With advances in genetic engineering and biotechnology, will humanity evolve or go extinct? An intriguing Sapiens book review exploring the future of humanity transformed by technology! “Seventy thousand years ago, Homo sapiens were just another insignificant animal in a corner of Africa, concerned only with their own survival. Over the next tens of thousands of years, this species became...
This blog post critically examines whether life is merely a means for the survival of genes, focusing on ‘The Selfish Gene’. What is the reason for human existence? What is the origin of humankind, and what is the meaning of living? Countless thinkers and philosophers have debated and researched these questions over the centuries. Notable theories include the multiregional origin...
This blog post deeply examines whether control exercised under the guise of choices made for children is truly love, exploring it from the perspectives of freedom and dignity. People often call children ‘a gift from God’. For the giver, a gift signifies celebration and blessing; for the recipient, it brings happiness. The phrase ‘a gift from God’ signifies how profoundly children are a...
How powerless are humans before fate? Through Sophocles’ Antigone, we explore the essence of tragic fate and the meaning of human choice. With them the Seed of Wisdom did I sow, And with my own hand labour’d it to grow: And this was all the Harvest that I reap’d— “I came like Water, and like Wind I go.” This is a poem from Omar Khayyam’s Rubáiyát. Reading Sophocles’...
This blog post examines whether the concept of normal science in Thomas Kuhn’s theory of scientific revolution truly excludes criticism and only shifts paradigms during crises. Thomas Kuhn, a philosopher of science who coined the new concept of ‘paradigm,’ defined it in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions as “a total framework or set of concepts that combines scientific...
This blog post critically examines Jared Diamond’s argument that ‘Guns, Germs, and Steel’ explains the gap in civilizations. Why I Read the Book Guns, Germs, and Steel is a book written by Jared Diamond in 2005. Although it is over a decade old, it consistently ranks as the most borrowed book at Seoul National University’s Central Library, maintaining steady popularity. I...
Hemingway’s ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ was born after 15 years of conception and writing. We examine how this masterpiece came into the world through its creative background and literary evaluation. Ernest Hemingway began writing ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ in early 1951 while living near Havana, Cuba. He completed the first draft by late April that year and submitted the manuscript to...
This blog post examines how science and technology intertwine with human values through Heisenberg’s ‘Physics and Beyond’. Heisenberg’s Atomic Theory Heisenberg’s book ‘Physics and Beyond’ begins with a chapter titled ‘Encounter with Atomic Theory,’ which recounts discussions Heisenberg had with friends during his high school years. Here, Heisenberg and his friend Robert...
In this blog post, we explore the essence and importance of the responsibility engineers must uphold amid scientific and technological progress, through Heisenberg’s ‘Part and Whole’. Heisenberg is a physicist renowned for the ‘Uncertainty Principle,’ one of the core theories of quantum physics. ‘Part and Whole’ is a book Heisenberg authored, compiling debates he engaged in with...
Kafka’s literary world explores the essence of human existence amidst absurdity and solitude. This guide presents an interpretive approach to deciphering reality and inner worlds through his symbols and metaphors. Franz Kafka was born on July 3, 1883, in Prague, the son of a Jewish merchant. He received a German education and earned a doctorate in law from Charles Ferdinand...