Column
The Usefulness of Bacteria - High Irrigation
The universe is bigger than you think - Michael A.
Strauss

Theme
The Mystery of King Jangsu's Capital - Park Jeong-jae

Cover Story: How Superstitions Threaten Society
The Age of Superstition - Afternoon
Even superstitions have their reasons - Kwak Jae-sik
Why Shamanism and Pseudo-religion Persist - Lee Chang-ik
Don't even joke about your fortune - Lee Jae-in
Fatalism is nothing more than a twisted version of chance - Park Young-wook
Why Do Those in Power Believe Strange Things? - Hanmin

News & Issues
Korea's low birth rate and the trap of comparison hell - Kim Seong-eun
Doctor or Drug Dealer - Liz Kierello

Focus: Law through the eyes of science
The Illusion of Fairness - Kim Min-ji
The Insects Know the Culprit - Kang Tae-mo, Kim Ji-yeon
Beyond Retribution to Restorative Justice - Michael Shermer
The Evolution of Law and Its Reason for Existence - Peranda Piri

Intensive series
Rewriting the History of Fruit Flies and the Human Brain - Lee Dae-han
Why Does Pain Occur? - Woo Chung-wan

Agenda &Articles
Adventures of Thought That Shake the Foundations of Common Sense - Choi Seong-ho

▼ Cover Story: How Superstitions Threaten Society
People accept fortune telling and auspicious dates as a tradition, and believe that talismans can provide psychological comfort.
Superstitions permeate every aspect of our society, yet no one really thinks deeply about how they actually affect our lives.
Could it be that our tolerant attitude toward superstitions is making them more dangerous beliefs and leading society in an irrational direction?
A series of recent events seems to show how dangerous beliefs such as shamanism and superstition, once dismissed as mere entertainment or tradition, can become.


As uncertainty grows, superstitions gain strength.
Fear and anxiety about uncertainty lead us to seek easy explanations rather than rational thinking, and with it, superstitions become more and more established.
The problem is that it is not just a personal belief, but can also influence the public sphere and social decisions.
We dismiss superstitions as mere traditions or cultural practices, but the deeper these beliefs become, the more irrational society becomes.
This issue's cover story examines our tolerant attitude toward superstitions and explores how they can threaten society through six articles.


First, critical columnist Oh Oh analyzes the difference between science and superstition in 'The Age of Superstition: How Rational Beliefs Collapse', emphasizing that superstition is a closed system that does not allow for the possibility of falsification, and through John Frum's cargo bridge story, he talks about how it leads to false beliefs.


Jae-sik Kwak, a chemistry PhD who has studied traditional Korean monsters, traces the origins of Korea's most famous superstitions in "Superstitions Have Reasons."
Why did Queen Myeongseong, the mother of King Sukjong, plunge into cold water in the late autumn of 1683 with her clothes still on? Why do people sprinkle salt after a funeral? Why did they make a straw horse during the Mama Baesong ritual? The author emphasizes that while superstitions have their own reasons, we, living in the age of science, need a humble attitude instead of some transcendental trick.


In his book, “Why Shamanism and Pseudo-religion Don’t Disappear,” religious scholar Lee Chang-ik asks why shamanism and pseudo-religion don’t disappear even in the age of science.
He points out that the dichotomy between science and religion, as argued from a Christian perspective so far, is flawed, and says that our inherent religious instinct does not cease even in the age of science.
Based on this analysis, he examines how the religious instinct has transformed itself and led to the current revival of superstition.

In his book, “Don’t Talk About Your Four Pillars of Destiny, Even as a Joke,” Lee Jae-in, a fortune teller, points out the irrationality of fortune telling and argues why it is impossible to predict a person’s fate or personality based on their four pillars of destiny.
In particular, he strongly criticizes the current state of affairs in which people with social authority, such as classical critic Koh Mi-sook, music critic Kang Heon, and psychiatrist Yang Chang-soon, blindly recommend the use of fortune telling without any rational basis.


In "Fatalism is nothing but reversed chance theory," philosopher Park Young-wook analyzes why fatalism cannot tell us anything about reality, that is, why it cannot have any meaning.
Just as a proposition that is always true or a contradiction that is always false tells us nothing about the real world, fatalism, which predicts an unchanging truth that cannot be verified or falsified, can only be fiction.
The author traces the true face of fatalism by examining how the fear of chance led to fatalism through the history of philosophy.

Finally, cultural psychologist Han Min analyzes the psychological mechanisms by which those in power fall into superstition in his book, “Why Do Those in Power Believe in Superstitions?”
This book examines the main reasons why those in power rely on superstition: the trap of intellectuals' "self-confidence," the absence of meta-monitoring by others, and the indiscriminate desire for wealth and power.


▼ Focus: Law through the eyes of science
Law has maintained order in human society for a long time.
However, the core values ​​of law, such as finding the truth and realizing justice, are by no means easy tasks.
We want to believe that the law is objective and fair, but advances in forensic science are making us question the validity of this belief.

Today, law is not just the domain of judges, prosecutors, and lawyers.
In this issue's Focus, we will examine law and justice through the lens of science.
Forensic psychology redefines the concept of fairness by analyzing human biases and limitations, while forensic entomology uses subtle biological traces as clues to uncover the truth of the past.
Anthropology and neuroscience explore how law relates to human nature, while restorative justice theory expands the role of punishment from retribution to healing victims and social reconciliation.


Kim Min-ji's "The Illusion of Fairness" exposes the fundamental limitations of the legal fairness we take for granted.
It analyzes the influence of human cognitive biases and unconscious prejudices on judgment from a psychological perspective and dismantles the myth of absolute fairness.
This article demonstrates, through scientific research, that legal judgments can be significantly influenced not only by objective truth but also by cultural background, personal experience, and unconscious biases.

Kang Tae-mo and Kim Ji-yeon's 'Insects Know the Criminal' illuminates the cutting edge of forensic science.
By analyzing the life cycle and distribution of insects left at a crime scene, forensic entomology presents the surprising potential of tracing the time of the incident, the victim's movements, and even the identity of the perpetrator.
This fascinating, real-life example illustrates how minute biological evidence, invisible to the naked eye, can reveal the truth behind complex events.

Michael Shermer's "Beyond Retribution to Restorative Justice" proposes a new paradigm that goes beyond the traditional punishment-centered criminal justice system.
Starting from the perspective that views crime not simply as a violation of law but as a disruption of relationships, this study explores the philosophical foundations and practical examples of restorative justice, which prioritizes the restoration of relationships and community healing over punishment.
Shermer analyzes the human psychology of revenge and forgiveness mechanisms from the perspectives of evolutionary psychology and behavioral economics, and explores the possibility of a more humane and effective justice system.

A conversation with legal anthropologist Fernanda Piri, titled “The Evolution of Law and the Reason for its Existence,” reexamines the origins and development of law from an anthropological perspective.
In particular, he analyzes the meaning of the universal codification of law, compares legal systems from various cultures and historical periods, and discusses the dynamic relationship between the universality and diversity of law.


▼ Korea's low birth rate and the trap of comparison hell
Is there something unique about Korea's low birth rate? Korea's birth rate, which hit a world-low of 0.72 in 2023, has a unique characteristic: unlike other countries, income and the number of children show a positive correlation.
According to research by economist Professor Kim Seong-eun, Korean parents are caught in a “comparison hell,” spending excessive amounts on private education while competitively comparing their children’s human capital with that of their peers.
Without this relative comparative competition, Korea's birth rate is predicted to be 28% higher than it is now.
Negative externalities resulting from relative comparisons are closely linked to Korea's college entrance exam system, creating a vicious cycle where one household's increase in private education spending leads to increased spending by other households.
The author suggests that policies that alleviate income inequality by occupation, along with improving the education system, will help address the problems of private education competition and low birth rates.

▼ Rewriting the History of Fruit Flies and the Human Brain
A revolutionary change may be coming to neurobiology textbooks.
Traditionally, the human and fruit fly brains were considered to be "comparable organs" that diverged and evolved independently about 600 million years ago.
But recent research has revealed that the brains of humans and fruit flies are more similar than we might imagine.
Similarities in brain development, as well as similar functions of similar genetic networks.
In particular, the homology of key transcription factors such as vnd-Nkx2 and otd-Otx seems to suggest that the two brains originated from a single, common ancestor.
Also, the biggest difference between the central nervous system of fruit flies and the central nervous system of humans, which are formed on the ventral and dorsal sides respectively, can be explained by a single evolutionary event called the genetic 'dorsal-ventral switch'.
Professor Lee Dae-han, an evolutionary geneticist at Sungkyunkwan University, said that the 'central nervous system animal' hypothesis from the field of molecular phylogenetics and the homology review of brain development through single-cell analysis are actively underway, and if single-cell sequencing and molecular phylogenetic studies unanimously support the conclusion that the brain evolved only once within the large lineage (central nervous system animal) to which fruit flies and humans belong, he predicts that a major transformation of the brain to a single root, namely the 'proto-brain', will occur.


▼ Why did King Jangsu move the capital to Pyongyang Castle in the south?
Geographer Professor Park Jeong-jae's research has presented a new interpretation of the background to King Jangsu of Goguryeo's move of the capital to Pyongyang in 427.
It is said that the decisive factor in the relocation of the capital, which is commonly known to be due to the narrowness of the country or the control of the nobility, was the change in climate at the time.
Professor Park confirmed that East Asia experienced a severe cold snap in the early to mid-5th century through pollen analysis data from Jeju Dongsuak sediments and stalagmite data from Donggeo Cave in China.
In particular, the period between the 4th and 6th centuries was the period when the climate was at its worst, and the direct cause was a cooling phenomenon of approximately 200 years (the Juss-de-Fries cycle) caused by a decrease in the number of sunspots.
During this period, the crisis intensified as the population of Goguryeo increased and food shortages worsened.
According to the author, King Jangsu must have judged that a migration to the south, where farming was more suitable, was inevitable.
In the same period in Europe, nomadic peoples such as the Huns, Visigoths, and Vandals began large-scale migrations to escape climate change, so Jangsuwang's decision is consistent with the world historical trends of the time.
This brings to mind the situation in modern Southeast Asian countries where they are pushing to relocate their capitals due to global warming.

▼ How Microbes Are Changing the World
The diversity of bacteria has led to the rapid advancement of human civilization.
Enzymes obtained from Thermus aquaticus in hot springs became the basis for PCR technology, Wolbachia was used as a means of controlling malaria, and research on bacterial communication led to the development of virulence attenuators.
Observation of the unique DNA structure of E. coli led to the development of CRISPR gene scissors, and research on bacterial classification has expanded into microbiome medicine, suggesting treatments for various diseases.
Professor Kyo-Kwan Su, a microbiologist, emphasizes that the value of microbiological research lies in its infinite diversity, as evidenced by examples of research that was once thought to have "no practical value" but has since revolutionized human medicine.


Also, Skeptic No. 41
- Professor Woo Chung-wan of Sungkyunkwan University reveals in the second installment of his series focused on key keywords for understanding pain, existence, and consciousness, “Why does pain arise?” that pain is not a simple sensation, but an evolutionary mechanism for survival, a system that integrates sensation-identification and motivation-action functions.
- Professor Choi Seong-ho of the Department of Philosophy at Kyung Hee University talks about how philosophers have shaken our common-sense beliefs about consciousness, artificial intelligence, and knowledge through representative thought experiments in philosophy, such as the Mary Experiment, the Chinese Room Argument, and the Brain in a Vat.