06/07/2021

Experiencing both the U.S.–China trade war and the COVID-19 pandemic last year, people everywhere faced a situation that felt like a war without actual warfare—one that touched daily life and livelihoods alike. Amid such circumstances, regardless of whether one favored liberal democracy or social democracy, the common sentiment became: “Let’s at least preserve democracy.” And so we endured. Now, with the U.S.–China trade conflict largely settled and COVID-19 managed into a controllable domain through vaccines, it seems we have reached a moment to reflect once again on the nature of democracy today.

Sustainable Democracy is a concept I use to emphasize that democracy itself has no inherent “color” or fixed ideological hue. Looking at [Figure 1], one might well ask whether any of the components depicted are unnecessary for practicing or sustaining democracy. In fact, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) encompass all the essential elements for a functioning democracy. Because democracy is ideologically colorless, it can take the form of liberal democracy or social democracy depending on context. If we adopt and implement the idea of Sustainable Democracy as a way of refining the democratic system itself, I believe it could greatly contribute to building a richer, more inclusive society.

[Figure 1: Sustainable Development Goals – Source: IPS]

Previously, I argued that the new ethics and the “good” of the 21st century will ultimately converge upon the 17 SDGs. In line with these changes, I propose that Korea experiment with a model of Sustainable Democracy. Holding such a vision, I am convinced, would allow us to befriend any country in the world. I conclude with this note, attaching “The 4th Basic Plan for Sustainable Development” Parts 1 and 2, prepared jointly by relevant Korean government ministries in alignment with the Korean version of the SDG vision (K-SDG), along with [Figure 2] from the Ministry of Environment’s study on the domestic implementation and policy tasks of the UN SDGs—resources that, I hope, will support the realization of this vision.

[Figure 2: UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – Domestic Implementation Status and Policy Task Analysis – Source: Ministry of Environment]

[Reference List]

1. Shibli, A. (2021). Sustainable Development Goals: What to salvage from Covid-19. Inter Press Service (IPS). http://www.ipsnews.net/2020/05/sustainable-development-goals-salvage-covid-19/
2. Ministry of Environment. (n.d.). UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – Domestic Implementation Status and Policy Task Analysis.
3. Joint Government Ministries. (n.d.). The 4th Basic Plan for Sustainable Development.

08/15/2025

Definition
The Cosmic Development Goal Index (CDG Index) is a comprehensive metric designed to assess the degree to which space exploration and development align with principles of sustainability and cosmic ethics across economic, social, and environmental dimensions. It extends the concept of the Sustainable Development Goal Index (SDG Index) into the domain of space, enabling comparative evaluation of the responsibility and soundness of space activities by nations and organizations.

Rationale

• Rising potential for ownership and usage disputes due to intensified competition over space resources
• Risks of environmental degradation from unregulated exploration, mining, and debris generation
• Need to prevent militarization and conflict in space development
• Establishing an international norm for developing space in a way that ensures “no death, no war, no harm, no suffering”

Evaluation Categories (adapted from René Passet’s three pillars)

1. Economic – Economic efficiency of space development, contribution to international cooperation, balance of public and private investment
2. Social – Assurance of peaceful use, creation of education and employment opportunities, technology sharing, and improved accessibility to space
3. Environmental – Minimization of space debris, protection of celestial bodies and ecosystems, reduction of carbon emissions and energy consumption

Proposed Implementation

• Annual publication of a CDG Index Report by country and organization
• Awarding “Model Space Development” certifications to top-performing nations and institutions
• Incorporating index results into international space agreements and policy-making
• Encouraging the application of the index to private-sector space projects

Expected Outcomes

• Establishment of ethical standards for space development
• Prevention of international disputes over space resources
• Guarantee of environmental sustainability in outer space
• Transformation of space development into a shared human achievement—cultural, artistic, and philosophical as well as scientific

06/01/2021

In the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework, the Sustainable Development Goal Index (SDG Index) has been published annually since 2015 (Cambridge, 2020) to assess each country’s performance in achieving the goals, combining economic, social, and environmental indicators. Drawing on this idea, I propose that for space development we create a similar Cosmic Development Goal Index (CDG Index)—an index that evaluates the economic, social, and environmental impacts of space activities.

As competition in space development intensifies, questions surrounding ownership of space resources, limits of use, and the safe development of extraterrestrial environments have become highly sensitive. If we were to design a scoring system that awarded higher points to countries that demonstrate leadership in proposing and implementing responsible, sustainable, and ethical space practices—across economic, social, and environmental dimensions—we could ensure that space development aligns with the principle of “no death, no war, no harm, no suffering.”

Now that the United States and China have already reached Mars, space development is no longer a topic that can be halted by opposition alone. It is crucial to prepare ethical safeguards that, while embracing the drive for progress, also prevent the collapse of sustainable systems. Among these safeguards, the CDG Index could play a central role—offering a global platform to monitor and share each nation’s space development status, ethical considerations, and crisis management measures.

If such a framework were implemented, space development could move beyond being perceived as a purely competitive or exploitative pursuit. Instead, it could be integrated with space art and an awareness of humanity’s finitude within the infinite cosmos—fostering a self-transcendent system rooted in love for humanity, celebrating the abundance and beauty of nature.

[Reference List]

1. Sustainable Development Report 2020, Cambridge, https://www.sdgindex.org/

05/29/2021

I am but a small being to speak of Cosmic Ethics, yet I believe it must be something that anyone can proclaim—if only they are able to philosophize and study the universe through science. For me, ethics (倫理) is, above all, the Precautionary Principle: a social mechanism that exists prior to law, one that mediates disputes in advance or prevents accidents before they occur—ensuring that people do not die, do not fight, do not get injured, and do not fall ill. In this view, ethics is something that constantly evolves to meet the changes of society.

The need for Cosmic Ethics arises because, while humans must live in harmony within Earth, the will to live inherently contains the desire to create and advance. In that process, designing and establishing social systems that ensure no one dies, fights, is injured, or suffers carries profound significance. It is a preventive mechanism that must be prepared in advance, given the human tendency to persist in action until reaching an end.

On Earth, I believe ethics has already been framed under the theme of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As shown in [Figure 1], ethics and the good (善) have been institutionalized in the form of 17 diverse global goals. As I noted in On the Universe: The Universe in Philosophy and Religion, and in Natural Science, humanity is destined to continue spiral development or circulational progression. Therefore, space development built upon sustainable development is not optional but inevitable.

[Figure 1: Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – Source: ODA Korea]

Economist René Passet identifies three key components of sustainable development: the economic, the social, and the environmental. As illustrated in [Figure 2], a Cosmic Ethics that balances these three domains would align naturally with circulational development. It would embody a love for humanity, life, the environment, and the cosmos—ensuring that no one dies, no one fights, no one is harmed, and no one suffers.

In the next article, I will conduct an in-depth analysis of how the economic, social, and environmental dimensions must align with both space development and the good (善) to construct a truly robust Cosmic Ethics.

[Figure 2: The Three Pillars of Sustainable Development – Source: Sustainable Development]

[Reference List]

1. On the Universe: The Universe in Philosophy and Religion, and in Natural Science, and Its Meaning – Youngsoo (榮秀, Soo), Brunch
2. ODA Korea, https://www.odakorea.go.kr/ODAPage_2018/category01/L05_S01_02.jsp
3. Sustainable Development, https://catalicity.wordpress.com/2017/06/12/introduction-to-sustainable-development/

05/28/2021

German philosopher Karl Jaspers (1883–1969), in his book The Axial Age: The Birth of Religion and the Beginning of Philosophy, observed that between roughly 900 BCE and 200 BCE, four great intellectual and spiritual traditions emerged in different parts of the world: Confucianism and Daoism in China, Hinduism and Buddhism in India, monotheism in Israel, and philosophical rationalism in Greece. These traditions, he argued, became the nourishing roots of the human spirit—and humanity has never truly transcended the insights of that original Axial Age.

Today, in the 21st century, we find ourselves in the midst of another profound global transformation, brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Humanity is moving toward solving, one by one, the monumental challenges before it—sustainable development, the climate crisis—without descending into a third world war. I boldly call what we are witnessing the “Second Axial Age.” Unlike the first, this transformation is unfolding in daily life, not only in classrooms, and it is made visible to even the youngest students through open information. Observing this directly, they will inevitably unlock new capacities.

With the Fourth Industrial Revolution, all civilizations have become interconnected. Integration and connection have become not only the themes of the age but strategies for survival. Artificial intelligence is beginning to take over the role of education, while traditional schooling is reduced to offering little more than coaching. In this new reality, children will, in short order, acquire knowledge, information, and wisdom surpassing that of past sages.

Yet the greatest danger lies in the risk that, amid this flood of change and information, they will lose their sense of direction—failing to ripen information into knowledge, and knowledge into wisdom. Instead, they may fragment all wisdom into isolated bits of data, becoming scattered in the rush of the age, perhaps even reviving the spirit of the Luddite movement. Ripening requires weaving all things together organically, and that, above all, demands time.

Though the abundance of information is now guaranteed, what we must secure is the time and capacity to weave information into knowledge, and knowledge into wisdom. Only then can great thinkers emerge—figures who, like King Sejong or Kim Gu, can speak to the world through language and culture. I hold the hope that such an age will dawn not only in Korea but across the globe.

[Reference List]

1. The Axial Age: The Birth of Religion and the Beginning of Philosophy – Karen Armstrong (trans. Jung Young-mok), Gyoyangin
2. World Future Report 2021: Post-Corona Special Edition – Park Young-sook & Jerome Glenn, Business Books

05/28/2021

In a conversation with my professor of Eastern philosophy, I once remarked that mathematics is beautiful because it comes closest to truth. Pure mathematics, in its relentless pursuit of the real, willingly abandons the empirical, and therein lies its beauty. This raises an intriguing question: why, in English, is the sequence often rendered Beauty–Goodness–Truth rather than the classical Truth–Goodness–Beauty?

In the empirical realm (形而下學), “truth” is elusive—nothing here can claim absolute authenticity. Thus, the most practical measure of truth is first whether something is beautiful, and second whether it is good. In this sense, beauty becomes a form of wisdom in the Eastern philosophical tradition, for wisdom is beauty in its highest form.

Mathematics, however, dwells in the metaphysical realm (形而上學), where truth stands at the summit, followed by goodness and beauty. My mentor in theoretical physics once observed that mathematics, grounded in immutable laws, is itself law and order; if mathematics were to collapse, so too would the natural sciences and the modern civilization they sustain.

The paradox, then, is that in the empirical world we praise beauty as the highest value, while in the metaphysical realm we exalt truth. Yet, when translated across these realms, the highest metaphysical ideal—truth—becomes indistinguishable from the highest empirical ideal—beauty.

Perhaps this is why, for me, mathematics is beautiful: it unites truth and beauty under the same name. In the blurred boundaries of the empirical world, Truth = Goodness = Beauty. Applied mathematics, which brings the purity of mathematics into contact with the world, and Eastern philosophy, which elevates beauty to wisdom, may thus share a common ground. If, in the post-Corona era, these two extremes can meet—joining rigorous law with harmonious wisdom—we might arrive at a state where beauty is goodness, and goodness is truth.

05/28/2021

1. Why We Should Contemplate the Universe

By engaging in philosophical and religious reflection on the cosmic order, we can cultivate a self-transcending mindset that goes beyond the cyclical order of humanity, life, and the environment. By engaging in physical inquiry, we can imagine infinity in an existential and substantial sense, transcending its treatment as a purely mathematical concept. Moreover, the aesthetic beauty of the universe itself is also a crucial reason to contemplate it. To design a social order that is aligned with human nature through the scientific and philosophical study of nature, the most fundamental, essential concepts are reflection on ecology and contemplation of the universe (Universe – 宇宙). In the West, the term universe (Uni-verse) denotes ultimate unity, whereas in the East, 宇宙 denotes all ultimate systems.

2. The Universes in Eastern Philosophy and Religion

In Eastern philosophy and religion, the universe is understood as the unity of humanity, life, and the environment—what can be called natural philosophy.

1. In Confucian philosophy, the universe is the Way (道) itself, expressed through the principle of the Mean (中庸), a worldview reflected through ancestral spirits.
2. In Buddhist philosophy, the universe is Buddha-nature (佛性), which is enlightenment (解脫) itself, embodied in the life of the Buddha.
3. In Daoist philosophy, the universe is the Dao (道) itself, a worldview illuminated through Laozi and Zhuangzi.
4. In Hinduism, the universe is reincarnation (輪廻), reflected through the heavenly deities.

A common feature of the Eastern cosmic view is circulation, which reveals the Eastern perspective of nature (自然) as an ongoing, cyclical process.

3. The Universes in Western Philosophy and Religion

In Western philosophy and religion, humanity, life, and the environment are seen as belonging to the universe, and this perspective is expressed clearly in social ideologies and religions.

1. In Judaism, the universe is God Himself, a worldview revealed through God.
2. In Christianity and Catholicism, the universe is likewise God Himself, a worldview embodied in the lives of Jesus and the Virgin Mary.
3. In Islam, the universe is also God Himself, reflected through the life of Muhammad.
4. In European philosophy, including French and German traditions, the universe is identified with ideology (-ism), and through ideological movements, efforts have been made to transcend monotheism, revealing this worldview.

4. The Universes in Natural Science

In natural science, the universe is studied in an Anglo-American philosophical sense, contributing greatly to the philosophical contemplation of diverse universes emerging in mathematics, physics, and computer science.

1. In mathematics, the universe is the number system and the Ultimate Multiverse, reflected through the philosophical schools of logicism, formalism, and intuitionism.
2. In quantum mechanics, the universe is the Quantum Multiverse, revealed through the Uncertainty Principle.
3. In general relativity, the universe is the relativistic absolute, reflected in the fact that the speed of light is constant for all inertial observers and in the Equivalence Principle.
4. In string theory, the universe is the Brane Multiverse, revealed through early-universe cosmology and unobservable universes.
5. In cosmology, the universe is the Inflationary Multiverse, revealed through the observable universe and Einstein’s field equations.
6. In computer science, the universe is the Simulated Multiverse, reflected through modelable universes.

Other concepts include the Quilted Multiverse, Cyclic Multiverse, Landscape Multiverse, Holographic Multiverse, and Parallel Universes—all converging toward a progressive universe in which overall cosmic entropy increases.

5. A Modern Reflection on the Universe (Universe – 宇宙)

1. In the East, the universe has been a cyclical philosophical and religious subject—universally present yet indefinable—calling for endless metaphysical and empirical contemplation for the sake of positive social integration and harmony.
2. In the West, the universe has been progressive, existential, and substantial—rooted in monotheism and its transcendence, and further expanded through the creation of diverse universes based on social and natural sciences.
3. Combining the two, the modern universe can be seen as a philosophical and religious subject grounded in a scientifically verified existential and substantial universe, serving as a foundation for positive social integration and advanced metaphysical and empirical reflection. By maintaining a stance of cyclical progressivism, the infinite character of cosmic nature poses profound questions about how finite beings—individual human lives—ought to be lived.

6. Conclusion

Grounded in modern scientific progress, the act of philosophizing and savoring the beauty of the universe opens the way to conceptualizing cosmic ethics—and with it, the potential to contribute to the good of society and the positive development of the cosmos. Just as the trajectory of natural science (universe → environment → life → humanity) and that of natural philosophy (humanity → life → environment → universe) suggest, the history of the universe and the history of humanity are one. I firmly believe that integrating these two perspectives will greatly advance our understanding of humanity’s social significance within nature and the universe, and even inspire the creation of new social religions.

What is certain is that, although the mathematically derived size of the universe exceeds that of the observable universe, and although the physically grounded concept of the multiverse remains experimentally unprovable, the suggestion of its possible existence will inevitably exert a profound influence on 21st-century ethics and worldviews.

[Reference List]

1. The Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos – Brian Greene (trans. Park Byung-cheol), Gimmyoung Publishers
2. The Fabric of the Cosmos – Brian Greene (trans. Park Byung-cheol), SeungSan Publishing
3. The Taste of Humanity in the Doctrine of the Mean – Do-ol Kim Yong-ok, Tongnamu

05/28/2021

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the political and economic structures of the world have been abruptly thrust into a massive transformation. Ironically, what had been a burden to every nation—COVID-19—has, under the guise of disease control, become a problem-solver for issues such as climate crisis, war, famine, and ecological collapse. In particular, because of the peculiar nature of this illness—united we fall, divided we survive—the role of the military and the concept of the “enemy” have shifted from external to internal. Amid the spectacle of disorder that had been emerging in developing countries and spreading worldwide, a new order without war is taking shape. Observing this, one cannot help but feel that COVID-19, standing before the future vision of sustainability, has ironically averted a world war. Perhaps that is why, in South Korea, despite the inconvenience of having to wear masks at all times, people have, in a curious display of collective patience, taken a step back and endured.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic has ushered in an era in which applied mathematics is rapidly gaining prominence—whether in mathematical epidemiological modeling, climate modeling, mathematical security methodologies in information warfare, or artificial intelligence built upon mathematical models of complex systems—alongside the growth of programming. In this context, physics, together with applied mathematics—particularly starting from the domain of mathematical physics—needs to reestablish the intellectual foundations of theoretical physics. This includes promoting deep interactions between physics and mathematics in such areas as string theory and Calabi–Yau space research; quantum field theory and algebraic geometry; and general relativity and differential geometry. Such collaboration would help narrow the wide gap between mathematics and physics, as illustrated in [Figure 1], and foster active communication.

At a time when intuitionism is becoming outdated, I wish to call for its replacement with theoretical pragmatism—a framework that could serve as a platform for accelerating the accumulation of intellectual heritage in mathematics and physics in this era of low growth. This could mark the beginning of The Second Hilbert’s Program, and I sincerely hope that, if such a program unfolds successfully, the talented individuals in mathematics and physics will be able to realize their own aspirations.

[Figure 1] Field Arranged By Purity (Source: Purity, https://xkcd.com/435/)

[Reference List]

1. “The Great Power of Abstract Thinking” – Jeong-il Park, Gimmyoung Publishers

2. “Philosophy of Mathematics: Understanding and Critique of Logicism, Formalism, and Intuitionism” – Stephan Körner (translated by Hyun-bae Choi), Nanam Publishing

3. Purity, https://xkcd.com/435/