Thoughts on abortion

I am pro-choice on abortion. People pro-life appose abortion for it harming the dignity of life. However, I think the definition of dignity of life should cover the state of post-birth too. Being born is not the completion of life but the beginning. If a person cannot be offered with a minimum of education and clean environment and parent's affection, it will be literally a damage to the dignity of life. 

The reason I take the stance ,ironically, may reflects  poor social security system. 
If a government guarantees decent environment for children, many women with unwanted pregnancy would not need to wander looking for an illegal practitioner for abortion, which may cause them fatal complications. 

Education in contraception also matters. The teenagers should be taught to avoid getting pregnant. Pregnancy has an impact on the life of both a baby to be born and a pregnant woman. 

Despite all the consideration, abortion could seem simply murder. I do not have much knowledge background, but I could accept the abortion in the period within a couple of week-pregnancy, Because I heard that the formation of a brain takes place after then, and I think human's soul goes with a brain. 

Thoughts on 'Cat lady'

There should be adjustment to the judicial action on crimes by children under 14. 

I have come to know that children under 14 do not face judicial action under any circumstances in the current judicial system. I think the law should be more strict, because crime doesn't recognize criminal's age. The nature of crime is getting more evil. Juvenile criminals know they can get away from penalty. More important thing is the rehabilitation of criminals than penalty itself. 

If there is no proper judicial action, who would be held liable of the crime? Who helps the little criminals rehabilitate?  With current law system, there is no way to deal with the problems above. Surely, as an alternative way, we could seek civil penalty for compensation. It will give a sense of responsibility to the parents of  juvenile criminals. It will have power to correct the criminals indirectly. However, society should be held accountable first systematically. Adequate adjustment to the law is required. 

Thought on 'Voting ban on prisoners'

I think prisoners should be banned from voting. Some argue that stripping prisoners of their voting constitutes breaching their basic human right. However, I think, we should think of the reason why they are confined in jail. No matter how long their serving time is the prisoners are confined for breaching other people's human right. It's unfair to insist their human right while not considering that of others. Hence, prisoners should not be permitted to vote. If the prisoner is not a felon, then he or she will come out of a jail soon. Voting after then would not be late. Those living within a society would cast a precious vote with a deep thought.

Here are vocabularies in the article ! Enjoy ~

Featured Report : To Save Paris, Defeat ISIS

We will talk about conflicts triggered by differences, some of which involve violence.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/14/opinion/to-have-paris-defeat-isis.html


      1      Match all sets of categories(A-B) that you think are acceptable.

A.    The fields in which we encounter conflicts in our town and in the world

: Nationalism, Regionalism, Difference in religion, Gender difference, Sectarianism, School relations, Between rich and poor, racial difference, cultural difference

B.     An acceptable degree of expression

1)Not reveal – 2)express preference with objectivity (stance changeable) – 3)assert strongly – 4)reveal hostility against counterpart (accompanied with violence)

2        Present your opinion with supporting ideas.  

3        What do you think we could do to mitigate conflicts from any of    above?

4        Which do you think factors are preventing people from making a more  peaceful global society for every member of it?     

Thoughts on Korean history text book

President Park’s speech at the national assembly was regretful. I think she should have collected social opinion before determining production of nation written history text book. Current flaring up opposition to it is based on the principle that diverse perspectives on history should be protected. The system of dichotomous political camps is ideal in fulfilling better society by enabling the two sides to confront and induce more progressed conclusion, but the conservatives and the liberals in Korea do not share the same perspectives on history. This fact has always held back healthy debates distorting basic nature of problems. I don’t trust politicians. Their confrontation on text book only appears as struggle for a measure to inculcate history in their favor to young people for vote. I fully advocate the academics’ position but I do not politicians’. In addition, the hasty determination of President Park was really disappointing. Blocked access to writing text book amplifies the problem regardless of the results. The procedure matters.

Thoughts on 'Meokbang'

Currently, Individual broadcasting ‘Meokbang’ is very popular in Korea. There must be a common reason for people to watch it. I think the fans of Meokbang seek closeness and comfort from watching it. And I think that is related to the life style in the time. Most people spend much time by themselves. People eating scenes are hard to see. Only close people have meals together. Actually, the broadcasting is not that beautiful to enjoy. Watchers seem to get vicarious pleasure as if they are with their family. 

[Midterm Topic] What do we have to do before meeting an A.I. era?

It is time to come up with the moral code for Artificial Intelligence(A.I.). Everything around us is changing at a speed of light in a modern society. Just imagining what will come tomorrow is an exhilarating thing to do. Now we are facing an era of IoT(internet of things) and the robot. That means we will live convenient lives where the information on our every single activity is transmitted, saved and analyzed to ‘serve’ us in the best way. During this process, big data is generated. The designated and programmed machine (we can name it) will respond to the human’s need appropriately. How about the robot? It is in the beginning stage of development but its role is expanding in many areas from factories to hospitals replacing human workforce. Some robots even provide emotional service which is essential for healthy human life. Also, development of super intelligence(artificial intelligence) is on the process. If big data and  A.I. intergrated what would happen? A.I. is very similar to human intelligence, and very different at the same time. First, A.I. does not have a limit of volume. It could be built in a warehouse. So does its speed.  The last thing human needs to invent will be A.I. because after then A.l . will invent things much better than when humans do, but the content of the result matters. Suppose we give an A.I. the assignment to make humans smile. The A.I. could embed an electrode into humans’ cheek to cause a constant smile, because ,for A.I., the result of a task does not need to be worthwhile at the human’s standard. Now, Deciding the response to humans need from big data is in the hands of human. At the early stage of IoT. There do not seem to be many problems with it.

We all know a myth of King Midas. He wishes that everything he touches be turned into gold. He touches his daughter, she turns into gold. He touches his food, it turns into gold. This happens when we set misconceived or poorly specified goals. As such, the matter now is how to define human values, and load it onto the A.I. system, and IoT. A.I should be able to consider if the result accords with human values and to pursue it when performing action. The aspect  mentioned above should be put first to the development of both A.I and IoT before they become uncontrollable.  

reference : Ted.com 

Nick Bostrom: What happens when our computers get smarter than we are?

Thoughts on gun control

The topic of this week was interesting. That is because, the chance to learn about gun possession issue in the U.S has hardly been given despite the increased frequency of mass shooting in the U.S.

I have come to know that public opinions on the gun control are evenly divided in accordance with the party they support or whether or not they possess any guns. Also the law on gun control has been affected by massive scale of gun lobby. There is a Federal law requiring that licensed gun dealers conduct a background check, but there are lots of holes in it that make it impossible to screen those who are not eligible to possess a gun.

I think, despite massive lobby and majority’s approval of gun possession, well executed background check law could function effectively in preventing mass shooting. There is a proverb saying ‘A chain is only as strong as its weakest link’. I think complementing the existing law will do a lot in stopping increase in mass shooting even without a huge change in the policy. 

Thoughts on becoming an interpreter

Becoming an interpreter is my short term goal in life now.The life of an interpreter 

would be full of hectic schedules and new array of tasks. It will not be easy, but it

also will open a new world to me in which I could feel a sense of accomplishment

and get a glance at the people who are professionals in their fields. Also I will need

to comprehend many things that explain how the world is functioning. Hence I have 

no doubt that working as an interpreter will be rewarding and exciting. However, 

the road to be an interpreter is not smooth. It is a tough one. I think I need to 

dedicate myself to studying more. It will be worth it. The second semester almost 

has been halfway through. The beautiful season fall is around the corner. I would 

like to spend fall with diverse and splendid speeches.

My thoughts on the China's military parade

President Park Geun-Hye watched the China's military parade commemorating the 70^th anniversary of World War II’s end in Asia in Tiananmen square.The United States announced that the president Park’s visit to China was not offensive, but it was clear that the U.S did not welcome it. The U.S is concerned that the closest ally between 2 nations in Asia would be damaged, because deploying the army in South Korea can be a good way to check the rising power China and North Korea.The alliance between Korea and the U.S has been very close and very important in the political and economic perspectives. In my opinion, it would be ideal if the U.S and china form a strong alliance not with Japan. By doing so, the world will be able to check Japan that is expanding military power in the name of self-defense. Furthermore, both countries the U.S and China would be able to save tremendous amounts of energy and efforts reaching shared prosperity. The relation between 2 countries seems complementary in many aspects including economic issues, but 2 countries seem to fight for hegemony which is never a simple problem. 

Class review

The article on the European refugee

In the class, we had a chance to know more deeply about the European refugee crisis. 

The writer was very knowledgeable about the history and his perspective on the crisis 
was quite different and complex.

The article offered me an affluent historic background hidden on the European refugee crises. It was shocking to know that the history of refugee crisis goes back to early 20th century, and even the German refugee issue in the past has not been recorded fully. Also it interested me to know 'the cold war' concept might be delusional behind which other pragmatic reasons lies.

I thought of it a while that history reverses and rolls, and no one or a state could ever 
holds its superiority permanently in the intertwined mutual relationship.

I have read only half of the article. However, the impression I got from the article was that regardless of how historical analysis on the refugee crises are, providing aid for refugees should be executed first since it is a matter of human lives. As more countries announce the plans to accept  tens of thousands of Syrian refugees, it would be better to come up with the way to give hand to them first.

Also, I felt that it is not a proper time to derogate benevolent countries from their histories. 

To analyse it later would not be late, because the refugees could not wait any longer, and accepting the refugees is not the duty of a few countries that were once the 'villains' in the history. 

Climate change

https://www.facebook.com/kerstin.langenberger.photography/photos/a.463697036975575.115901.429056113773001/1045109095501030/?type=1&theater

Kerstin Langenberger Photography

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20150903000568

I was shocked to see a starved bear's photo posted on the first url. It was not a polar bear that I have known. The famous photographer  posted it with a deep concern. It's been  decades since the global society sought a solution to the climate change resulted by massive economic development. 

1) Do you think  developed countries and developing countries are to blame for the current global environment situation equally ? 

How can  emerging countries keep developing their economies avoiding exacerbating environment?  

2) Why do you think some countries are putting off submitting the pledges ? 

3)  Are there any measures to be taken you can think about on the global level or the national level?