Chapter 2. Appendix: The records read

Is it desirable for one's personal energy management to save Tuesday's work-from-home break time and voluntarily add one's labour to tidying the apartment's shared storeroom?

Hypothetical situation: while working from home on Tuesday, a person wonders whether to split the one-hour lunch break and lend a hand to tidying the shared storeroom of the villa's residents, or to rest quietly.

The premise is that a short bout of physical service refreshes the fatigue of mental labour and raises trust between neighbours.

Practical factors such as the physical hindrance to concentration on the afternoon's work and the participation rate of other residents were omitted.

By dividing the nature of labour only into professional duty and communal solidarity, it made light of the accumulation of physical fatigue.

Wouldn't one have to rest enough at lunchtime to perform without mistakes in one's main work in the afternoon?

Individual: The act of putting things in order with my own hands gives a sense of efficacy over one's surroundings. Society: The experience of voluntary communal labour creates a solidarity among neighbours that goes beyond contractual relations. Humanity: Tending the basis of life through cooperative labour is the foundation of the organization of human society. Life: Activity that moves the muscles and spends bodily energy keeps the organism vital. Earth: The act of sorting and arranging unneeded items reduces the waste of the dwelling's resources. Universe: It is the work of applying biomechanical force to turn a disordered arrangement of items into an ordered state.

Is it fair for the cost of fitting a living-room mat to reduce noise between floors to be split half and half, not only by the upstairs flat that causes it but also by the downstairs flat that complained of the harm?

Hypothetical situation: on Wednesday evening, in answer to the downstairs flat's complaint of noise, the upstairs flat decides to install a thick noise-proof mat and proposes to split the cost in half.

The premise is that the noise problem is not one side's wrongdoing but a problem to be solved together because of the structure of shared housing.

The specific decibel level of the noise or the builder's responsibility for poor soundproofing could not be dealt with.

Concentrating on a quick resolution of the conflict, it narrowed the legal and common-sense standard of the principle that whoever causes it is responsible.

Wouldn't it be more in line with common sense for the side causing the noise to pay in full for soundproofing?

Individual: A home is a refuge that should be kept safe from outside noise and gazes. Society: Adjusting noise between neighbours decides the success or failure of the norms of living in dense shared housing. Humanity: The way of living with walls built into dwellings and neighbours close against one's skin is a product of settled civilization. Life: Continuous exposure to noise raises stress hormones and lowers a living creature's immunity. Earth: A dense structure of dwellings raises the efficiency of land use but narrows the spatial acoustic buffer. Universe: It is the process of dissipating, through sound-absorbing material, the vibrational energy of sound waves passing through a solid medium as heat.

Should one vote for a proposal to raise the long-term repair reserve by a large margin, bearing the immediate burden on the household, in order to prevent safety accidents before they happen?

Hypothetical situation: at Thursday's residents' representative meeting, a vote is held on whether to raise the long-term repair reserve within the maintenance fee by 30,000 won a month to replace completely a 20-year-old lift.

The premise is that spending a lump sum on complete replacement is safer in the long run than holding out with repairs of consumable parts.

The worry about arrears of maintenance fees among elderly retired households with little fixed income, and the soundness of the detailed estimate, were left out.

By stressing only long-term safety, it treated lightly the problem of the immediate pressure on the living costs of vulnerable households.

Wouldn't it be more reasonable first to replace only the essential parts, extending the lift's life and spreading the shock of the cost increase?

Individual: An increase in the maintenance fee paid every month is a direct burden on the household's spending plan. Society: Residents' pooling of funds is the most basic financial solidarity that sustains shared infrastructure. Humanity: Collecting a common fund to maintain and repair basic facilities is a condition of keeping civilization going. Life: Preventing faults in transport equipment is a measure that protects the bodily safety and life of passengers. Earth: Replacing with efficient new equipment rather than frequent patch-up repairs reduces power consumption in the long run. Universe: Money is a measure of exchange for procuring physical resources and mechanical maintenance across spacetime.

To protect study and sleep time over the weekend, is the educational approach of installing a forced lock app on a child's smartphone more effective than training in autonomy?

Hypothetical situation: at a family meeting on Friday night, the family argues over whether to install an app limiting usage time to stop a middle-school child's weekend over-immersion in the smartphone, or to leave it to the child's autonomy.

The premise is that at a stage when self-control is still immature, external compulsion is more useful for forming habits.

Damage to trust between parent and child, or side effects that would arise as the child finds ways around the lock, were omitted.

Focusing only on securing study time in the short term, it overlooked the development of long-term self-regulation.

Wouldn't it be better to wait and let the child check usage time for themselves and build self-control by going through failures?

Individual: Training to overcome the temptation of digital devices by oneself builds a power of attention that will last a lifetime. Society: Agreeing on norms for using digital media is the most universal communication task modern families face. Humanity: Handing down the virtues of attention and restraint to the next generation is a long-standing duty of keeping society going. Life: Blocking blue light at night and securing enough sleep have a decisive effect on brain development in the growing years. Earth: Reducing excessive screen use slightly lowers the power consumption of digital data centres. Universe: It is the process by which an organism controls its cognitive focus without being bound to the signals of external electromagnetic devices.

Can the act of exceeding the gym's time-limit rule by 10 more minutes, so as not to break the flow of weekend-morning exercise and to meet an aerobic target, be justified?

Hypothetical situation: on Saturday morning at the complex's free gym, with people waiting, a person hesitates over whether to keep running past the treadmill's 30-minute limit rule to reach the target amount of exercise.

The premise is that about 10 minutes of extra exercise does no fatal harm to those waiting and that the completeness of my exercise matters.

The time wasted by those waiting and the bad effect of the rule-breaking on the atmosphere of the gym were left out.

By putting forward only the rightness of a personal health goal, it slighted the duty of mutual consideration in using public facilities.

Wouldn't it be desirable to keep the set rule strictly and make up the missing aerobic exercise with an outdoor walk?

Individual: Sweating while strengthening heart and lung function shakes off the week's physical fatigue. Society: The attitude of keeping the time rules of shared sports facilities is a measure of basic civic etiquette. Humanity: Setting discipline and sharing tools for bodily health is a custom of the life of civilized people. Life: Regular stimulation that raises the heart rate and uses the muscles optimizes an individual organism's metabolic function. Earth: Combining outdoor walking with indoor electric machines contributes in a small way to saving household electricity. Universe: It is the action of converting chemical energy inside the organism into mechanical motion to maintain homeostasis.

Is it proper to remove the flower-bed bench, the elders' only outdoor place for company, to tidy the complex's surroundings and settle noise complaints?

Hypothetical situation: at Sunday's residents' meeting, a complaint is raised to remove the bench beside the flower bed because of the cigarette smoke and noise that arise when elders gather there to play janggi.

It is a causal premise that removing the bench solves the noise problem but the elders' place to go disappears.

Compromise management measures such as putting up no-smoking signs or limiting the hours of use were not sufficiently examined.

By focusing only on the extreme solution of removing the facility, it missed the point of compromise for coexistence between generations.

Rather than removing the bench, wouldn't it be better to give guidance on noise and smoking etiquette and designate a separate smoking area?

Individual: A small place to meet someone to talk to outside the home in old age wards off everyday depression. Society: A complex that embraces a space for the older generation's social exchange makes an inclusive neighbourhood. Humanity: Living together without excluding the ageing members of the community is the foundation of love for humanity. Life: Even in a period when the biological clock declines, interaction with fellow individuals helps residual cognitive capacity. Earth: Green space that is easy to walk in and has places to rest is an ecological environment friendly to aged bodies. Universe: It is the pattern of beings who undergo the wear of cells in the flow of time gathering to share mutual support.

Is the practice of love of finishing the sink's washing-up alone late at night, braving one's own extreme fatigue to ease a partner's weariness, sustainable?

Hypothetical situation: on Monday night, when a dual-income couple have both come home exhausted from overtime, one wonders whether to finish all the washing-up at the sink alone for a spouse who has collapsed from tiredness or to leave it and go to sleep.

The premise is that if I sacrifice a little more, the other can rest comfortably and the warmth of the relationship is kept.

The alternatives of sharing the washing-up together the next morning or using appliances such as a dishwasher were left out.

By equating love only with the immediate sacrifice of domestic labour, it played down the problem of long-term emotional exhaustion.

Wouldn't it be wiser to acknowledge each other's exhausted state, put the housework off to the next day and rest together?

Individual: One feels deep affection in the act of lightening the other's load, but also faces physical limits. Society: Emotional consideration within an intimate relationship is the smallest unit of healthy family bonds. Humanity: Altruistic attachment that shares one's energy for another is the driving force of the human institution of the family. Life: Bonding behaviour of caring for a mate and sharing resources lowers the species' stress response. Earth: The peace of a household that shares everyday care is the basis for running a life without overconsumption or waste. Universe: Two living beings with finite energy resources share the work to maintain their mutual bond.

Even with the responsibility of being a community officer, should the right to turn off group-chat notifications and stay silent for the sake of complete freedom in the evening after work take priority?

Hypothetical situation: on Tuesday evening, in the apartment block representatives' group chat where complaint discussions keep coming in, a person wonders whether to turn off notifications for the night instead of answering at once.

The premise is that unless there is an urgent emergency, not answering at once does no great harm to the running of the community.

The frustration residents may feel at night and an alternative contact system when an urgent matter arises were left out.

By supposing the guarantee of freedom only as unconditional silence, it omitted a flexible division of time for communication.

Wouldn't a way of announcing in advance a principle of refraining from contact outside working hours and answering intensively only at set times be better?

Individual: The moment one escapes the pressure of being callable at any time, one gains true psychological freedom. Society: A culture that respects the right not to be connected makes healthy civic participation sustainable. Humanity: The freedom of private life from intrusion is a core indicator of human dignity established since modern times. Life: A rest period of relaxing away from continuous external stimuli is essential for the recovery of the nervous system. Earth: The habit of reducing the digital communication traffic of a constant standby state is a minute saving of electricity. Universe: It is an attempt to block the interference of external information signals and regain internal equilibrium as a closed system.

Is the way of development that substitutes only photographic records for the old alleys and old trees steeped in the lives and memories of the neighbourhood's residents over a long time, and demolishes them completely, justified?

Hypothetical situation: at Wednesday's association meeting for a redevelopment zone, members discuss whether to keep only photographs of the history of the alleys to be torn down and of the old trees, and approve complete demolition.

The premise is that, for the convenience of modern apartments, it is enough to leave the physical spatial traces of the past as records.

The pedestrian-safety weaknesses the alleys held and the residents' everyday suffering from old pipes were omitted.

By setting the preservation of memory as the two extremes of complete demolition versus photographic records, it excluded the possibility of partial coexistence.

Is a way of coexistence that preserves part of the old trees and the traces of the alleys in the complex's design, in the form of a small park, impossible?

Individual: The disappearance of the alley where one ran and played in childhood is the loss of a piece of one's memory of growing up. Society: The memory of a shared place is the tie that gives village residents a sense of settledness and holds them together. Humanity: Recording and commemorating the spatial memory inscribed in places is a way of preserving human history. Life: The old trees, grown for decades, were a resting place for many birds and insects as micro-habitats in the city. Earth: Complete redevelopment that destroys the topography and vegetation of the ground surface changes the local surface ecology. Universe: It is the work of engraving the temporal trajectory of material structures arranged in space onto the memory cells of the human brain.

Is giving over the land so that children can freely arrange a vegetable patch while touching the soil more valuable than a uniform planting of lawn for the neat appearance of the apartment complex?

Hypothetical situation: at Thursday's meeting on tending the flower beds, the management office's plan to plant neat evergreen lawn and a residents' plan to let children plant vegetables and flowers themselves stand against each other.

The premise is that the irregular experience of digging and planting the soil oneself is more beneficial to children's growth than the appearance of orderly landscaping.

The difficulty of managing weeds and muddy water if the patch is neglected, and the vagueness of who is responsible for upkeep, could not be dealt with.

By setting aesthetic orderliness against creative autonomy, it failed to look at compromises in a complex design of the space.

What if the flower bed were divided into sections, with some left as neat lawn and only part run as a small place to experience ecology?

Individual: New curiosity sprouts at the fingertips that sow seeds and fiddle with the soil themselves. Society: The residents' attitude of making allowance for the children's space for experiments shows the village's flexibility. Humanity: The act of tending and transforming something using natural things as material is the source of human creation. Life: A soil bed where various plants grow is better for insect biodiversity than a uniform single lawn. Earth: It is the practice of allowing diverse soil ecosystems on the ground surface instead of concrete or standardized lawn. Universe: It is the emergence of new organic forms shaped by planting the genetic information of life in material soil.

Can volunteering to patrol alleys in a fluorescent vest without pay on a weary Friday night fill an individual's daily life with true reward and meaning in life?

Hypothetical situation: at 10 o'clock on Friday night, with a tired body, a person puts on the fluorescent vest of the neighbourhood's volunteer crime watch, walks the dark alleys and asks what meaning this activity has in their own life.

The premise is that the act of offering a small effort for others gives a spiritual fulfilment that surpasses draining fatigue.

Objective verification of the actual effect on crime prevention, or the question of dividing roles with police patrols, was left out.

By limiting the pursuit of meaning to the special activity of night volunteering, it overlooked other ways of making meaning in everyday life.

Rather than overworking the body and piling up fatigue, isn't it better to find meaning in small everyday kindnesses or in conversation with family?

Individual: In a step that lights a dark alley one feels oneself to be a being of use to the world. Society: A patrol of solidarity that guards the neighbours' safety together is the community's power to prevent crime. Humanity: Altruism that looks after the well-being of fellow humans without reward is a noble virtue that has sustained civilization. Life: The instinct to watch the edges of the group and protect companions is basic behaviour of social animals. Earth: Keeping a bright and safe place of residence is the basis of a pleasant urban dwelling ecosystem. Universe: It is the act of a conscious being spending energy to recognize and protect the existence of another.

Is it safe to introduce a technology that registers facial biometric information on the apartment's access-control server for the convenience of coming in with shopping in both hands?

Hypothetical situation: in a residents' vote on Saturday morning, they decide whether to install a system that opens the shared front door with a face-recognition camera instead of keys or passwords.

The premise is that the latest security technology is superior to and more convenient than the risks of leaked passwords or lost cards.

The problem that biometric information cannot be changed if the server is hacked, and the difficulty older and frail people would have getting in when the camera malfunctions, were left out.

Staying within the schema of convenience versus the risk of surveillance, it failed to look at security design such as providing a backup means of authentication.

Wouldn't it be safer to use passwords that can be changed even if leaked, or a smartphone remote-key method?

Individual: Technology that opens the door without fumbling for a card relieves a small everyday effort. Society: The collective collection of biometric data tests the social norms of trust between convenience and surveillance. Humanity: Technology that converts the body's unique patterns into machine-readable signals is an extension of the fusion of human and machine. Life: The unique biological structure of the face is an organism's own marker, shaped by heredity and the years. Earth: Optical surveillance sensors that are always on and networks of computing servers consume power continuously. Universe: It is a computation that converts light information gathered by an optical lens into electromagnetic signals and discriminates patterns.

Is it in keeping with democratic procedure to push through a majority vote, accepting the minority's opposition, in order to settle the conflict over rooftop opening hours quickly?

Hypothetical situation: at Sunday's extraordinary general meeting of residents, as opinions are evenly split over the rooftop's opening hours, a view that it should be ended quickly by majority vote and a proposal for more discussion clash.

The premise is that a vote following the will of the majority is a more efficient and legitimate democracy than the idle spinning of tedious discussion.

The sense of deprivation the defeated minority households would feel after the vote, and the concrete disadvantages from rooftop noise, were omitted.

Seeing only the surface opposition between the speed of decision-making and procedural legitimacy, it overlooked the various techniques of forming consensus.

Even if it takes more time, wouldn't it be right to set a trial period and draw out agreement step by step?

Individual: The alienation felt when my opinion is rejected by the majority breaks the will to participate. Society: The balance between majority rule and deliberation measures the maturity of a small village's self-governing community. Humanity: The custom of gathering votes and discussing for common decisions is civilization's peaceful way of dealing with conflict. Life: The behaviour of consulting through verbal communication instead of fighting over rank within a group is an evolutionary product of the human species. Earth: A peaceful process of agreement reduces conflicts over managing the residential environment and makes a sustainable home ground. Universe: It is a reduction of entropy in which individuals gather their scattered wills to derive one ordered decision.

Should the kindness of allowing a winter house for street cats in one corner of the complex's shared flower bed, so that they can escape the harsh winter cold, take priority over residents' inconvenience?

Hypothetical situation: on the way to work on Monday, a resident who looks after street cats and proposes putting a warm winter box in a corner of the flower bed and a resident driver worried about the car park being soiled raise their voices.

The premise is that the warmth of allowing one small warming box is more precious than residents' duty to keep things clean.

Detailed measures for the risk of accidents with cats getting into car engine compartments or the harm of odour from cat droppings were not dealt with.

It set the moral imperative of animal protection and the practical inconvenience of the parking environment in a simple dichotomous contrast.

Wouldn't it be better to find a point of agreement step by step, on the premise of a neutering programme and clean management of designated feeding stations?

Individual: The heart that cannot pass by a small life shivering in the cold is an expression of humane compassion. Society: Agreement over rules for coexisting with urban creatures reveals the ecological maturity of a local community. Humanity: The ethics of sharing survival with non-human animals in the urban environment that humans have altered is a task of the present age. Life: Animals living around human dwellings, too, struggle to survive before harsh climatic conditions. Earth: The food chain of the urban ecosystem and the management of wildlife populations are bound up with the balance of the local environment. Universe: Living beings of different species that evolved on the surface of the same planet, Earth, share a habitat.

Is the haste of dashing perilously along the packed transfer stairs to cut 10 minutes off the commute truly a more valuable choice than an unhurried start to the day?

Hypothetical situation: on Tuesday morning in a subway transfer passage, a person is torn between running the crowded stairs to catch the express to save 10 minutes and leisurely taking the next local train.

The premise is that the work advantage of saving 10 minutes is greater than the risk of a fall and the physical strain.

The real personnel disadvantages one would suffer at work for being late, or the reality of the intervals between public-transport services, were left out.

By dismissing the tightness of commuting time only as an individual's impatience, it ignored the strict attendance pressure of the workplace.

Wouldn't it be better to build a rhythm of life of leaving home a little earlier so as to arrive on time without running?

Individual: Mornings of jumping, panting, through the subway doors every day exhaust body and mind. Society: An urban labour system that forces punctual arrival at work drives commuters into a competition for speed. Humanity: A way of life that standardized the day's routine to the mechanical clock is a product of the period since industrialization. Life: Ignoring the body's rhythm and secreting adrenaline continuously while chased by time is harmful. Earth: Peak-time overcrowding of a large city's transport network brings on a sharp consumption of the energy of urban infrastructure. Universe: In relatively flowing physical time, humans move in step with artificial dividing lines in units of seconds.

Is it wise to defer willingly the small everyday joy that a warm meal out this evening gives, in order to save for owning a home of my own in an uncertain future?

Hypothetical situation: on Wednesday evening, dragging a tired body while doing the shopping, a person argues over whether to save this week's money for eating out and cook meals at home in order to own a home in the future.

The premise is that savings gathered by cutting small present consumption bring greater happiness and stability in the distant future.

The helplessness that small savings produce amid soaring property prices, and the urgency of looking after present health, were omitted.

Trapped in the dichotomy that the present must be sacrificed for future stability, it failed to find a point of balance between present and future.

Rather than losing present vitality through excessive saving, wouldn't it be better to recharge one's energy by eating out an appropriate amount, about once a week?

Individual: Holding back today's small pleasures for relief in the distant future demands patience. Society: The younger generation's anxiety about building assets, combined with high housing costs, shrinks hope for the future. Humanity: The ability to look ahead to future survival and stock up present surplus resources is the foundation of civilization. Life: The tendency to store energy against future scarcity is a deep-rooted evolutionary instinct of living beings. Earth: Thrift and restraint from overconsumption are a way of life that reduces unneeded material consumption and the generation of waste. Universe: In the irreversible arrow of time, it regulates entropy toward an unpredictable future state.