Digital Nomad’s Regret ('디지털 노마드의 유감'의 영문 번역) (Draft)

[무심헌]

Digital Nomad’s Regret                                            

                                                                              Wooil  M.  Moon

     The New York Times contributor Thomas Friedman, who won the Pulitzer Prize three times,

said there is the world B.C.– Before Corona - and the world A.C. – After Corona. He predicted that

the world A.C. has not even fully begun but our lifestyles and all our connectivity tools are already

being digitized, and the world A.C. will be different. How will our society and daily life change,

and the world look like After Corona?

     The conferences in my research field which were to be held this past summer were first

postponed because of the Coronavirus pandemic and then later held virtually. The basic science

meeting to be held in Wurzburg, Germany, which I had already registered to attend also changed

to an online virtual conference. Because of the time zone difference between Germany and Canada,

I had to get up before 4:00 am to sit in front of my computer during the meeting schedule in

Germany for several days. If there were questions to certain speakers, I could ask them online,

and if there were familiar faces on the screen, we could exchange greetings virtually.

     We can now comment and discuss online colleagues’ research issues while they make

presentations on the other side of Earth without even taking one step out of our offices.

There is another change as well -  the registration fee to attend IGARSS (International Geoscience

and Remote Sensing Symposium), which I have often attended, used to be in the range of

$300 - $500, depending on the venue. But the registration fee for online attendance was only

$10 this year. These may be temporary changes during this pandemic and do not tell us the

whole story of how the world A.C. will look like.   

     People go to conferences and attend sessions in their research fields to listen to

presentations and have discussions with the speakers, but they are more than this also.

Attending a conference also provides us with an opportunity to get familiar with our colleagues’

personalities and their philosophies as scientists. Let us think about Albert Einstein, a Nobel

laureate in Physics. He became famous with the “Theory of Relativity” and he died more than

a half-century ago, but we continue to meet him on Facebook or other SNS (Social Networking

Services) postings even today. We meet Einstein so often on SNS, while we never see other

famous physicists who also won the Nobel prize in physics, probably because of Einstein’s unique

philosophy and humanistic tenacity. Now then, regardless of the reasons, is sitting in front of

one’s computer and virtually attending conferences all we want? It doesn’t appear so.

     Virtually attending conferences is not the only world A.C., or a ‘new normal.’ The Golden Sax

Ensemble, our saxophone club, which has been practicing weekly on Tuesdays and had

informal gig sessions also had to be canceled for several months due to the Coronavirus

pandemic. Beginning last month, however, members of the ensemble started to meet virtually,

greeted each other, have played saxophone together, and even listened to music lessons in front

of our computer screen. Our members, including our leader Mr. Hong, who live in St. Catherines,

and members from Niagara, North York, Etobicoke, Scarborough, and even farther places now

get together face-to-face virtually to enjoy music without driving tens of kilometers from

their homes.

     Europe’s leading social theorist and futurist, Jaques Attali, said in his book “Homme Nomade”

predicted that our whole society would be digitized in the 21st century and that people will be

sitting in front of their computers and will become digital nomads who wander around the world. 

When our friends or colleagues attend or host online virtual conferences, or when we, music

lovers, have online rehearsals or informal gigs, we are all becoming digital nomads of the

world A.C. But what we digital nomads see and hear virtually on SNS screens do not make our

lives complete. We have to seriously think and debate whether we can virtually learn the

personal characters and wisdom of our colleagues, the same way in which we could through

our in-person relationships in the world B.C.

     In world B.C, we went to international conferences and met our former students and

colleagues, and we were so glad to meet each other, and even had a glass of beer and chat

on some occasions. These days, when I go to conferences or join a saxophone ensemble

virtually, I sit alone in front of my laptop and yearn for good old days in the world B.C.

                                                       ( April 5, 2021  -  Translation of

                                                          the original Korean version by the author )

[이무영]

Impressive Translations! I too have become a digital nomad since the pandemic began. My client is located in Korea while some of my suppliers are in Europe. I have not been able to visit them for a year and half. We can only meet virtually instead. In a virtual meeting, a trouble-shooting becomes very difficult when the problem involves non-technical issues, like cultural differences, language barriers, etc. But what I really miss is the fresh croissants, café cream, good pasta dishes, etc..