This article introduces - through its own way of explanation - an attempt to solve the fundamental problem of sociology that has not secured a unified research methodology for social phenomena through the replacement of the ‘system/environment-difference’ theory of ‘whole /part-disctinction’. This new frame, based on the observation operation, can explain the space and time of the operation, structure and process and form, as well as the generation of parts and whole. Niclas Luhmann’s sociological systems theory analyzes the social with the concept of a social system that realizes these general principles through communication operation. This social system has an interaction system, an organizational system, and a social system as its subtypes, and social phenomena develop while these systems interact with each other while placing what is not themselves in their environment. This analytical introduction deals with a fundamental new idea of sociology methodology. Only a few of the important things are to be mention as follows. Firstly, the ‘system/environment-difference’ framecan grasp the interaction and interstimulation between elements that cannot be captured by the existing methodology that distinguishes macro from micro, quantitative and qualitative methods. Secondly, as for the scientific theory, the relationship between the observer and his object to is newly conceptualized while analyzing ontology and epistemology from the instantaneous operation. Thirdly, structure and process, which are the basic concepts of sociology, are also newly conceptualized within a system that manifests itself as operation. Forthly Alter and Ego are also conceptualized as being created relying on each other at the moment of communication operation as co-constructors of society. Fiftly, the relationship between society and culture is intergratedly conceptualized in the relationship between communication events and communication forms.

The present study established a typology of memories of deaths based on the rituals over deaths resulting from the Korean War and analyzed the signification of death rituals to delve into the placement and function of the affect generated from it. To that end, this paper discussed the perceptive base on which deaths resulting from the Korean War were signified and how such signification is formulated. Moreover, the affective base triggering the death rituals was considered. The cases of two villages in Andong were examined to investigate the tradition and shift of death rituals. Traditionally, death rituals were divided into, and worked as, the one-off mourning funeral and the regular ritual formalities. Through the performance of such death rituals, the affective issues rooted in death, e.g. shock, fear and grief, were radically and cyclically addressed, which was conducive to stabilizing the society. Yet, during the Korean War, people failed to perform death rituals properly and thus could not cope with the affective issues originating from death. The memories of deaths taking place during the Korean War are stereotyped into official and unofficial memories relative to the performance of rituals. semiotic analysis was applied here to analyze the stereotyped signification of memories. The analysis highlighted a close interrelation between death rituals and memories. Rituals played an important role in commemorating or forgetting deaths. Deaths with rituals were commemorated, whereas those without rituals sank into oblivion. Also, The memory of death varies depending on what ritual method gives meaning to death. Deaths commemorated with official rituals were signified as normal deaths, whereas those commemorated with unofficial rituals were signified as abnormal deaths. Also the meaning of death creates a variety of semantic systems in terms of behavior and ideology. The meaning of death depends on what conditions the ritual can be performed in terms of behavior. Even in terms of ideology, it depends on what social meaning is given to death. Meanwhile, traditionally, death rituals quelled social chaos and conflicts resulting from death incidents. Wailing(哭) was part of death rituals, contributing to quelling the social chaos and conflicts by placing the grief in a Confucian way among various affects including the shock and fear of death. Yet, as the affect over deaths caused by social disasters arises from conflicts between diverse groups surrounding the causes of and responsibility for such deaths, a more collective placement is needed to regulate the affect. Also, death rituals maintained the normality of society by selecting and excluding the memories of deaths. For example, among the memories of diverse deaths that took place during the Korean War, the memories of deaths conducive to social integration were selectively commemorated through rituals. In contrast, memories of deaths prone to social conflicts and disruption were excluded and forgotten without rituals. However, as the memories of deaths sealed with rituals could unexpectedly loom large, they constitute a temporary integration.

The 386 generation, which began to pay attention to the media in the 1990s, was a rising youth generation at the time, but has been criticized in various ways since the 2000s. This study examines how the persons of 386 generation construct and reconstruct their 386 generation identity in the basis of their experiences. Based on in-depth interview methods, it analyses the cases with the narrative appoach. Some of the cases narrowly defined 386 generation as “the participants in the student movement in the 1980s,” while others made an expanding definition that encompasses those who shared the spirit of the times, regardless of university education. Furthermore, they emphasized positively the ordinary 386 generation, distancing themselves from some of the “privilege 386” who have recently been criticized. All cases said that they belonged to the 386 generation in that they not only paid attention to and participated in social change in their past experiences, but still maintain the spirit of the times today. They all spoke of their participation in the 1980s movement, which would be the “home of time” for the formation of 386 generation identity. However, after that, in various life-experience stories, the 386 generation identity showed a kind of crack and change, while the cases attempted to enhance and reflect on the 386 generation identity. It was found that gender and class were making various reflections. This study is significant in that it attempts to reveal the microscopic dynamics of the formation and change of 386 generation identity through the experiences and voices of actual generational parties. In particular, through a narrative approach to the formation and change of generational identity, it was revealed that generational identity is an interaction between ‘self-assertion’ based on common experiences and ‘external calling.’ Furthermore, it is significant in that it empirically showed not only the “home of time” as the basis for the formation of generational identity, but also what kind of refraction the subsequent experience creates to the change in generational identity. However, this study has a limitation in not being able to categorically analyze in-depth interview cases.

Korean society’s figures for inequality-related indicators continue to deteriorate. Inequality is closely related to income, wealth, education, housing and family formation, and is passed down from generation to generation. Inequality also causes physical and psychological problems at the individual level, which leads to various social problems. Therefore, there are many demands for the improvement of the current social system, especially the welfare system, in order to solve the various problems and the hereditary mechanism resulting from inequality. On the other hand, however, there are widespread criticisms that the income security systems by redistribution is unfair and unjust. These criticisms are circulated in the name of ‘fairness’ and ‘meritocracy’ and are mainly reproduced by young men. As the neoliberal policy was fully implemted, the discourse of fairness and meritocracy, which began to be disseminated through conservative media, has now become a major value not a specific class in Korean society. At the same time, the perception of ‘Justice’ is also changing. The content of the Justice is changing from ‘reducing discrimination and inequality’ to ‘competing according to rules and procedures and not modifying the results’. Since social disparities such as inequality are justified as a result of competition according to regulations and procedures, policy efforts to correct the results should be discouraged or discarded as unjust. This study examines these changes from the point of view of social welfare values that pursue social justice and analyzes their meanings.

With the development of the 4th industrial revolution and artificial intelligence, mankind will undergo rapid changes. One of the changes is the change in education according to the end of labor and a society with zero marginal cost. In other words, the function of modern education, the acquisition of knowledge and skills, can no longer survive. What does education look like instead of acquiring knowledge and skills? I think it’s non-self education. This is because mankind can no longer live on the level of individual consciousness. The most important sutra of non-self-thought is the ‘Geumgangsutra’. In ‘Geumgangsutra’, it shows well that overcoming the individual consciousness of ‘I’ is the ultimate goal of meditation. Individual consciousness is possessed only by humans. In animals, the thalamus of the limbic system receives external stimuli and then moves to the amygdala, which is composed of emotions and immediately manifests as actions. On the other hand, in humans, emotions are moved to the frontal lobe by the hippocampus and are perceived as ‘me’ through predictions based on past experiences and learning. One way to overcome individual consciousness is to watch it. This is called the observer consciousness. The observer is the one who knows everything, whether it is an object, a sense, or a thought. Of course, watcher consciousness is not the ultimate goal. This is because the observer has the ‘I’ who is watching, and the object of the gaze is the object. When the observing ‘I’ becomes the object, it is called the consciousness of unity. That is, the purpose of attention is to become one with the object that is the object of attention. Another way to overcome individual consciousness is to remove boundaries. By removing the boundary between the persona and the shadow, removing the boundary between the body and the mind, and removing the boundary between me and the object, finally removing the boundary with the entire universe, consciousness of unity can be reached. A singularity will soon be reached where AI will surpass human intelligence and humans will not understand what AI is doing. Humans who will be able to enjoy them are called transhumans. On the other hand, metahuman realizes that the reality we experience is nothing more than a virtual reality we create ourselves, and the outside world, which we think is a physical reality, and our body and mind, which we think are separated from the world and experience the world, are all conscious of ourselves. He realized that he was nothing more than a structure he had created. When we get out of this virtual reality, we come to know that the only thing that exists is pure consciousness, and everything is constantly being created and destroyed in the infinite void of pure consciousness. When we wake up, we know that it is consciousness that creates it, and that everything from the Big Bang to the advent of artificial intelligence is a creation of consciousness. Modern education is at a crossroads. Will you aim for transhuman or metahuman?

The purpose of the study was to analyze the relationship between participation in social activities and IADL(Instrumental Ability of Daily Living). For the study, the social participation was divided based on the number and the types of the activities in participation. The social activities were divided into formal activities and informal activities. the former included the religious association, ascriptive association, political association, and leisure association and latter included the phone call and face to face meet with children and friends/neighbors. Sample of the study came from the survey on the life of the elderly in Chuncheon. Among them, 1,141 elderly aged 75 years or older were analyzed. The main results were as follows. First, among the demographic and social variables, age, marriage status, type of cohabitation, years of schooling, and occupation showed a significant relationship with IADL. Second, among health-related factors, subjective health, level of pain, and depressive symptom scores were also found to be related to IADL with statistical significance. Third, among the social activity variables, participation in leisure activities showed a significant positive relationship with the IADL independence. In addition, it was found that phone calls with friends and neighbors also showed a significant relationship with the IADL independence. However, it was found that meeting and phone calls with children did not show a significant relationship with IADL independence.