Technology and Society

Asia Institute Seminar on Technology Convergence (article)

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Wrestling with Convergence

Part 1: “What Convergence Hath Wrought”

Korea IT Times

August 19, 2011

The Asia Institute recently held a round-table discussion on the topic of technology convergence. The discussion was led by the director of the Asia Institute, Emanuel Pastreich, who serves as a professor at Humanitas College of Kyung Hee University. Also in attendance were Charlie Wolf,  director at the Social Impact Assessment Center, Paul Callomon, collections manager at the Academy of Natural Sciences, Stephanie Wan, technology policy specialist at NASA, Daniel Lafontaine, business consultant at AMA Korea; Alan Engel, president of Paterra, Inc. of Japan; Matthew Weigand, founder of Responsiv.Asia, Tahir Hameed, research fellow at KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) and Vince Rubino, Global Team Leader of Business Development at the Korea Institute of Toxicology. In this first part of a five-part series, the experts discussed the social implications of the rapid technological change that convergence represents.

Emanuel Pastreich: Moore’s Law holds that “the number of transistors that can be placed inexpensively on an integrated circuit has doubled every two years for the last half century.” This phenomenon could be said to drive all the central trends in society,

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What is Unique about Korea and Technology?

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To say that Korea is leading in technology is perhaps not the accurate term. In terms of basic research Korea does not have a definitive lead and there are plenty of others out there who have capabilities close to Korea’s. Even Mexico and Malaysia have some real assets. Rather there is something just more human about technology and its use in Korean society which makes it more acceptable within the community and allows for innovation in Korea that is harder in other countries simply because innovation in technology has come to mean a more inhuman society for so many.

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The Economy of Information

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I wrote this thought piece in April of 2000 at the very beginning of my consideration of the implications of technology for society and globalization. At the time, I was focused primarily on classical literature, but had been exposed to some discussions about technology at University of Illinois. The essay is erroneously titled “The Economy of Information.” It would be tempting to find a new title, but that act would create a historical inaccuracy. This essay is what led to much of my writings about the internet.

Computer Networks Recapitulate the Human Mind that Gave them Birth

The most interesting, and most powerful confluence in technology is the parallel process of genetic research and computer chip design. Perhaps the more appropriate terms are silicon & carbon engineering. At the very same time that the human genome is being mapped out and a one-to-one correspondence between the specific gene and the trait is imagined, increasingly minute wafer fabrication at a microscopic level is conducted at the same scale as the process of DNA replication. Both carbon and silicon engineering at the microscopic level are developing in parallel. Oddly, silicon engineering seems more and more like carbon engineering (DNA) because unlike previous technologies, like the sewing machine, or the automobile, today’s chip could not be readily replaced if the supporting technology for production disappeared.  That is to say, if you destroyed all parts factories and research laboratories in the automobile industry, you could still produce a vehicle rapidly if you knew the principles of manufacturing. If we lost the factories and data behind a modern silicon wafer, however, we could not reduplicate because the previous generation of computer needed to design it, as the generation before that one was employed before it.

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“What exactly is it that Koreans are Good at?”

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I had a very intriguing conversation on Korea Business Central with Mike Park the other day in which we tried to answer that always elusive question:

“What exactly is it that Koreans are good at?”

The discussion started from a debate on the accuracy of my comments about Naver. Mike noted that:

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Korea is “globally competitive” and powerful with “single” solutions, but when solutions need to address “plural” or “multiple” groups, Korea is extremely weak.  Hence, “globally not competitive” when it comes to packaging-up and marketing new innovative ideas and concepts to different market segments/consumers.

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Take Naver Global Today! (ARTICLE)

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Take Naver Global Today!

KOREA IT TIMES

Monday, July 18th, 2011

EMANUEL PASTREICH

http://www.koreabusinesscentral.com/forum/topics/take-naver-global-today

Korea has a unique search engine known as Naver (naver.com) which I frequently employ in my searches to find relevant information about Korea and the world. One need only spend a few minutes using Naver’s convenient maps, informative “café” discussion groups and interactive dictionaries to realize this search engine is unique in the world. The intelligent combination of search features, news features and social networking features in one site is quite powerful. Koreans are extremely picky consumers, but many prefer conducting their searches and socializing through Naver to Google.

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Translation of Murakami Haruki’s Speech at Barcelona in Japan Focus

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I watched a video of Murakami Haruki’s Barcelona speech about the Tsunami and Fukushima nuclear accident on the internet about two days after its release. I was struck by this effort by a writer who is best known for his studied distance to engage in the contemporary world in an extremely concrete manner. I felt the speech was so significant that it deserved to be translated into English. I did the translation within a few days and passed it on to John Treat, a professor of Japanese literature at Yale University whom I had the chance to host here in Korea recently. After I discussed the translation a bit with John, I passed it on to my friend Mark Seldon, editor of Japan Focus, suggesting we should publish it in Japan Focus for a wider audience.

Mark recommended that I take the translation down from my website and prepare an authoritative version. I contacted Murakami Haruki’s office, through the introduction of Jay Rubin at Harvard—who is one of Murakami’s primary translators—and discussed the translations and Murakami’s publisher’s policy. This translation is by no means an “authorized edition” but in fact I talked with the office at length and sent the material by email to Murakami Haruki. There are several other versions out there, but I think this one is most accurate.

I spent quite a bit of time with Murakami Haruki back in the summer of 1994 when he was on sabbatical at Harvard for one year. We spent a bit of time together as I describe in my essay “On Murakami Haruki.”

Japan Focus

July 18, 2011

Speaking as an Unrealistic Dreamer

Speech by Murakami Haruki on the occasion of receiving the International Catalunya Prize

Translated by Emanuel Pastreich  

 

I last visited Barcelona two years ago in the spring. An amazing number of readers gathered when I held a book signing. Long lines formed and I still could not finish signing all the books even after one and a half hours. The reason it took so long is that so many of the female readers wanted to kiss me. That was time consuming.

I have held book signings in many cities around the world, but Barcelona was the only place in the world where the female readers asked for kisses. That one example is sufficient evidence of just what a fantastic city Barcelona is. And what good fortune it is that I have another chance to return to this city whose beautiful streets are resplendent with refined culture and a long history.

Murakami Haruki

But, unfortunately, I am not going to talk about kisses today. I must talk about something a bit more serious.

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Visit to Beckman Institute at University of Illinois & West Campus at Yale University

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I visited University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and Yale University with Eugene Pak, director for research and development at Seoul National University AICT (Advanced Institutes of Convergence Technology) at the end of May (2011).

In the first picture, we pose with  Professor Scott Stobel, Vice President for West Campus at Yale University. Professor Stobel took time to show us the very impressive facilities at West Campus and to describe such new innovations as the Biodesign Institute. When Bayer decided to sell its primary research center in North America, Yale had the foresight to purchase it, and, in effect, double to size of its campus. We also toured the Yale Medical School.

The second photo is of a presentation at the Beckman Institute at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, by Professor Kevin Kim. Professor Kim  introduced his work on drug delivery systems. The Director of the Beckman Institute, Dr. Art Kramer, also met with us to discuss future cooperation with Korea in convergence technology. I had a chance to see several close friends at University of Illinois. Also included in the picture are the associate dean of Electrical Engineering Bruce Vojak, and researcher Soo Choi.

The Challenge of the move from analog representation to digital representation of information

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I spend a good amount of time in front of a computer, inevitably, and of course it is the primary means for me to engage on a daily basis with friends and associates around the world. Yet I am profoundly aware of how technology, driven by. Moore’s law, is pushing us to do everything via computers, even activities best done by hand. We see our very discourse, our concerns and conceptions of the problematic, shaped by the specific, and limited, medium. That medium is not neutral; it transforms the questions we ask and the answers we receive. Part of the problem comes from the switch from a carbon-based system (the human brain) to a silicon-based system (the contemporary computer).

We still are somewhat fuzzy about what the differences are, but it is entirely possible that if an increasing amount of calculation and the exchange of information is carried on between computers, there will be an inevitable pressure on human minds to follow similar patterns to those found in computers. But of course humans are not computers and the thinking patterns will be less creative and less effective.

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Other variations on technology transfer

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The dominant paradigm for technology transfer is from developed nations to developing nations, often involving technologies developed through intensive investment in complex technological research. But there is another form of technology transfer that may well be quite important in the future: technology transfer from developing nations to developed nations. Let us take the case of water usage. People living in developing nations know how to use water quite effectively. They can wash all their dishes, or take a bath, with just a half a liter of water, or less. The technology is incredible, and those of us who lived in developed nations lack the basic know-how. But there is room for us to learn. Such know how should be transferred back to the developed world where we live such wasteful lives.