Harvard Medical School followed the lives of many individuals for more than 50 years under the Study of Adult Development program and tried to find out what made someone have happier, healthier, and meaningful life. This book is about the result of that research, written by the director of the program.

In the first chapter of the book, there is a story about Anthony Pirelli who was described by a psychiatrist who studied him as follows:

Unaggressive, sensitive and fearful of parental disapproval…. This is a very mild appearing boy. Wants to make a good impression. Does what he thinks is expected of him, never is quite at ease. Plainly quite insecure in a social way. On the whole, he is so conventional that it is very hard to get any true opinion that is his own. He is quite inhibited in action, never joined in any vigorous athletics but has numerous quiet hobbies of his own such as stamp collecting and ship model building. We do get the impression that he is quite sensitive and has aesthetic tastes.

The description seemed to fit me, too. So, I am already fully intrigued to find out rest of the story as the study follows his life for the next 50 years.

You can read an excerpt (Chapter 1) of the book at eNotAlone.com.

Great Great Grandfathers
According to a record, the name of my great great grandfather was Hwa-Young Jung (정화영 鄭和永) (Another record says that his name was Soo-Sung Jung (정수성, 鄭秀性). It could be that in the old days people used two names. Or, it could be a mistake. I need to find out.) My great great grandmother’s name was Won-Tae Eun (은원태 殷遠泰).

Based on what few records I have, they had at least three sons. One of them was In-Back Jung (정인백 鄭寅伯, married to Hyun-Rye Kim 김현례 金顯禮) and another was In-Key (정인기 鄭寅耆, married to Shin-Seok Han, 한신석 韓信錫). The record tells that In-Key was the third-born.

Two Great Grandfathers
There was no son between In-Back and his wife. In the old Korean tradition, when the elder son of a family does not have a boy, then it was required of the younger son to give up his boy to the elder brother so that the family lineage can be maintained. Because of this situation, the son of the younger brother In-Key was adopted by the elder brother. Some years later when In-Back passed away, the son was adopted back to his biological father. The son who was adopted back and forth was my grandfather. Thus, technically, I have two great grandfathers. I would call one the “elder” great grandfather and the other one “true” great grandfather. Somewhat complicated situation but that was how it was back then.

An important thing happens to my “elder” great grandfather In-Back at around 1894 when he moved way up north to Seoul (which was called by the name of Han-Yang then) from his hometown of Kumi (which is located in southeastern part of Korean peninsula). It is rumored that he had to move to Seoul because he was in some way involved in a civil revolt that took place then and that he had to flee the police. Whatever the reason, he was in his 20s and, in Seoul, he met Horace Grant Underwood, a Christian missionary who came to Korea from US in 1885. Under the teachings of Rev. Underwood, he became a Christian.

Several years later, he came back to his hometown Kumi where his family and relatives started a small gathering for worship service in 1901. The first members included his brother In-Key and his cousin In-Myung (정인명 鄭寅明). The gathering grew to be a church as more people joined the worship service. The church continued to grow for more than 100 years and it exists now as Kumi Sangmo Church.

About My “True” Great Grandparents
My great grandfather, In-Key Jung, was born in May 24, 1884. He got married to Shin-Seok Han in September 25, 1904. (Photo left) They had a son and five daughters. Great grandfather passed away on March 26, 1967 at the age of 84.

My Grandfather, Kyu-man Jung
Kyu-man Jung was born on June 11, 1911 to In-Key Jung and Shin-Seok Han. His birth name was Bok-Soo Jung (鄭福壽) He had four sisters and no brother. As said before, he was adopted by his uncle and then adopted back to his biological father. He got married to Young-Sook Kim in 1927 when he was 17 years old. He studied oriental medicine and, in 1943, move to Daegu, a much larger city than Kumi where he grew up. He opened up his own oriental medicine shop there.

My grandparents had eight children. Two of them died early, one of them by disease and another one by a tragic accident which involved serious burn by boiling liquid. (There are two slightly different versions of story about this accident but I guess we can skip the sad details here.)

Photo of My Grandparents, Kyu-Man Jung and Young-Sook Kim

My grandparents were known to many mostly for their faith and obedience to God which involved generous giving and hospitality. Their stories, especially of my grandfather’s, have been widely told and retold within Christian circles for a while in the older days. As it often happens with the folklores, some of those stories about my grandfather seem to be somewhat exaggerated or fabricated so I think I’d better not reproduce them here unless more reliable sources are found. In any event, they lived a life of deep devotion to God. I think that is the most significant thing we remember about them.

My grandfather passed away on June 24, 1969 at the age of 58 due to diabetes.

to be continued

2009년 9월 2일 TEDx명동 모임에서 발표한 How To See라는 제목의 18분짜리 프리젠테이션 슬라이드 자료입니다. 공공 장소에서 볼 수 있는 시각적 메시지를 소재로 해서 관찰을 통한 디자인 리서치의 한 과정을 설명했습니다. 좀 쑥스럽지만 TEDx명동 사이트에서 동영상 녹화분도 볼 수 있습니다.

Delivered at TEDxMyeongdong, Seoul (Sept 2, 2009). This 18-minute presentation shows visual messages found in public spaces and categorizes them for further interpretation and hypothesizing. Photos used in the slides are from the observational research conducted by myself. Video of the presentation is available from TEDxMyeongdong site.

All photos © 2009 Soonuk Jung

Suwon is a small city less than an hour’s drive away from Seoul. Samsung Electronics has their facilities here in Suwon, thanks to which the city has become one of the highest tax-earning cities in Korea.

The city of Suwon has rich cultural heritages, one of which is Hwaseong Fortress, a large park based on walled fortress that was built in late 1700s. It is said that one of the kings in Choseon Dynasty built it in memory of his father.

My family had an outing to Hwaseong Fortress Park on a beautiful autumn day in October 2009. Here are some of the photos from the day:

All photos taken with Nikon D90 + Tamron 17-50mm lens. © 2009 Soonuk Jung

I started reading Atul Gawande’s The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right.

Atul Gawande (born 1965) is surgeon and writer who wrote Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science and Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance, both of which were extremely fun to read.

Many of Atul’s stories involve details of urgent situations taking place during surgical operations or in emergency rooms, because of which the book carries engaging suspense one can expect from books from thriller novelist like Frederick Forsyth. At the same time, his books are filled with interesting anecdotes and insights that you would expect from authors like Malcolm Gladwell. On top of that, the author’s writing style is so readable.

The Checklist Manifesto is not necessarily a self-help book but the insights from the book are so incisive and penetrating that it would definitely help you improve your performance at work or at home.

On the morning of February 3rd, 2010, I walked down from where I was staying, Normandy Hotel, to Dupont Circle, took the Metrorail from there to Archives/Navy Memorial-Penn Quarter Station. (It cost $3 for the round-trip.) Newseum was only about 5 minutes walk distance from there.

Entrance fee to Newseum is $20, and it is good for two consecutive days. That is, you can get in the museum and come back again the next day to see the rest of the exhibition with the same ticket.

I arrived at the museum at 9:30 AM. I had only about an hour and a half to enjoy the exhibitions before I had to return for the schedule at the conference I was attending. I had to be quick.

The ushers suggested that I begin with the 8-minute, introductory video that gives the overview of what the museum was about. (Getty Center in LA also welcomed the first-time visitors with an introductory video. Perhaps it is a trend.) It helped me calm down myself so that I won’t rush myself in the excitement of trying to cover so much in so short time.

The place was full of interesting exhibitions. There were blocks from the original Berlin Wall. “Today’s Front Page” section had the inkjet-printed images of the front page from selected major newspapers around the world. I especially liked Pulitzer Prize Photograph Gallery, along with the stories of the original journalists. Just to name a few.

It was also interesting to note that almost every video and slide projection in the museum (there were lots of them) was in very crisp, high-definition image quality. I guess we will have such HD projections in our offices and conference rooms pretty soon.

Thankfully taking photos were allowed in the museum. Here are some of the pictures I took at Newseum:

All photos were taken with Nikon D80 + 50mm F1.8 lens. ©2010 Soonuk Jung

On my way back from the business trip to Washington DC, I decided to stop by Los Angeles and spend the weekend visiting relatives and old friends, and also visit two design-related places, which are (1) LA office of Continuum and (2) Getty Center.

Getty Center is a fine arts museum located in Los Angeles. The buildings are designed by Richard Meier. According to Wikipedia, it took 13 years from the selection of the architect (in 1984) to its opening to the public in 1997.

Entrance fee is free, but if you bring a car, you need to pay $15 for the parking.

The museum allowed visitors to take pictures (no flashes or tripods) of art pieces with the exception of special exhibition and photography exhibitions. I am extremely thankful for their generous openness. Here are some of the photos from my excursion.

This painting of a girl standing in front of a door is by Fernand Khnopff (Belgian, 1858-1923). The girl in the picture is Jeanne Kéfer, daughter of painter’s friend. I loved the soft emerald color of the door and the warm glow of the girl’s cheek.

All photos were taken with Nikon D80 + 50mm F1.8 lens. © 2010 Soonuk Jung

일본 출장 중 한 서점에서 마스킹 테이프(밝은 색 10개 들이 세트)를 팔길래 사왔다. 시중 판매 가격은 1,600엔. 형형색색의 마스킹 테이프는 바라보기만 해도, 아니 생각만 해도 기분이 좋아진다.

이 제품은 전문 사진업이나 건설업 등에서 사용되는 산업용 마스킹 테이프를 전문적으로 만들어 온 일본의 Kamoi Kakoshi (カモ井加工紙[株])라는 회사에서 만드는 것인데 2006년 어느날 3 명의 여성이 “당신네 회사 마스킹 테이프를 이용해서 예쁜 책을 만들어 봤어요. 두 번 째 책을 만들기 전에 공장을 견학하고 싶어요”라는 내용의 이메일을 받게 되고 이 소비자들과의 만남을 계기로 산업용 마스킹 테이프를 일반인을 위한 장식용품으로 위치를 재설정해서 상품화하게 되었다고 홈페이지에서 밝히고 있다. (자세한 내용을 꼭 읽어보시라) 시장과 소비자로부터 예상하지 못했던 의외의 반응에 귀를 기울이고 그들의 요구에 부응했더니 이런 좋은 결과가 나온 셈이다.

약간 더 비싸긴 하지만 우리나라에서도 구할 수 있다. (yes24 링크)

1. 구체적 효용 physical utility === (has to do with) relevance
   1. 내재적 효용 intrinsic utility – 재료, 구조적 측면 (예: 몽키 스패너의 재질과 생김새 때문에 본연적으로 가지고 있는 기능적 유용성)
   2. 상황 의존적 효용 context-dependent utility – 특정 상황에서 있어서의 효용 (예: 5.25” 플로피 디스크 – 기술 발전에 의해 이 매체가 가지는 효용이 사라졌음)
2. 추상적 의미 부여 conceptual meaning, significance, symbol === (has to do with) endearment
   1. 본연적 의미 부여 – 태생적 역사 intrinsic history (예: “Charles Eames 가 수 년에 걸친 반복을 통해 완성한 디자인”, “태국 현지에서 무두질한 가죽”)
   2. 주관적, 경험적 의미 부여 – user-subjective, experiential extrinsic history (“내가 잃어버렸다가 다시 찾은 장갑”, “직장 생활 처음으로 간 출장지에서 구입한 기념품”)

적용:

1. 어떤 물건을 버릴 때 “아깝다”라는 느낌이 드는 이유를 해석하는데 활용될 수 있다. 뭔가를 버릴 때 그것을 “아깝다”라고 느낀다면 위의 분석 구조상 어떤 의미에서 아깝다고 느끼는 것인지를 세분화할 수 있다.
2. 추상적 의미 부여는 사물이 물리적으로 존재하지 않아도 지속될 수 있다 (가치의 추상화, 추억). 단, 그 가치가 구체적으로 표현되어 (description) 지식화될 때에만 그 가치를 타인에게 전달(transfer)할 수 있다. 구체적으로  (글이나 그림 등으로) 표현되지 않고 개인의 느낌이나 내재적 경험에만 머물러 있는다면 그 가치는 (개인적 추억의 형태로) 주관적으로 존재할 수는 있으나 타인에게 전달되지 않는다.
3. 실생활에서 활용되던 물건이 시간이 지나 본연의 실질적 활용 가치는 잃어버리는 대신 예술적, 역사적 가치를 지닌 골동품으로 바뀔 수도 있다. 사소한 물건도 어떤 의미 부여를 하느냐에 따라 소중한 물건으로 여겨지기도 한다.
4. 이와는 반대로 원래는 감상을 위한 예술품 또는 어떤 경험을 상징하고 생각나게 하는 기념품이었던 것이 시간이 지나거나 소유주가 바뀜에 따라 그 추상적 의미가 누락되어 물리적인 효용만이 남아있게 되는 경우도 있다.
5. 사물의 가치를 올리는 방법을 여러 측면으로 고찰하는데 활용될 수 있다. 즉, 디자인을 통해 기능적 효용을 유지하거나 상황에 적합하도록 update하는 것도 사물의 가치(relevance)를 올릴 수 있는가 하면, 그 사물의 역사나 문화적 상징성을 구체적으로 표현하여 의미 부여함으로써 주관적인 소중함(endearment)을 더 크게 만들 수도 있다. 예컨대 DesignPhil이라는 일본의 문구 디자인 회사가 만든 Traveler’s Note라는 문구 제품의 (다이어리로서의) 기능적 효용은 그대로였지만 그 회사의 대표가 저술한 책을 통해 그 제품이 가진 개발 이력, 회사가 추구하는 의미와 가치 등을 알게 됨으로써 그 제품에 대해 주관적인 친화도가 올라가서 결국 구입에 이르게 되었다.
6. 구체적인 사물이 아닌 추상적 지식(의 체계) 또는 조직에도 이와 같은 framework를 적용할 수 있다. 예컨대 특정 기술에 대해 가진 지식(예컨대 특정 염료의 생산 방법)은 그 자체로서 (즉, 하나의 과학의 방법으로서) 효용이 있지만 시장의 요구나 경쟁 기술의 대두에 따라 유의성(relevance)을 상실할 수도 있다. 동시에 그러한 기술이 발전한 과정에 대한 역사는 그 자체로 의미를 가질 수도 있고 이 기술을 소유했던 기술자의 추억의 형태로 그 의미가 유지될 수도 있다.

자신의 사후에까지 자신의 영향력이 이어지도록 하는 보다 적극적인 방법으로는 그 효과가 지속성이 있는 결정을 내리고 이를 생전에 실행하는 것이다. 예컨대 자신이 의미있게 여기는 대의명분을 위해 유산을 가족에게 남기기 보다 특정 재단에 헌납하고 싶다면 유언으로 남기기 보다는 생전에 직접 이를 실행하는 것이 확실한 방법이다.

그러나 생전에든 사후에든 스스로는 어떻게 할 수 없는, 자신의 영향력의 범위 밖에 있는 일들이 훨씬 더 많다. 예컨대 남북 통일이 되거든 자신의 유골을 함경도 고향 땅에 묻어달라는 부탁을 들어드리고 싶어도 남북 통일이라는 전제 자체가 개인의 영향력 밖에 있는 일이라서 어쩔 도리가 없는 것이다.

그러기에 대부분의 사람들은 자신의 사후에 대해서는 소박한 기대 만을 주변 사람들에게 전하고 세상을 떠날 준비를 하게 되고 사후에 벌어질 대부분의 일들에 대해서는 마음을 비우는 것이 일반적이다.

한편, 자신의 사후에 벌어질 상황에 대한 염려를 미리하게 되면 문제가 생긴다. 예컨대 장애를 가진 자녀를 돌봐 줄 사람이 없이 부모가 먼저 죽을 경우 부모의 마음은 큰 고통을 느끼게 된다. 실질적으로 자녀를 보호할 유일한 해결책이 오로지 자신 뿐이었다면 자신의 죽음은 해결책의 종말이자 문제의 개시점(開始點)이 되기 때문이다.

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망자(亡者)가 남은 이들에게 전하는 마지막 영향력이 유서의 형태로 나타나는 것이라면, 이와는 반대로 남은 이들이 곧 세상을 떠날 사람에게 전해주는 “사전(死前) 통지문”이라는 것이 존재한다면 어떤 일이 벌어질까?

가족이나 가까운 친구가 “당신이 죽은 후에 이렇게 할 작정이예요”라고 미리 알려주는 것은 그 내용에 따라서 좋은 일이 될 수도 있고 잔인한 일이 될 수도 있다. 예컨대 “자네가 죽더라도 아이들은 우리가 책임질 걸세”하고 친구들이 확신을 준다면 세상을 떠나는 이의 마음은 한결 가벼울 것이다. 물론 망자에 대한 약속의 이행 책임은 과연 언제까지 유효한가하는 문제가 따를 수도 있다. 상황에 따라서는 약속을 이행하지 못할 수도 있기 때문이다.

이와는 반대로, 곧 죽음을 맞이할 이의 존재 가치를 부정하거나 무의미하게 만들 수 있는 일에 대해서는–그것이 아무리 사실이라고 할지라도–미리 이야기해 주지 않는 것이 최소한의 자비를 베푸는 일이리라. 예컨대 “사장님께서 돌아가시고 나면 회사는 청산할 작정입니다”라고 미리 이야기할 필요가 과연 있을까?

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미래에 대한 의지의 표현은 참으로 조심스럽다. 그것이 유언이든 사전 통지문이든.