‘정’이란 ‘느껴 일어나는 마음’ 또는 ‘사랑이나 친근감을 느끼는 마음’으로 정의된다. 특히 한국 사회에서는 이런 사전적 정의를 넘어 개인 간 관계뿐만이 아닌 사회 전반에 영향을 미치는 중요한 개념이다. 과거 한반도의 풍습인 품앗이도 ‘정’의 일종이다. 가족노동이 모든 노동방식의 기초인 소농 경영의 현실에서 부족한 노동력을 타인과의 노동력 차용 및 교환으로 해결하고자 한 데서 비롯됐다. 필요한 노동력을 타인에게 빌려 쓰고 이에 대한 답례로서 합당한 노동력을 제공하는 것이다. 품앗이는 강한 공동체성에서 출발했는데, 단순히 노동력의 교환이 아닌 상호부조에 의한 규율이다.현대 사회에서 ‘정’은 어떨까. 요즘 대두되고 있는 사회 문제는 넓게 보면 대부분 ‘정’과 관련된다고 본다. △젠더 분쟁 △정치극단주의 △세대 갈등 △지역 갈등과 같이 자신이 속한 집단 내에 국한되는 ‘정’의 발현으로, 소득 양극화와 같은 사회적 불평등은 점진적인 계층 사이의 공감과 소통을 방해하는 요소라 할 수 있다. 이익 추구가 우선인 자본주의 사회의 특성상 사회적 연대가 약화되고 이기주의가 발현돼, 자신 혹은 집단의 이익만 우선시하는 것이 현실이다.좀 더 자세히 살펴보면, 이에 영향을 미친

교보문고 광화문점을 방문하고자 길을 걷고 있던 나는 한 글귀 앞에서 걸음을 멈췄다. ‘사람은 책을 만들고 책은 사람을 만든다’이 문장을 마주치자 고등학교 시절 스스로 던졌던 질문 하나가 생각났다.우리는 부모님과 전문가들로부터 책의 장점에 대해 들어왔다. 하지만 나는 자동차가 기능을 하기 위해선 연료가 있어야 하는 것처럼 책을 읽고자 하는 의지가 있어야 비로소 책의 가치를 느낄 수 있다고 생각했다. 그렇다면 그 의지는 어디에서 비롯하는가? 나아가 우리는 왜 책을 읽는가? 그리고 나는 왜 책을 읽는가? 이것이 바로 내가 스스로 던졌던, 독서를 대하는 태도에 큰 변화를 줬던 질문이었다.어릴 때 부모님을 따라 읽기 시작했던 책은 시간이 흐르며 인생의 큰 부분을 차지해 갔다. 중고등학교 쉬는 시간이면 도서관에서 책을 빌리고 자습 시간마다 책을 읽곤 했다. 하지만 언젠가부터 고전 문학을 읽어도 책의 주제를 파악하지 못하고, 과학 서적을 봐도 시간이 지나면 잊어버리는 나 자신을 보며 내가 정말 책을 통해 얻는 것이 있는가라는 불안감에 빠져들게 됐다. 사실 고전 문학을 분석하며, 책의 많은 내용을 기억하기란 쉽지 않은 일이다. 하지만 당시 나는 책을 많이 읽으면서 아는 것

한 사회가 잘 작동하기 위해서는 전문가의 역할이 매우 중요하다. 고도의 과학화기술화전문화가 진행되고 있는 현대 사회에서 과학기술적 전문지식은 공적 의사결정에서 필수 불가결하기 때문이다. 그렇다면, 사회의 중요한 공적 의사결정을 오로지 과학 전문가들에게 맡겨야 하는가? 과학기술적 전문지식을 탐구하는 행위 그 자체는 가치중립적인 행위이지만, 사회의 공적 의사결정은 정치적 행위이다. 전문가들이 자신의 전문지식을 바탕으로 사회의 공적 의사결정 과정에 참여하는 순간 전문가들의 의사결정은 과학적 논리만이 아니라 정치적 논리의 지배를 받는다. 우리 사회를 지배하는 정치적 논리의 핵심은 민주주의이다. 전문가주의는 본질적으로 민주주의와 대립과 긴장의 관계에 놓여있다. 전문가들에 의한 공적 의사결정을 주장하는 전문가주의는 모든 사회 구성원이 공적 의사결정에 동등하게 참여할 권리가 있다는 민주주의의 핵심 가치와 충돌하기 때문이다. 동등한 참여라는 민주주의의 핵심 가치로 인해 비과학적인 ‘잘못된’ 결정이 내려져 공동체에 해로운 결과로 이어질 수 있다고 생각할 수 있는데, 이는 ‘중우정치’라는 이름으로 고대 아테네에서부터 현재까지 꾸준히 제기되어온 민주주의의 약점이다. 자기 스승이

지난달 26일부터 28일까지 우리대학 학생회관에서 ‘2024년 POSTECH 상반기 이공계 우수인재 CAREER FAIR’가 진행됐다. 총 21개의 기업이 참여했으며, 학생들은 관심있는 기업의 부스에 방문해 다양한 정보를 얻는 기회를 가졌다.

On Feb. 23, POSTECH hosted a special event aimed at fostering open communication between faculty members and graduate students. Dubbed “Conversation with the President,” this gathering provided an avenue for graduate students to voice their queries, suggestions concerning living conditions, and insights into the school’s vision, with corresponding responses from the administration. Regarding the issue of tuition and labor costs, a graduate student asked why tuition was increased rather than staying the same during a difficult time for research due to R&D cuts. In response to this, it was annou

The Residential College (RC) has unveiled the first and 11th floors after renovations, welcoming the beginning of the new semester for its residents. As these spaces are now open for all residents to enjoy, a pilot period is underway to fine-tune the operational policies and ensure optimal utilization of the upgraded and newly constructed facilities. Among the notable additions are the Fitness Room, Community Rooms, and Play Rooms, each available for reservation in convenient 30-minute increments via the Postechian’s Portal (POPO), offering the best experience for its residents. To capture the

Optical properties of Afterglow Luminescent Particles (ALPs) in mechanoluminescence (ML) and mechanical quenching (MQ) have attracted great attention for diverse technological applications. Recently, a research team led by Professor Sei Kwang Hahn (MSE) and PhD candidate Seong-Jong Kim (MSE) successfully developed a device that implements this phenomenon. The new photonic display technology allows writing and erasure of messages, even underwater. The results of this research were recently published in the international academic journal Advanced Functional Materials. When ALPs gradually emit ab

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) that use solid electrolytes are widely utilized in energy storage, transportation, and various applications. The efficiency of these cells depends on the performance and stability of the electrodes within the cell. To enhance this, the electrodes need to be manufactured with a porous structure, which means having pits in the cell wall. However, with current technology, coating ceramic materials uniformly on the porous electrode has been challenging. Professor An Ji-hwan (ME) from POSTECH, and Prof. Jung WooChul (MSE) from KAIST, have successfully developed porous

In our daily lives, digital data has become indispensable. Whether it is family snapshots, music streaming, or short-form videos, these digital assets require physical space for storage. While some may claim, “I do not store photos on my laptop; they are in the cloud,” and others rely on music streaming services rather than storing music files locally, the reality is that most of our digital data resides in vast data centers. These centers, containing thousands of physical storage drives and servers operating 24/7, pose challenges such as space consumption, excessive electricity usage, and hea

On Feb. 26, at 4:20 p.m., a 60-year-old woman who was using a bungee jumping machine fell 8m below and died in the “Sports Monster” on the third floor of “Starfield” in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province. The cause of the incident was that the safety personnel did not insert a safety hook that connected the body to the rope. It was revealed that the safety people were part-time workers who had only worked for two weeks, not experts with safety-related certificates or skills. In addition, it has been confirmed that the Starfield bungee jumping site has only part-time workers as safety personnel, and th

Imagine breaking your leg. Not just one, but both. Will you be able to attend classes? With both legs disabled, simply coming out of the dormitory area would be a demanding task, perhaps even beyond one’s ability. POSTECH campus is built upon mountains and hills, and the majority of the buildings were constructed decades ago. Hence, the environment of the campus is – by default – not friendly for people to walk around and becomes a challenge for the minorities. Around November of 2023, a post urging for a barrier-free administration building was uploaded to the Postech Lounge. The post pointed

With the start of the spring semester, fresh faces once again bring a lively atmosphere to the campus of POSTECH. Anticipation fills the air as new students arrive, eager to meet new people and settle into their new surroundings. For many freshmen and exchange students unfamiliar with life in Pohang, one of the quickest ways to acclimate to the city is through a tradition known as “bab-yag”, a compound word derived from the Korean words for a meal (bab) and plan (yag, short for yagsog). Bab-yag is a culture prevalent among Korean universities, where senior students treat lower-grade students t

POSTECH Student Entrepreneurship Team is an organization that enables Postechians to experience Startup. From invoking students’ ideas and passion to providing a chance to learn about management, this team strives to give students a profound experience.When was the POSTECH Student Entrepreneurship Team established? The name of the organization has changed little by little, but it was newly established in 2019. Although there are diverse startup-related organizations in Korea, we are confident that ours is the unique association that only looks and works for students. Our organization never for

Please introduce us to the fields that are being researched. In the Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering, within the School of Convergence Science and Technology (SCST) at POSTECH, a diverse array of research in various fields are underway. The area of research spans from fundamental life science and medical science research, such as molecular biology, immunology, stem cell biology, and neuroscience, to biomedical engineering research, including biomedical imaging, biosignal processing, 3D printing, organoids, and wearable devices. Additionally, research on mathematical and stati

The Evolution of AI The early development of artificial intelligence(AI) began in the 1950s, and its origin lies in Alan Turing’s Turing test. Turing’s concept of intelligence was based on the machine’s capability to think and whether its behavior was ‘indistinguishable’ from that of the human being. In the 1960s, artificial intelligence research shifted to algorithm and rule-based approaches. This approach led to the emergence of ‘expert systems’, referring to software systems that mimic expertise in a particular field. As we entered the 1990s, machine learning began to gain attention. Machin

International schools are a melting pot of cultures. People from different backgrounds, and with their own stories, make up a whole new culture. I was blessed to attend such a school and encounter diversity earlier in life. Therefore, my school life was quite different from what typical Korean students experience, and I want to share my story as a former international school student. I went to a small international school from first grade. The school accepted kids from kindergarten to grade 12, but it only had around two hundred people, including students and staff members. Each grade level us

Many people live with problems because of various reasons, such as rising levels of fine dust and stress from the modern world. Among them, appearance is one of the most important areas of self-care, but acne makes it so difficult to manage one’s appearance that it is considered the enemy of everyone. It is often found on other body parts, such as the forehead, cheek, nose, face, and even back. The disease is not easily treated with any cosmetic or ointment. It even has the property of spreading once it occurs, making it heartbreaking for anyone with acne and anyone watching it. However, altho

Chinese online shopping platforms are substantially impacting the domestic market with surprisingly ultra-cheap goods. Koreans are already familiar with AliExpress as a platform to choose to sacrifice delivery time over low-cost price. However, almost seemingly out of nowhere, Temu has emerged into the scene. Temu gained popularity with its fast and convenient product delivery service and budget-friendly price. As Temu grew rapidly, AliExpress invested 74.7 million USD in logistics and marketing to expedite delivery within Korea, just like Temu. Along with their intriguing advertisements, C-co

You can often hear the term “vandalism” these days, frequently associated with immoral criminals or radical environmentalists. How old is vandalism? The etymology of the word vandalism is quite interesting, as the story goes back to 455 AD. The Vandals were a Germanic tribe, a branch of the East Germanic, people who initially settled north of the Danube in present-day Poland. They first appeared in history during the migration period of the Germanic tribes, when various groups moved across Europe. In the 5th century, the Vandals settled in Spain but soon migrated to North Africa, where they es