The Potential and Dangers of Technology: Humanism as a Weapon for Finding the Right Path

My research focuses on humanism and the fundamental question of what it is to be human, centered on the 16th-century French author François Rabelais. This question dates back to the time of Socrates, but Rabelais was one of the writers who took it up during the Renaissance. His appeal lies in being both an explorer of humanism and a "comedian." He created a compilation of the comedic material of Western society up to that point. He is an author who gives you two for the price of one.

At the core of my research is the conviction that literature can address anything happening today. When I was asked to comment on fanatical new religious groups, a quote from Rabelais was all I needed. My personal translation is, "Knowledge without a heart is just folly." Even highly educated people can be driven by blind faith to commit terrible acts if they have plenty of knowledge but no heart.

The 16th century is very similar to the 20th. The three great inventions of the Renaissance—the printing press, the compass, and gunpowder—correspond to the 20th century's information revolution via the internet, space travel, and nuclear weapons. People sense infinite potential in new technologies, but they also perceive the dangers. This is why new academic fields like environmental economics and bioethics emerge. Humanity cannot survive unless scientific technology and humanistic sensibilities are well integrated. What choices should people make? I believe that humanism, in its pursuit of the essence of humanity, is our greatest weapon for finding the way forward.

I am a literary scholar and an author, but I am also an ordinary person in the midst of caring for my aging parents. I think about old age and death every day, and when I feel completely stuck, I often find courage in the words of literature. For example, Cicero's "On Old Age" from the Roman era. It was translated into French in the 15th century and was widely read. "When you die, either there is nothing at all, or if there is an afterlife, it is surely better than this world. Therefore, there is no need to grieve as death approaches." Words like these bring me comfort. These are words I paid no mind to when I read the book for my Rabelais research, but now, as an ordinary person living my life, they resonate with me.

We live in difficult times, but it is literature that challenges a world dominated by economic principles, saying, "Wait, that's not right." Corporate restructuring, elder care, entrance exams... we may think of these as major problems for ourselves, but perhaps they are not fundamental human issues. Are we not being swept away by conventional wisdom, straying from the fundamentals of life? The living words of literature help correct that deviation.