Machine-translated from the Korean original. Read the original

The Complete Human

Contents

In the age of AI, I think it may be better to aim to be a complete human. To state the obvious: someone who combines intellect, character, and physical strength.

The usual advice in the job market is to strengthen your strengths. Sharpen one thing so that employers have a reason to pick you. In other words, aim to be a specialist.

But business books say something a little different. A boss doesn't have to be good at everything, but must know how to do everything. In other words, they ask for a generalist.

The marriage market, too, favors the hexagonal person, with no rough edges. 1 Either way, it seems the times now favor aiming to be a complete human: someone who can do everything. To get there, you need to broaden your range of experiences.

As a side note, this is why I'm aiming to be a 사이보그 닌자.

Footnotes

  1. There's a different take, though. According to Seth Stephens-Davidowitz's Everybody Lies (published in Korean as 『데이터는 어떻게 인생의 무기가 되는가』), the people who unexpectedly do well in the dating market are those with extreme looks: blue hair, tattoos, flashy glasses, shaved heads. Many people aren't drawn to them, but a few are drawn strongly. In other words, the spiky person gets the attention. That's why the book advises, "Be the extreme version of yourself." ↩

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