"연애 굳이요?" 요즘 멀쩡한 솔로가 많은 이유ㅣ지식인초대석 EP.179 (김상욱 교수 2부)

Summary

1. Adopt new technology thoughtfully, with people in mind

Professor Kim says he is not an early adopter: he prefers to wait until a technology has stabilized before using it. Rapid innovation can be useful, but it can also create pressure and exclude people who need more time to adapt.

Kiosks illustrate the problem. People who struggle to use them may feel hurried or judged, even though the burden should not fall entirely on the user.

Kim argues that technology should serve people rather than simply maximize profit or efficiency. Social consideration matters; where it is lacking, regulations and safeguards may be needed. He also notes that rules can help establish a culture of consideration, though laws often move more slowly than technology.

2. In uncertain times, focus on what changes least

Kim says nobody can reliably predict technologies that have no historical precedent. Rather than pretending to know the future, it is useful to acknowledge uncertainty.

Drawing on physics, he recommends solving problems by identifying what remains constant, then using those stable points to reason about what is unknown. If invariants are insufficient, examine changes that occur slowly, such as averages and distributions.

He compares this to navigating a storm at sea: trying to predict every wave is futile, so orient yourself by something steady, like the North Star.

3. Some areas of learning are likely to remain valuable

Kim identifies enduring areas of education—not necessarily as a recommendation to major in each one, but as forms of knowledge likely to retain value:

• History: Certain past events and their significance do not change.
• Philosophy: Human nature changes slowly, so enduring questions about people and society remain relevant.
• Art: People are likely to continue making and enjoying music, dance, and other forms of expression.
• Physical education: Humans need movement.
• Mathematics and science: Mathematical relationships remain stable, and scientific understanding helps explain the world.
• Reading and writing: These are not merely mechanical skills; they shape how people reason.

4. Reading and writing support deep thought and democracy

Kim argues that writing enables abilities such as sustained logical reasoning, classification, and working through complex ideas. He draws on Walter Ong’s discussion of oral and literate cultures.

He worries that relying mainly on video or spoken explanations can create an impression of understanding: listeners may fill in gaps that become obvious when ideas are examined in writing.

In his view, losing the habit of reading and writing could weaken deep thinking—and potentially democracy, which depends on people reasoning about shared rules, trade-offs, and political decisions.

He sees classes more as a source of motivation than as the main place where knowledge is acquired. In his view, serious study requires reading and working through material independently.

5. Choose a major for sustained interest, not just predicted employment

A university major does not guarantee a job, and the job market may change before students graduate.

Kim suggests using college to gain varied experiences while choosing a field one genuinely wants to study deeply. Sustained effort is more feasible when the subject is interesting.

Career planning still matters, but he treats converting one’s learning into work as a separate question from deciding what to study.

6. Social strain and “frustrated elites”

Kim describes research in historical dynamics suggesting that societies can become unstable when the number of frustrated elites grows. In this account, people who expected elite status but cannot follow the career or social path they anticipated may become organizers or leaders of broader discontent.

He stresses that inequality alone is not necessarily the whole explanation: expectations and the gap between anticipated and actual opportunities also matter.

He connects this idea to widespread higher education and limited access to desirable jobs, while emphasizing how difficult the present situation is for younger people and for society more broadly.

7. Why some young people may be dating less

The speakers discuss several possible explanations without presenting any one of them as definitive:

• Dating apps and social media increase the apparent number of options. That abundance may make people less willing to commit when they are unsure about someone.
• Social media can raise expectations by making other people’s lives—and potential partners—seem exceptionally appealing.
• Dating may also seem to require too much time, effort, or money compared with solitary entertainment.

Kim cautions against assuming younger generations are simply wrong or will necessarily regret their choices. Some may be content without dating; others may feel lonely. He treats both experiences as real.

He also observes that humans have historically been social and cultural beings, shaped by communication and relationships. Whether people can flourish with much less in-person contact remains an open question rather than something he claims to have settled.

8. Comparing ourselves to others is difficult to avoid

Kim argues that comparison is deeply tied to human culture: people learn through imitation and by observing others.

The goal may therefore be less about eliminating comparison altogether and more about deciding how to evaluate one’s own goals and well-being. He notes that people can compare themselves without consciously noticing it.

9. Treat “failure” as part of investigation

Kim reframes scientific failure as the process of testing possibilities and ruling them out. If a researcher is looking for something in ten drawers, checking an empty drawer is not necessarily a failure; it is part of the search.

Experiments may establish many things that are not true before finding the right answer. The result depends partly on how the work is evaluated.

Looking back, Kim says experiences once perceived as failures helped shape who he became. He warns against baseless certainty—such as insisting that a desired result must appear on the next attempt—and recommends seeing setbacks as information within a longer process.

Speakers and sources featured

Speakers

• Han Seok-jun — Host and interviewer.
• Kim Sang-wook — Physicist and professor; principal guest.

Sources, works, and ideas mentioned

• An unnamed book Kim is reading about artificial intelligence and the evolution of intelligence in living organisms.
• An unnamed international politics magazine that Kim says he subscribes to.
• Walter J. Ong and his work on oral and literate cultures (the subtitle’s translated title is unclear).
• Jeff Bezos, quoted on preparing for the future by focusing on what will not change.
• The Odyssey, invoked as an example of enduring human concerns in ancient literature.
• Research in historical dynamics on societal instability and frustrated elites.
• Sociological analyses concerning dating and changing social opportunities.
• Evolutionary psychology, referenced in the discussion of persistent aspects of human nature.