing on the kin selection hypothesis. Introduction As seen in a recent case where a hero ran into a building on fire at dawn to wake up and evacuate the people inside—only to lose his own life—we sometimes witness acts in which people willingly sacrifice their own safety or lives for...
Are Altruistic People Rational?: The Repeated Reciprocity Hypothesis
In this blog post, I’ll summarize how the repeated reciprocity hypothesis explains the evolutionary origins of altruism, as well as its limitations and complementary factors in the real world. Questions Raised by Literary Imagination The plot of a novel depicting a city where an epidemic spreads, causing people to lose their sight, stimulates the intuition that humans act altruistically by...
Altruistic Humans? Or Are They Actually Selfish?
In this blog post, I’ll examine the perspective that explains altruistic behavior through the “costly signaling” hypothesis and discuss its limitations. The Paradox of Altruistic Behavior: Why Is It a Problem? How would people react if a stranger asked them to participate in a simple survey? From the respondent’s perspective, answering the survey consumes time and effort without offering...
Why Are Modern Evaluation Criteria Needed in the Debate Over Genetic Engineering?
In this blog post, I will summarize the key issues in the debate over genetic engineering and discuss the need for modern evaluation criteria that contrast with traditional ethical perspectives. The Modern Context — From Survival to Quality of Life Thanks to abundant food and advances in medicine, modern humanity enjoys a far more prosperous life than in the past. As a result of these...