In this blog post, I will reflect on life, dreams, and hope, focusing on the aphorisms found in Kang Jun-man’s *Even in the Quagmire, the Stars Shine*. Reflections on Life and Aphorisms We live a single life, experiencing joy, sorrow, love, and grief, and ultimately return to a handful of dust. Even if we ask ourselves whether we are spending each day meaningfully until the day we die...
Reading Kang Jun-man’s ‘Ask Your Soul’: A Guide to Happiness in 50 Life Aphorisms
In this blog post, I will briefly introduce Kang Jun-man’s ‘Ask Your Soul (Aphorisms for Happiness)’ and summarize my main impressions and the book’s key features. Writing Style and Structure While Kang Jun-man’s past writings were combative and direct, perhaps due to the weight of time, this book adopts a much softer tone—even using honorifics—that evokes a sense of the...
Kang Jun-man’s *A Dragon Must Not Rise from a Muddy Stream*: The Truth About the Republic of Power Abuse
In this blog post, we will examine the core arguments of Kang Jun-man’s *A Dragon Must Not Rise from a Muddy Stream (The Secret of the Republic of Power Abuse)* and explore the issue of power abuse in Korean society. Book Overview and Key Arguments Kang Jun-man, *A Dragon Must Not Rise from a Muddy Stream (The Secret of the Republic of Power Abuse)*. The author is a prolific writer...
How far can evolutionary psychology explain human behavior?
This blog post examines how much evolutionary psychology can explain human behavior, critically exploring the tension between innate and environmental factors. Through this, it considers both the explanatory limitations and potential of evolutionary psychology. Recently in Korea, social controversy has arisen over claims that high school textbooks should delete or reduce content related to...
Could rape be an adaptive behavior in human evolution?
This blog post explores whether rape could be an adaptive behavior for survival and reproduction during human evolution, from scientific and evolutionary psychological perspectives. To answer any question, one must first understand it clearly. “Is rape adaptive?” is no exception. While we need not debate what rape is, we must first clearly define what an adaptation is to answer this...
Does evolution happen gradually or can it happen abruptly?
In this blog post, we’ll compare Dawkins’ and Gould’s arguments for evolution, and explore whether evolution happens gradually or abruptly. Darwin’s Table is a fierce debate between two of the biggest names in evolutionary theory, Richard Dawkins and Stephen Jay Gould. After a half-century of being criticized by creationism, evolutionary theory has become the...
If rape is an adaptation, why should it be treated as an ethical issue?
In this blog post, we explore the debate over whether rape is an evolutionary adaptation and delve into why it should be treated as an ethical issue. As evolutionary theory has evolved, there have been various discussions about what can be subject to natural selection. One controversial topic is the question “Is rape an adaptation?” This question was first addressed in Thornhill’s...
Is evolution really a change for the better?
In this blog post, Darwin’s Table takes a deep dive into the question of whether evolution is really a process of change for the better. Are plants and animals in the natural world evolving in a progressive way? In the past, we’ve assumed that the structure of the body and the brain have evolved over time in a self-evident direction of increasing complexity, but reading...
Can rape be understood as an adaptation from an evolutionary perspective?
This blog post explores whether rape can be interpreted as an adaptation from an evolutionary perspective. In doing so, it brings together the evolutionary causes of human behavior and the ethical controversy. In the book Darwin’s Table, written by Korean professor Daeik Jang, prominent scholars debate whether male rape behavior is an adaptation or not. Leading adaptationists...
Is Rape in War an Instinct or Psychological Warfare?
This blog post explores whether the surge in rape during wartime is an expression of evolutionary instinct or a means of strategic violence. Rape is one of the most heinous crimes, regardless of country or era. Therefore, efforts to understand its causes—both from humanities and social science perspectives and through scientific inquiry—are underway to find ways to prevent it. One such...