Otaku culture

What is Otaku?
Original meaning of the term Otaku is "individuals immersed in something professinally". But in korea society, the meaning changes. the otaku receive a "negative" attention. They seem like a social misfit and dirty, fat person. For example, when we think the otaku, We can remember the man holding a pillow with female character on it. (The man appeared in a TV program-화성인 바이러스. After broadcasting, The man attract a large crowd.)

Anamation otaku
There are various kind of otaku in korea. Generally speaking, the otaku is anamation otaku. They go beyond loving animation and its character, They buy character's clothes and behave as if they are character in animation wearing the costume. It is named "costume play". In korea, there are also some places holding a costume play contest.

The need to change awareness about otaku
In korea society, the otaku still receive a "negative" attention. But they are not wrong but "different". Anyone loving and immersing something could be otaku. When we look around, We can find some kind of otaku. Besides the otaku achieve recognition in many ways. Now we should accept otaku generously.

Smartphone

The convenience of smartphone
In today's korea society, most individuals has a smartphone even children. Smartphone provides so many useful application and so, Many individuals can enjoy convenience. today's Smartphone provide the time for arrival of bus,substation and Social network service such as kakaotalk, facebook and twitter.

The problem
Many individuals can enjoy convenience using smartphone. But there are some problem. individuals lost "real communication". They communicate in the network not in reality. Just sending a kakaotalk or writing a comment in facebook is all communication they behaved. It is a real problem. Because these communication make a sense of "emptiness" after all.

Another problem is "smartphone addiction". individuals touch smartphone frequently all day all night. It seems smartphone is only one friend of them. They hold smartphone all day, if there are no smartphone, They seem to be a restless.

Solution
Sometimes, It would be better off keeping away from smartphone and think about my human relationship and already wasted life for using smartphone frequently.

Why don't we write some letter to friend and family? I think It is refreshing and a totally new experience. one by one, The more you back to analogue such as writing a letter, the easily you can resist a temptation of smartphone.

Through this course.

What is the most useful/interesting thing I have learned in this course.

Through this course, I have learned so many things related to sociology. I'm impressed the class of introduction to sociology/introduction the most. Especially, through the class, It was meaningful for me that learning for "operationalization". I think I got useful knowledge considering I majored in sociology. I remember that professor said operationalization is one of the most important concept that the intellectual must have.

Although this course is "Introduction" to sociology, I think It would be better if we learn about sociology detailedly such as specific sociologist and their ideology about society.
I wish we could do group project. For example, 4-5 people gather statistics, research material and discuss the subject and make a presentation. Then, They announcement presentation in english.


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I posted it before the day, But so many posting appear and I think that professor couldn't see this posting. So I posted it again:)

Lowbrow drama

Lowbrow drama
In korea, there is a "lowbrow drama" trend. This drama unfolds in absurd story. For example, in the drama, the character was caught in the act of "adultery" by his wife or husband or just die suddenly. The reason? There is no reason why they behaved in that manner. As mentioned earlier, this drama is lowbrow.

Who made drama lowbrow?
director of drama made all story. At first, they write a scenario nomally. then, add some lowbrow element to the scenario. This is traditional reason why lowbrow drama exist.

But today, There are additional element which made drama lowbrow-"terrible acting" terrible acting were made of inserting new face actress or idol singer (This situation is common in the korea especially.) although drama scenario is nomal, the new face actress is enough to make drama vulgar using poor acting.

Why is lowbrow drama catch popularity in korea?
There are some reason why lowbrow drama can catch popularity.

First, "Addiction of individual"
Individuals start watching drama just thinking finish "this" up. But They soon addicted. Especially, Because the drama has so many attractive element, They fall in the drama quickly and easily.

The Second reason is due to the "drama reflect reality". Drama is not science fiction film but reflection of real world. So, individuals are sympathetic to situation in the drama. Also, They can get vicarious satisfaction through the drama.

Conclusion
Maybe "lowbrow drama" trend will continue to catch popularity. In these circumstances, Director should think appropriate drama and individuals also consider the drama critically.

The Turing test

The Turing test is a test of a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behavior equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human. In the original illustrative example, a human judge engages in natural language conversations with a human and a machine designed to generate performance indistinguishable from that of a human being.

All participants are separated from one another. If the judge cannot reliably tell the machine from the human, the machine is said to have passed the test. The test does not check the ability to give the correct answer to questions; it checks how closely the answer resembles typical human answers. The conversation is limited to a text-only channel such as a computer keyboard and screen so that the result is not dependent on the machine's ability to render words into audio.

The test was introduced by Alan Turing in his 1950 paper "Computing Machinery and Intelligence," which opens with the words: "I propose to consider the question, 'Can machines think?'" Because "thinking" is difficult to define, Turing chooses to "replace the question by another, which is closely related to it and is expressed in relatively unambiguous words." Turing's new question is: "Are there imaginable digital computers which would do well in the imitation game?" This question, Turing believed, is one that can actually be answered. In the remainder of the paper, he argued against all the major objections to the proposition that "machines can think".

Multiculturalism

Multiculturalism is the cultural diversity of communities and the policies that promote this diversity. As a descriptive term, multiculturalism is the simple fact of cultural diversity and the demographic make-up of a specific place, sometimes at the organizational level, e.g., schools, businesses, neighborhoods, cities, or nations. As a prescriptive term, multiculturalism encourages ideologies and policies that promote this diversity or its institutionalization. In this sense, multiculturalism is a society “at ease with the rich tapestry of human life and the desire amongst people to express their own identity in the manner they see fit.”

Multicultural ideologies or policies vary widely, ranging from the advocacy of equal respect to the various cultures in a society, to a policy of promoting the maintenance of cultural diversity, to policies in which people of various ethnic and religious groups are addressed by the authorities as defined by the group they belong to.

Two main different and seemingly inconsistent strategies have developed through different government policies and strategies. The first focuses on interaction and communication between different cultures. Interactions of cultures provide opportunities for the cultural differences to communicate and interact to create multiculturalism. This approach is also often known as interculturalism. The second centers on diversity and cultural uniqueness. Cultural isolation can protect the uniqueness of the local culture of a nation or area and also contribute to global cultural diversity. A common aspect of many policies following the second approach is that they avoid presenting any specific ethnic, religious, or cultural community values as central.

Discrimination

Discrimination is action that denies social participation or human rights to categories of people based on prejudice. This includes treatment of an individual or group based on their actual or perceived membership in a certain group or social category, "in a way that is worse than the way people are usually treated". It involves the group's initial reaction or interaction, influencing the individual's actual behavior towards the group or the group leader, restricting members of one group from opportunities or privileges that are available to another group, leading to the exclusion of the individual or entities based on logical or irrational decision making.

Discriminatory traditions, policies, ideas, practices, and laws exist in many countries and institutions in every part of the world, even in ones where discrimination is generally looked down upon. In some places, controversial attempts such as quotas or affirmative action have been used to benefit those believed to be current or past victims of discrimination—but have sometimes been called reverse discrimination themselves.

Economic inequality

Economic inequality is the state of affairs in which assets, wealth, or income are distributed unequally among individuals in a group, among groups in a population, or among countries. The issue of economic inequality can implicate notions of equity, equality of outcome, equality of opportunity, and even life expectancy. Although the phrase uses the term income, the discussion often includes inequality in wealth or assets, which are different concepts.

Opinions differ on the importance of the concept of economic inequality and its effects. Some studies have emphasized inequality as a growing social problem. While some inequality promotes investment, too much inequality is destructive. Income inequality can hinder long term growth. Statistical studies comparing inequality to year-over-year economic growth have been inconclusive; however in 2011, researchers from the International Monetary Fund published work which indicated that income equality increased the duration of countries' economic growth spells more than free trade, low government corruption, foreign investment, or low foreign debt.

Economic inequality varies between societies, historical periods, economic structures and systems (for example, capitalism or socialism), and between individuals' abilities to create wealth. The term can refer to cross sectional descriptions of the income or wealth at any particular period, and to the lifetime income and wealth over longer periods of time. There are various numerical indices for measuring economic inequality. A prominent one is the Gini coefficient, but there are also many other methods.

Juvenile delinquency

Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, or youth crime, is participation in illegal behavior by minors (juveniles) (individuals younger than the statutory age of majority).Most legal systems prescribe specific procedures for dealing with juveniles, such as juvenile detention centers, and courts. A juvenile delinquent is a person who is typically under the age of 18 and commits an act that otherwise would have been charged as a crime if they were an adult. Depending on the type and severity of the offense committed, it is possible for persons under 18 to be charged and tried as adults.

In recent years in the US the average age for first arrest has dropped significantly, and younger boys and girls are committing crimes, although some scholars have concluded this may reflect more aggressive criminal justice and zero-tolerance policies. Between 60–80% percent of adolescents, and pre-adolescents engage in some form of juvenile offense. These can range from status offenses (such as underage smoking), to property crimes and violent crimes. Youth violence rates in the United States have dropped to approximately 12% of peak rates in 1993 according to official US governent statistics, suggesting that most juvenile offending is non-violent. However, juvenile offending can be considered normative adolescent behavior. This is because most teens tend to offend by committing non-violent crimes, only once or a few times, and only during adolescence. It is when adolescents offend repeatedly or violently that their offending is likely to continue beyond adolescence, and become increasingly violent. It is also likely that if this is the case, they began offending and displaying antisocial behavior even before reaching adolescence.

A digital divide

The term Digital divide is used to describe a gap between those who have ready access to information and communication technology and the skills to make use of those technology and those who do not have the access or skills to use those same technologies within a geographic area, society or community. It is an economic and social inequality between groups of persons.

The gap in a digital divide may exist for a number of reasons. One telling fact is that "as income rises so does Internet use", strongly suggesting that the digital divide persists at least in part due to income disparities. Most commonly, a digital divide stems from poverty and the economic barriers that limit resources and prevent people from obtaining or otherwise using newer technologies.

However, research shows that the digital divide is more than just an access issue and cannot be alleviated merely by providing the necessary equipment. There are at least three factors at play: information accessibility, information utilization and information receptiveness. More than just accessibility, individuals need to know how to make use of the information and communication tools once they exist within a community. Information professionals have the ability to help bridge the gap by providing reference and information services to help individuals learn and utilize the technologies to which they do have access, regardless of the economic status of the individual seeking help.

Cyber terrorism

Government officials and Information Technology security specialists have documented a significant increase in Internet problems and server scans since early 2001. But there is a growing concern among federal officials that such intrusions are part of an organized effort by cyberterrorists, foreign intelligence services, or other groups to map potential security holes in critical systems. A cyberterrorist is someone who intimidates or coerces a government or organization to advance his or her political or social objectives by launching computer-based attack against computers, network, and the information stored on them.

Cyber terrorism in general, can be defined as an act of terrorism committed through the use of cyberspace or computer resources. As such, a simple propaganda in the Internet, that there will be bomb attacks during the holidays can be considered cyberterrorism. As well there are also hacking activities directed towards individuals, families, organized by groups within networks, tending to cause fear among people, demonstrate power, collecting information relevant for ruining peoples' lives, robberies, blackmailing etc.

Cyberextortion is a form of cyberterrorism in which a website, e-mail server, or computer system is subjected to repeated denial of service or other attacks by malicious hackers, who demand money in return for promising to stop the attacks. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, cyberextortionists are increasingly attacking corporate websites and networks, crippling their ability to operate and demanding payments to restore their service. More than 20 cases are reported each month to the FBI and many go unreported in order to keep the victim's name out of the public domain. Perpetrators typically use a distributed denial-of-service attack.

Panopticon

The Panopticon is a type of institutional building designed by the English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the late 18th century. The concept of the design is to allow a single watchman to observe (-opticon) all (pan-) inmates of an institution without their being able to tell whether they are being watched or not. Although it is physically impossible for the single watchman to observe all cells at once, the fact that the inmates cannot know when they are being watched means that all inmates must act as though they are watched at all times, effectively controlling their own behaviour constantly. The name is also a reference to Panoptes from Greek mythology; he was a giant with a hundred eyes and thus was known to be a very effective watchman.

The design consists of a circular structure with an “inspection house” at its centre, from which the manager or staff of the institution are able to watch the inmates, who are stationed around the perimeter. Bentham conceived the basic plan as being equally applicable to hospitals, schools, sanatoriums, daycares, and asylums, but he devoted most of his efforts to developing a design for a Panopticon prison, and it is his prison which is most widely understood by the term.

Bentham himself described the Panopticon as “a new mode of obtaining power of mind over mind, in a quantity hitherto without example.” Elsewhere, he described the Panopticon prison as “a mill for grinding rogues honest”.

Internet addiction

"Internet addiction" is described as an impulse control disorder, which does not involve use of an intoxicating drug and is very similar to pathological gambling.  Some Internet users may develop an emotional attachment to on-line friends and activities they create on their computer screens. Internet users may enjoy aspects of the Internet that allow them to meet, socialize, and exchange ideas through the use of chat rooms, social networking websites, or "virtual communities." Other Internet users spend endless hours researching topics of interest Online or "blogging".  Blogging is a contraction of the term "Web log", in which an individual will post commentaries and keep regular chronicle of events.  It can be viewed as journaling and the entries are primarily textual.

My opinion
These days the number of internet manias is on the sharp rise. Especially, The phenomenon of teen Internet addiction has risen above the dangerous. Internet addiction can be a very dangerous thing. Now is the time to treat this disease with the attention it deserves, like alcohol or narcotics addiction. Fortunately, there are also Internet addiction help programs at many center. and If you think you are addicted to the Internet, you should try to limit the time you spend using the Internet.

Population ageing

 "Population ageing" is a phenomenon that occurs when the median age of a country or region rises due to rising life expectancy and/or declining birth rates.

 There has been, initially in the more economically developed countries but also more recently in less economically developed countries. An increase in the life expectancy causes ageing population. This is the case for every country in the world. Asia and Europe are the two regions where a significant number of countries face population ageing in the near future.

For the entirety of recorded human history, the world has never seen as aged a population as currently exists globally. Many sociologist predict the rate of population ageing in the 21st century will exceed that of the previous century. Countries vary significantly in terms of the degree, and the pace, of these changes, and sociologists expect populations that began ageing later to have less time to adapt to the many implications of these changes.

My opinion
Population ageing is also serious problem in korean society. Korea is rapidly becoming an "aging society". Population ageing rate in korea is considered as high as japan. There is a growing need to introduce the welfare facilities for the elderly in preparation for aging society. And We have to focus on increasing the birth rate in preparation for an aged society.

Suicide

Suicide is the "act of taking one's own life". Attempted suicide or non-fatal suicidal behavior is self-injury with the desire to end one's life that does not result in death. Assisted suicide is when one individual helps another bring about their own death indirectly through providing either advice or the means to the end. This is in contrast to euthanasia, where another person takes a more active role in bringing about a person's death. Suicidal ideations is thoughts of ending one's life but not taking any active efforts to do so.

I think that killing one's own life is "nonsense". That may be a truism, All life should be respected and considered precious. People sufferd from a incurable disease sincerely hope to get better. We have no choice in this matter. We shoud live to fight another day. And there are many suicide prevention center in korea. They provide suicide prevention program to individual who thougt suicide. Like this, I think individual efforts to live today and aid of government can prevent suicide adequately.

Thought through this course

What is the most useful/interesting thing I have learned in this course.
Through this course, I have learned so many things related to sociology. I'm impressed the class of introduction to sociology/introduction the most. Especially, through the class, It was meaningful for me that learning for "operationalization". I think I got useful knowledge considering I majored in sociology. I remember that professor said operationalization is one of the most important concept that the intellectual must have.

Although this course is "Introduction" to sociology, I think It would be better if we learn about sociology detailedly such as specific sociologist and their ideology about society.
I wish we could do group project. For example, 4-5 people gather statistics, research material and discuss the subject and make a presentation. Then, They announcement presentation in english.

Thanks for teaching me. Professor Piotr. I hope to see you again.

Advertising

Advertisers refer to the standard communications model of a source transmitting a message through a channel (which contains a degree of noise) to a target. Feedback is received by the source in response to the message. Good feedback typically comes in the form of money spent on the product advertised.

There are the three types of promotions are Win, Free, and Save.

Examples of "win"-type promotions are games and contests. Sweepstakes are probably the most popular "win" promotion. According to US law, purchase cannot be necessary to win a sweepstakes. If purchase were necessary, that would make it a lottery; and lotteries can only be conducted by the state.

A "free"-type promotion offers the consumer something for no charge. These are premiums (buy one product, get another for a discount, or for free), bonus packs, and sampling. A continuity program is a free-type promotion that makes the consumer part of a "club". An example of this are coffee shops that give their customers a card that is punched or stamped each time they buy coffee; after a certain number of purchases are made, they are given a free coffee.

Examples of "save" promotions are coupons, rebates, and other money-saving ads. Another is the FSI (Free-Standing Insert), a sheet of coupons typically inserted into newspapers.

SNS

SNS
The social networks are the most popular form of the social web. They range from personal, professional to dating networks and many more.
Basic idea of social networks is the "community" of people who shares all kinds of information together. Social Network Researchers studied the behavior of people and influence on our psychology with the help of Social Networking Services.

New communication 
The new Internet-based communication changed the interpersonal communication dramatically. It moved from the private one-to-one communication to an one-to-"many" communication because of emailing and chats but also because of the „new media“ like social networks, blogs, forums etc. There are so many social media offers which meanwhile belong to the everyday life.

Security threats
Internet social networks are nowadays great places to meet and for people sharing similar interests. But Facebook and similar Social Network sites can also pose serious "security threats" to the users, and ways for others to abuse these lacks of security.

Climate Change/The real causes

Some people, for a variety of reasons, claim to have found faults with the hypothesis that humans are affecting Earth's climate. While we strive to present any legitimate criticism of the scientific principles where they are presented, this section includes some specific issues that are commonly cited as reasons that "humans are not or could not change the climate."

Lack of scientific consensus
One of the most common arguments against human induced climate change is a supposed lack of scientific consensus. While there were many skeptical scientists in the past, as the evidence has mounted, even the most ardent skeptics have come to the determination that humans are changing the climate. One recent study found no instances in the peer-reviewed literature of a study on climate change stating that global warming is either fictitious or purely natural.

Heat from core
The Earth's surface obtains energy from four primary natural sources: space, the molten core of the Earth, anthropogenic processes that generate excess heat, and radiation from the atmosphere. the energy retention (called the "greenhouse effect"), that is the property of retention heat that could be lost to space due to changes in the atmosphere or surface characteristics, this retention today is mostly due to increases in CO2 levels and receding reflective surfaces like ice or snow.

So while indications seems to point to human activities and it is nice to think that changing our energy consumption habits will stop global warming, consideration is needed to account that climate change can be driven by processes that we may have "little" control over.

Korean war

Korea was a Japanese colony from 1910 onwards until the end of World War Two. Soviet troops liberated the North of the country from Japanese occupation and set up a communist government there under 김일성, whilst the Americans liberated the South and put an anti-communist government there, under Doctor Syngman Rhee. The division between North and South was expected to be a temporary one before elections took place - but things didn't turn out as expected.

The problem
At that time, elections would be held and the type of government with the most votes would get to be leader of a united Korea. But there was one problem. "the elections never took place." The situation was made even more sticky when both leaders claimed to be the rightful leader of the whole of Korea.

Dark designs
But behind the scenes, the North Korean army was arming itself with Soviet weapon weaponry. After a visit by 김일성 to the Soviet Union, he was granted approval by Stalin to invade and unite South Korea.

Sudden attack
Before long, North Korea launched an invasion of the South and thousands of tanks and other armoured vehicles crossed into South of the 38선(38th parallel) (border line between North and South). The South Korea was swiftly swept aside by the much more powerful North Korean forces, and were forced to retreat south.

Not surrender
Seoul, the South Korean capital was captured and the south korea was eventually squeezed into a small and tight corner, around the port city of 부산. But they weren't defeated yet - with the help of US army re-enforcements from nearby Japan, they managed to cling on to the strip of land and establish a defence perimeter around the city.

Assistance
When the UN heard about the invasion, they voted to defend South Korea by military force. In order to relieve pressure on Pusan and save South Korea, General MacArthur, commander-in-chief of the UN forces had a cunning plan. Even though the North Korean army had succeeded in over-running most of Korea, they had a sensitive weak spot. The invasion passed the test perfectly and succeeded in the above goals. South eventually managed to surround and destroy the North Korean army in South Korea.

The result
With turned over and over again, They began negotiations on "ceasefire." which is connected to today. The war had mixed effects - it sent a clear message that the West would not tolerate any threat to its allies or sphere of influence no matter how far away they were on the map.Also, Korean war made many separated families. They even can't meet again in today.