(토요모임) [10. Feb. 2018] Saturday meeting topic

[Scarlet]

Howdy ! 

It's me Scarlett !   

This week we have 4 categories of topics. Do not be obsessed with all the articles too much. Just pick some articles what you have interests and prepare your opinions related to those articles. :) 

Detailed list of articles is as follows.

◈ GMO & Food Security :

---- Organic products

---- Should Genetically Engineered Foods Be Labeled?

◈ Virtual reality :

---- Chinese women are spending millions of dollars on virtual boyfriends

---- Surrogates review

◈ Korean History & Prejudice :

---- South Korea Timeline : A chronology of key events

---- Black-and-White Thinking in our Social Worlds

◈ Cities and Urbanization :

---- Why urban farming is changing the future of agriculture.

Hope you enjoy the topics. 

With luv 

Scarlett

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< Small talks : Organic products(=food) >

Talk about organic products.

Food safety scandals are occurred frequently these days. That’s why interest in organic products is at an all-time high. Organic foods are foods grown without the use of chemical fertilizers, chemical pesticides or preservatives. In a broader sense, they include products without genetic modification. In other words, they refer to all foods or products that are grown and produced in a natural way. Organic products have many health benefits but they are more expensive. Parents prefer organic foods because they don’t want their children to eat chemical substances. Co-operations are using the organic trend as juicy opportunity. Many companies are pumping out organic products.

요즘 식품 파동이 자주 일어난다. 그래서 유기농 식품에 대한 관심이 역대 최고 수준에 이르렀다. 유기농 식품은 화학 비료, 살충제(농약), 방부제를 사용하지 않고 자란 것을 말한다. 좀 더 넓은 의미에서 유전자 조작이 아닌 제품도 포함한다. 다른 말로 하면 모든 식품이나 제품을 자연 그래도 길러내는 방법을 선호하는 것이다 유기농 식품은 건강에 대한 이점이 있지만 비싸다. 부모님들은 자녀들에게 화학 물질을 먹이기 원치 않기 때문에 유기농 식품을 선호한다.  기업들도 유기농 트렌드를 좋은 기회로 이용하고 있다. 많은 회사들이 유기농 제품을 만들어내고 있다.

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*be at all-time high : 역대 최고다

His popularity is at an all-time high. 그의 인기는 역대 최고다

Unemployment rates are at an all-time high. 실업률이 역대 최고다.

*without the use of ~ :~를  사용하지 않고

He cooks many dishes without the use of meat.

It’s hard to write the report without the use of the internet.

*in a natural way : 자연 그대로

I would like to live in a natural way in the country side.  나는 시골에서 자연 그대로 살고싶다.

All of their products are made in a natural way. 그들의 제품은 모두 자연 그대의 방식으로  만들어졌다.

*health benefits (복수로 사용) : 건강상의 이점

Kimchi is known to have many health benefits.

김치는 많은 건강상의 이점을 가진것으로 알려져있다.

Foods that have many health benefits often taste bad.

많은 건강상의 이점을 가진 식품은 대부분 맛이 없다.

*chemical substances : 화학물질

Not all chemical substances is unhealthy. 모든 화학물질이 몸에 나쁜건 아니다.

그 외..

-Organic : 발음이 ‘올개닉’에 가까움.

-Food scares=food safety scandals

-fertilizer [|fɜ:rtəlaɪzə(r)] 펄’덜라이절: 비료

-in a broader sense: 좀 더 넓은 의미에서

-Juicy : 과즙/육즙이 많아서 맛깔스러운

This lobster/pine apple is so juicy. 이 랍스터/ 파인애플 육즙/과즙이 많아!

Juicy opportunity : 맛 깔 스러운 기회        

<Expression‎ of the day>

A: I’m going to buy some organic food at the store.

B: You’ll have to pay a pretty penny.

A: I know it’s expensive, but it’s for my baby.

B: I understand. Everyone wants to give their baby the best.

You’ll have to pay a pretty penny. 돈 좀 꽤 들텐데.

Penny : 가장 작은 화폐 단위

위의 내용의 저작권은 ebs에 있습니다.   

Topic is offered by Sophie (http://cafe.daum.net/englisholic/NQo9/230)

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Should Genetically Engineered Foods Be Labeled?
November 5, 2013/ klschwartz/ GMO food

Everyone needs food to survive, but what happens when food becomes scarce? An answer to that question could be genetically engineered foods, GE foods. GE foods are “plants that have been modified in the laboratory to enhance desired traits such as increased resistance to herbicides or improved nutritional content” (“Genetically Modified Foods: Harmful or Helpful”). Today a large amount of GE foods are grown world wide, with the United States being the lead producer (“GM Crops around the World in 2011″). According to “Genetically Modified Foods: Get the Facts” , “as much as 80% of all packaged foods contain GMOs (genetically modified organisms)”, but due to the Food and Drug Administration’s GE food labeling policy you might not even know it.

Amount of GE foods grown world wide (“GM Crops around the World in 2011″).

In 1992, the United States Food and Drug Administration put into affect its policy on genetically engineered foods. “This policy provides that foods developed through genetic modification are not inherently dangerous and, except in rare cases, should not require extraordinary pre-market testing and regulation” (Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources, Genetically Modified Pest-Protected Plants: Science and Regulation). According to Gertsberg, this means, “genetically modified foods are regulated as ordinary foods, and not food additives, unless they contain substances or demonstrate attributes that are not usual for the product”. In short, the regulation only requires companies to label their food if substances are added or altered within the food and change the natural make-up of the product. Many American’s felt that this regulation was not stringent enough and the Just Label It movement began.

The Just Label It movement wants there to be a change in the labeling of GE foods. In September 2011, the Just Label It movement created a legal petition that was filed demanding the FDA to require labeling on all GE foods (currently 1.3 million people have signed the petition). According to their statistics more than 60 nations have labeling regulations, but the U.S. does not, even though 91% of Americans support the mandatory labeling of GE foods. The main argument associated with the Just Label It movement is that Americans have a right to know what is in the food they consume. Many parents are also concerned with introducing new genes into plants that could potentially create a new allergen and harm their children (“Genetically Modified Foods: Harmful or Helpful”). Along with allergen concerns, some activists are also concerned with the effects that GE foods will have on the environment (“Genetically Modified Foods: Harmful or Helpful”).

Facts based on the American population according to Just Label It (“Just Label It”).

In contrast with the Just Label It movement there are “an array of groups in many mainstream agribusiness, the grocery industry, and the biotech industry” that oppose the labeling of GE foods (“To Label or Not to Label”). These groups are mainly opposed to labeling simply because they are concerned about Americans not understanding the labels and in turn not purchasing there food (“To Label or Not to Label”). This is a problem because “labels on GE food imply a warning about health effects, whereas no significant differences between GE and conventional foods have been detected” (“Labeling of Genetically Engineered Foods”).

Currently there has not been a change in the national FDA regulation on genetically modified foods, but in 2001 the FDA released Guidance for Industry: Voluntary Labeling Indicating Whether Foods Have or Have Not Been Developed Using Bioengineering; Draft Guidance (FDA).

Examples of voluntary labeling (“Labeling of Genetically Engineered Foods”)

This guidance is not nationally required by any food production company, but is highly encouraged by the FDA. That being said, “nearly half of all U.S. states have introduced bills requiring labeling” (State Labeling Initiatives”). Meaning that companies are required to follow each states bill on labeling GE foods. Unfortunately Georgia is not one of these states, but there is a statewide movement asking that genetically engineered foods be labeled. In the end there will always be people who are for or against genetically engineered foods, but it is up to oneself to learn the facts and politics associated with GE foods before they make a decision on whether they should be labeled.

What did you previously know about GE foods? Did you know that there was controversy surrounding the labeling of GE foods? Do you think that GE foods should be labeled? Do you think GE foods would be good for the future? Does it surprise you that the FDA has not changed the regulation? Do you think the Georgia should pass a GE food labeling bill?

Article source : https://eepolicy2013.wordpress.com/2013/11/05/should-genetically-engineered-foods-be-labeled/

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< Questions >

Q1. Talk about what you have eaten today.

Q2. What is the most unhealthy food you can think of?

Q3. Do you think that a person’s eating habits affect how long they will live?

Q4. Do you keep a healthy eating habit? When you choose what you are eating, what is your priority?

Q5. What do you know about GM foods? How about organic food?

Q6. Do you think that organic food is much better than normal food or are they about the same?
 
Q7. Would you choose GM food for you meal? What is the reason for your choice?
 
Q8. How do you think about the 'Label it movement' in America? Is it necessary or not? Do you think that GE foods should be labeled in Korea?
 
Q9. What are the advantages and disadvantes of GM food?
 
Q10. According to an article, GM foods is cheap but they can cause your children allergic response. Would you buy GM foods for your kids?
 

Q11. Have you ever grown your own food in your garden? How do you think about the rooftop garden?

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Chinese women are spending millions of dollars

on virtual boyfriends
Written by Zheping Huang / January 31, 2018

What’s better than having a boyfriend? Having four fake ones.
At least that’s what the Chinese women who are obsessed with a mobile game called Love and Producer might be thinking.

It’s the hottest game among China’s young women at the moment. According to data from research firm Jiguang (link in Chinese), the date simulator has accumulated more than 2 million daily active users since its launch in December, with the overwhelming majority being females in their early 20s. Already, the game is ranking among the top grossing apps in China’s App Store. Players are also estimated to (link in Chinese) have spent at least 200 million yuan (around $32 million) in January to improve their odds of having a successful virtual relationship via in-game purchases.

In Love and Producer, you star as a female TV producer who must save your late father’s production company by reviving a hit show, while developing romantic relationships with four heartthrobs. They are: Li Zeyan, a young founder and CEO who’s tough on the outside but soft on the inside; Bai Qi, a special force police officer who always makes women feel protected; Xu Mo, a genius scientist with both ultra-high IQ and EQ, and Zhou Qiluo, a pop icon who’s sweet, gentle, and carefree. All four will fall in love with no one but you. What’s even better: You don’t have to choose between them.

Of course, it’s not all taking and no giving; you’ll need to spend some “purple diamonds” to go out on dates with your virtual boyfriends. And in order to keep your studio running, you have to keep producing high-quality shows using “bonding cards” of different rarities that increase your company’s key advantages like “decision-making” and “creativity.” Both the diamonds and the cards are given as rewards when you accomplish a mission, but you can always get them much faster if you are willing to pay real money for them.

Love and Producer is in essence a “visual novel,” an interactive game genre that originated in Japan in the 1990s. In a visual-novel game, players simply need to tap the screen to keep the narrative moving forward. Along the way, they need to make choices, which will lead the story to different directions. Players will also receive phone calls from their boyfriends, but can only reply to them via text from a list of prepared responses.

Another element loved by fans is that all four male characters have their respective superpowers. For example, Li, the CEO, is able to freeze time, and Bai, the police officer, is able to control the wind and fly in it. (One of Bai’s most romantic quotes is, “As long as you are in the wind, I can feel you.”) The idea is borrowed from popular Korean TV dramas like “My Love from the Star,” which tells the story of a starlet who falls in love with an alien.

Love and Producer was developed by Pape Games, a female-focused gaming firm based in Suzhou, a city near Shanghai. The company’s last hit was Miracle Nikki, a fashion game launched in 2015 where players have to unlock fancy clothes, shoes, and hairstyles for the female protagonist. Pape Games didn’t respond to a request for comment for this story.

“Simulation and character collection are popular feminine game themes, especially when potential love stories are added as the plot develops,” says Turian Tan, a gaming analyst with research firm IDC in Beijing. “Female players are especially active within mobile games which are easy to operate, relaxing to play, and have more feminine content.”

Love and Producer’s success also underscores how women are becoming the new driving force in China’s mobile gaming industry, and not only in “feminine” games. Women, for example, outnumber men in games such as Tencent’s battle arena game Honor of Kings. Tan also notes that more games inspired by Japanese anime and comics have been released into the market, since they are a big draw for female gamers. “We can see a clear trend where the number of female gamers is increasing over the past few years,” he says.

For a sign of how crazy female gamers are over their imaginary boyfriends, fans of Li, the time-freezing CEO, recently bought a $39,000 ad on an LED banner on a Shenzhen skyscraper to wish him happy birthday. They even left a postscript to him on the screen: “Don’t be surprised, we bought it with your black card.”

Article source : https://qz.com/1193912/love-and-producer-chinas-female-gamers-are-spending-millions-of-dollars-on-virtual-boyfriends/

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Surrogates review
Roger Ebert / September 23, 2009

In the future world of "Surrogates," most of the human population reclines at home without moving, while living vicariously through robot avatars controlled by their minds. They present themselves to the world as younger and more attractive than they really are -- and more fit, I assume, since the avatars work out at gyms instead of their owners. No one you meet is really there.

Bruce Willis, looking about 38 and with a healthy mop of hair, stars as Greer, an FBI agent. He and his partner Jennifer Peters (Radha Mitchell) are assigned to investigate a messy murder late one night outside a club, and are astonished to find that the victim is the son of Dr. Lionel Canter (James Cromwell), the inventor of surrogate technology. But wait a minute, you're thinking. Who dies if only your surrogate is killed? The unsettling answer is that the murder device works by frying the brain of its controller. I hate it when that happens.

Dr. Canter, no longer associated with the corporation that makes surrogates, has indeed grown disillusioned with his invention. As Agent Greer's investigation continues, it leads him into the world of the Dreads -- actual human beings, who reject surrogates and live on "reservations" with other flesh and blood people. The Dread leader is The Prophet (Ving Rhames of the eerie presence), who preaches against avatars as an abomination.

As indeed they are. It's a relief when something goes wrong with Greer's avatar and he must venture onto the streets as himself--middle-aged, bald, and looking, I must say, considerably more attractive than his creepy surrogate.

Unfortunately, "Surrogates," while more ambitious than it has to be, descends into action scenes too quickly. Why must so many screenplays reduce their ideas to chases and shoot-outs? The concept here, based on a graphic novel by Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele, would lead naturally to intriguing considerations.

Consider plastic surgery. To what extent is Joan Rivers a 76-year-old woman inhabiting a 56-year-old avatar? Consider the problem of sex. After two attractive people meet, flirt and desire to have sex, there are two possibilities: (1) their avatars have some sort of mechanical encounter while their owners, at home, masturbate; or (2) two real people, god forbid, have to discover how the other really looks. Since evolution suggests that we eval‎uate potential mates for their reproductive potential, this could lead to setbacks in the process of natural selection.

In this future world, we learn, surrogates mean that crime and racism have been all but eliminated. If anybody can be of any race, that takes care of racism, all right. But crime? How do those humans who are poor and unemployed pay for their surrogates? What if you decide you want to trade up to a better model? Sure, your surrogate may have a job, but why would salaries be any better? Especially since robots make poor consumers. What process actually takes place when they have a meal together in a restaurant? Can they eat or drink?

Avatars first came into general consciousness by way of computer games and chat boards. It's well known that someone you meet online may not be who they pretend to be. Surrogates sound like an ideal solution for transsexuals. Don't go through the surgery, just switch your avatar's gender. But would that satisfy your hormonal feelings? There are real bodies involved here, and that gets into another issue: If you spend your life reclining, your muscles will atrophy surprisingly quickly, and it will become physically impossible for you to get out of bed and walk, let alone go into action like Bruce Willis does here.

These are areas "Surrogates," perhaps wisely, doesn't explore. Such a film might have required a Spike Jonze or Guy Maddin. "Surrogates" is entertaining and ingenious, but it settles too soon for formula. One other thing: It ends with the wrong shot. The correct shot would have been the overhead exterior of the street, about four shots earlier. You'll know the one I mean.

Article source : https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/surrogates-2009

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< Questions >

Q1. What did you think when you read the headline?

Q2. What is your favorite app, and why?

Q3. What do you think of this dating app?

Q4. What do you think of virtual boyfriends and girlfriends?

Q5. Have you ever obsessed with human relationships in online instead of real world? What is wrong with it?

Q6. What would be the advantages and disadvantages of 'Virtual reality'?

Q7. Have you ever watch the movie 'Surrogates' starring by Bruce Willis? What do you think of the society with surrogates?

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South Korea - Timeline

23 January 2018

 A chronology of key events:

Image copyright Getty Images / The Korean war (1950-1953) killed at least 2.5 million people.

It pitted the North - backed by Chinese forces - against the South, supported militarily by the United Nations  

1945 - After World War II, Japanese occupation ends with Soviet troops occupying area north of the 38th parallel, and US troops in the south.

1948 - Republic of Korea proclaimed.
1950 - South declares independence, sparking North Korean invasion.
1953 - Armistice ends Korean War, which has cost two million lives.

1950s - South sustained by crucial US military, economic and political support.
1960 - President Syngman Ree steps down after student protests against electoral fraud. New constitution forms Second Republic, but political freedom remains limited.

 Coup

1961 - Military coup puts General Park Chung-hee in power.

1963 - General Park restores some political freedom and proclaims Third Republic. Major programme of industrial development begins.

1972 - Martial law. Park increases his powers with constitutional changes.

After secret North-South talks, both sides seek to develop dialogue aimed at unification.

1979 - Park assassinated. General Chun Doo-hwan seizes power the following year. 

1980 - Martial law declared after student demonstrations. In the city of Gwangju army kills at least 200 people. Fifth republic and new constitution.

Gwangju massacre

Image copyright AP / Hundreds died as troops fired on 1980 rally

1981 - Chun indirectly elected to a seven year term. Martial law ends, but government continues to have strong powers to prevent dissent.

1986 - Constitution is changed to allow direct election of the president.

 Return to democracy

1980s - Increasing shift towards high-tech and computer industry.

1987 - President Chun pushed out of office by student unrest and international pressure in the build-up to the Sixth Constitution. General Roh Tae-woo succeeds President Chun, grants greater degree of political liberalisation and launches anti-corruption drive.

Demilitarised zone

Image copyright Getty Images / North (l) and South (r) Korean soldiers stand at arm's length

1988 - Olympic games in Seoul. First free parliamentary elections.

1991 - North and South Korea join United Nations.

1993 - President Roh succeeded by Kim Young Sam, a former opponent of the regime and the first freely-elected civilian president.

1996 - South Korea admitted to Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. 

 "Sunshine policy"

Image copyright Getty Images / Kim Dae-jung: Former president won Nobel Peace Prize

1998 - Kim Dae-jung sworn in as president and pursues "sunshine policy" of offering unconditional economic and humanitarian aid to North Korea.

2000 June - Summit in Pyongyang between Kim Jong-il and South Korean President Kim Dae-jung. North stops propaganda broadcasts against South.

2000 August - Border liaison offices re-open at truce village of Panmunjom. South Korea gives amnesty to more than 3,500 prisoners. One hundred North Koreans meet their relatives in the South in a highly-charged, emotional reunion. Kim Dae-jung awarded Nobel Peace Prize.

2001 - Opening of Incheon International Airport, built on tidal land off port of Incheon.

2002 March - Group of 25 North Koreans defect to South Korea through Spanish embassy in Beijing, highlighting plight of tens of thousands hiding in China after fleeing famine, repression in North.

 Naval battle

2002 June - Battle between South Korean and North Korean naval vessels along their disputed sea border leaves four South Koreans dead and 19 wounded. Thirty North Koreans are thought to have been killed.

2002 December - Roh Moo-hyun, from governing Millennium Democratic Party, wins closely-fought presidential elections.

2003 October - Biggest mass crossing of demilitarised zone since Korean War: Hundreds of South Koreans travel to Pyongyang for opening of gymnasium funded by South's Hyundai conglomerate.

2004 February - Parliament approves controversial dispatch of 3,000 troops to Iraq.

2004 June - US proposes to cut its troop presence by a third. Opposition raises security fears over the plan.

Union strikes

Image copyright Getty Images / Labour unrest flares up regularly

Disputed island

Image copyright Getty Images / Dispute over Dokdo, known as Takeshima in Japan, sours ties

2005 June - Kim Woo-choong, the fugitive former head of Daewoo, returns and is arrested for his role in the industrial giant's $70bn-plus collapse. In May 2006 he is sentenced to 10 years in jail.

2005 December - South Koreans are shocked by revelations that cloning scientist and national hero Dr Hwang Woo-suk faked landmark research on stem cell research.

2006 October - Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon is appointed as the UN's new secretary-general. He takes office in January 2007.

2007 February - South and North Korea agree to restart high-level talks suspended since July 2006 in wake of North's nuclear test.

Head of the largest South Korean car maker, Hyundai, is jailed for three years for embezzlement.

2007 April - South Korea and the US agree on a free-trade deal after 10 months of talks, although US Congress only ratifies it in 2011.

Historic train crossing

Image copyright Getty Images / Trains from North and South crossed the border in 2007

2007 May - Passenger trains cross the North-South border for the first time in 56 years.

2007 December - Conservative Lee Myung-bak wins landslide victory in presidential election.

2008 February - The country's greatest cultural treasure, the Namdaemun Gate, is destroyed by fire. 

 Financial crisis

2008 October - Government announces $130bn financial rescue package to shore up banking system and stabilise markets amis global financial crisis.

New freeze?

Image copyright Getty Images / President Lee ended his predecessor's "sunshine policy" in 2008

2009 January - North Korea says it is scrapping all military and political deals with the South.

2009 August - Former South Korean president Kim Dae-jung dies; North Korea sends a senior delegation to Seoul to pay its respects.

2009 October - North Korea expresses "regret" for unleashing dam water that drowned six campers downstream in South Korea in September. The two sides hold talks aimed at preventing flooding on the Imjin River which spans their militarised border.

2009 November - South and North Korean warships exchange fire across a disputed sea border, and again in January.

2010 January - North accepts an offer of food aid from South, the first such aid in two years.

 Sinking of warship

2010 May - South Korea breaks off all trade with the North after naval ship Cheonan was sunk by a North Korean torpedo in March. Pyongyang describes the findings as a "fabrication" and cuts all diplomatic ties with Seoul.

Cheonan sinking

Image copyright Getty Images / North Korea denied claims it sank the Southern warship Cheonan in 2010

2010 November - Cross-border clash near disputed maritime border results in death of two South Korean marines. South Korea places its military on highest non-wartime alert after shells land on Yeonpyeong island. Further exchange of fire in August.

2012 July - South Korea begins move of most ministries to "mini capital" at Sejong City, 120km south of Seoul. Key ministries will remain in Seoul.

2012 August - Lee Myung-bak becomes first president to visit the Liancourt Rocks, which Japan also claims. Tokyo recalls its ambassador in protest.

2012 October - South Korea strikes deal with the US to almost triple the range of its ballistic missile system to 800km as a response to North Korea's test of a long-range rocket in April.

2012 December - South Korea elects its first female president, Park Geun-hye, of the conservative Saenuri party. She takes office in February.

 New spike in tensions

2013 January - South Korea launches a satellite into orbit for the first time using a rocket launched from its own soil. Comes weeks after a North Korean rocket placed a satellite in orbit.

2013 March - South Korea accuses North of a cyber-attack that temporarily shuts down the computer systems at banks and broadcasters.

2013 September - North and South Korea reopen Kaesong joint industrial complex and hotline.

2013 December - South Korea announces expansion of air defence zone, two weeks after China unilaterally announced its own extended air defence zone in East China Sea to include disputed Socotra Rock.

2014 March - North and South Korea exchange fire into sea across the disputed western maritime border during largest South-US military training exercise in region for 20 years.

Ferry disaster

2014 April - Sewol ferry sinks off west coast, killing at least 281 people, mainly high-school students.

2014 October - North and South Korea engage in rare exchange fire across their land border as South Korean activists launch balloons containing leaflets condemning North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Gun fire also exchanged when Northern patrol ship crossed disputed western maritime border.

US and South Korea again postpone transfer of control over troops in South in event of war with North, citing "intensifying threat" from Pyongyang. Transfer due in 2012, and delayed until 2015. No new date set.

2014 December - Constitutional Court bans left-wing Unified Progressive Party, accused of being pro-North Korean.

President Park calls for cyber security at key facilities to be strengthened after data on its nuclear reactors is leaked.

2015 March - North Korea fires short-range surface-to-air missiles into the sea in an apparent show of force against annual military drills between South Korea and the United States.

2015 November-December - Mass protests in Seoul against government's economic policy and insistence on schools' using state-approved history books.

 President impeached

2016 October - President Park Geun-Hye is embroiled in a political crisis over revelations that she allowed a personal friend, with no government position, to meddle in affairs of state. She is later impeached.

2016 December - South Korea's military says its cyber command came under attack by North Korean hackers.

2017 May - The centre-left candidate Moon Jae-in is elected president in a landslide, and pledges to solve the North Korean crisis by diplomatic means.

2018 January - North and South Korea agree to march under the same flag at next month's Winter Olympics in South Korea in what's seen as a sign of a thaw in relations.

Article source : www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-15292674

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Black-and-White Thinking in our Social Worlds
The Evolutionary Basis of Simple Thinking

Posted Jan 12, 2016

Good guy or bad guy; with me or against me; friend or foe; right or wrong; love versus hate; yin and yang.

Our minds seem to like simple categorical ways to divide up information in the world. This is kind of interesting given how terribly complex and nuanced most things are - especially in our social lives. So why do we so strongly tend toward categorical simplicity in understanding the world? And what are costs and benefits of such reasoning in our day-to-day lives?

The Figure/Ground Illusion and Simplicity-Seeking

Source: Guam / Wikipedia Commons

The figure/ground illusion (see Hasson et al., 2001) exists when we look at an image that can be interpreted in multiple ways. For instance, the image included here can be seen as a vase. But after a few seconds of seeing it that way, we tend to see it as two faces looking at one another. However, and this point is critical, we cannot see both the vase AND the faces at the same time. To allow us to perceive the world in coherent units, our perceptual systems have evolved to force us to see a cluster of stimuli as only one coherent form at any given moment.

Simplicity-Seeking in Social Psychology

One of the interesting things about human social psychology is that, in many regards, we tend to over-simplify stimuli in our social worlds - seeing things that could be conceptualized as complex and nuanced as simple and categorical. For instance, in many ways, we divide people into the category of “on my team” or “not” per the powerful ingroup/outgroup phenomenon (Billig & Tajfel, 1973). Quickly and automatically, people divide folks into these categories - and research has shown that we treat people very differently if they are in our (psychologically constructed) group or not.

We see others as friends or as foes. We see people as good or bad. We see people as on our side, or against us. In an important sense, then, the simplicity-seeking processes in our basic visual systems parallel simplicity-seeking processes in our social perceptions.

And this tendency to see others in our social world in neat little categories, such as “good” or “bad,” likely helped our ancestors make efficient social decisions that helped them consort with others who were likely to help and support them and their families.

Implications of Being Simplicity-Seeking Creatures

Of course being overly simplistic in our social perceptions can be the basis of major problems in our worlds. As a college professor in the behavioral sciences, I am always trying to get students to understand nuances and complexities that underlie all behavior. Further, as an evolutionary psychologist, I am always teaching about human universals - or the fact that, at the end of the day, we’re all humans and all have come about the by same processes - and are all working toward similar goals that stem simply from being part of the living world.

Simplicity-Seeking and the Perception of Narcissists

And sometimes our science encourages simplicity seeking. As one example, consider current research on the topic of narcissists (see, for example, Paulhus & Williams, 2002). Researchers into relatively “dark” aspects of human personality have found that a core dark trait is narcissism - a tendency to focus overly on oneself at a cost to caring about others. People who are high on narcissism tend to behave in ways that truly benefit themselves a lot and such individuals tend to have little problem disregarding the interests of others.

This said, one nuance that often gets lost in the mix when it comes to narcissism is this: Narcissism is a continuous trait - people vary from one another by matters of degree. As is true with all continuous personality traits, people do not vary from one another categorically on this dimension. Thus, technically (and importantly), it’s not like there are “the narcissists” and “everyone else.” Rather, everyone has some proclivities toward narcissism - and some do more so, on average, than do others.

Now that’s a much more nuanced approach to thinking about what narcissism is, isn’t it? It’s also less simple. It’s less black-and-white. And, as someone who has taught courses in personality psychology since 1995, I can tell you also that it’s a difficult way for students (or anyone) to think about narcissism. It is so much easier and more natural for us to think about “narcissists” versus “everyone else” - and this fact is strongly rooted in our basic perceptual processes that promote black-and-white thinking in all areas of our lives.

Of course, this same problem, of seeing other people in overly simplified ways, is related to how things like ethnic or religious background affect how we see others. And yeah, lots of problems in this world stem from this fact.

Bottom Line

The social world is complex. In reality, people don’t really easily fall into categories of “good” and “evil” or "smart" or "dumb" or "helpful" or "lazy" - etc. In spite of the fact that human universals underlie so much of who we are, people have a very strong tendency to see others in highly simplistic, categorical ways. It’s way easier to see someone as “a narcissist” than to see that person as “slightly above the mean on the narcissist dimension at times.” It’s way easier to see someone as “a hypocrite” than to see someone as “less likely to hold and express consonant thoughts on average compared with others.”

We see a simple set of visual stimuli as either a vase OR as a pair of faces. And we often treat people in our social worlds with this same kind of categorical simplicity - often to the detriment of our getting to really know others in our world.

References

- Billig, M., & Tajfel, H. (1973). Social categorization and similarity in intergroup behaviour. European Journal of Social Psychology, 3, 27–52.

- Hasson, U., Hendler, T., Ben Bashat, D., and Malach, R. (2001). Vase or face? A neural correlate of shape-selective grouping processes in the human brain. J. Cogn. Neurosci. 13, 744–753.

- Paulhus, D. L., & Williams, K.M. (2002). The Dark Triad of Personality. Journal of Research in Personality, 36, 556-563.

Article source : https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/darwins-subterranean-world/201601/black-and-white-thinking-in-our-social-worlds

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< Questions >

Q1. What was the most memorable event in Korean history? 

Q2. Please name 3 events that you think important in our history.

Q3. Do you have any role model in our history? Who is that person? Why did you pick that public figure? What do you want to learn from him or her? 

Q4. What is the most important value for you between the Development and the Distribution? 

Q5. According to this article, we tend to over-simplify stimuli in our social worlds - seeing things that could be conceptualized as complex and nuanced as simple and categorical. For instance, in many ways, we divide people into the category of “on my team” or “not” per the powerful ingroup/outgroup phenomenon. How about you? Do you have similar over-simplifying experiences as above example suggested by dividing the group of people as your friends or foe? 

Q6. What is meant by splitting(all-or-nothing thinking)?

*** Splitting (also called black-and-white thinking or all-or-nothing thinking) is the failure in a person's thinking to bring together the dichotomy of both positive and negative qualities of the self and others into a cohesive, realistic whole. It is a common defense mechanism used by many people.

Q7. We need organized history for 'Social justice'. However, sometime people go too much. People pursue the 'Social Justice' while they are ruining the procedural justice. Do you think Korean politicians are enormously obsessed with the past and splitting thinking? What is the required attitude for brightening Korea future and for the citizen? 

*** Procedural justice is the idea of fairness in the processes that resolve disputes and allocate resources. One aspect of procedural justice is related to discussions of the administration of justice and legal proceedings

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procedural_justice

Q8. What is the most important value for our peaceful and brightening future Korea and Korean citizen? 

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Why urban farming is changing the future of agriculture

19 Jan 2018/ Patrick Caughill/ Associate Editor, Futurism

Surplus and Scarcity

The planet is growing more food than ever, and yet millions of people continue to starve worldwide. People are hungry everywhere — in the country, in the suburbs. But increasingly, one of the front lines in the war against hunger is in cities. As urban populations grow, more people find themselves in food deserts, areas with “[l]imited access to supermarkets, supercenters, grocery stores, or other sources of healthy and affordable food,” according to a report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

New technologies are changing the equation, allowing people to grow food in places where it was previously difficult or impossible, and in quantities akin to traditional farms.

Farming at New Heights

Urban farms can be as simple as traditional small outdoor community gardens, or as complex as indoor vertical farms in which farmers think about growing space in three-dimensional terms. These complex, futuristic farms can be configured in a number of ways, but most of them contain rows of racks lined with plants rooted in soil, nutrient-enriched water, or simply air. Each tier is equipped with UV lighting to mimic the effects of the sun. Unlike the unpredictable weather of outdoor farming, growing indoors allows farmers to tailor conditions to maximize growth.

With the proper technology, farming can go anywhere. That’s what the new trend of urban farming shows — these farms go beyond simple community vegetable gardens to provide food to consumers in surrounding areas. All vertical farmers need is some space and access to electricity, no special facilities required. Farmers can buy everything they need to start and maintain their farms online as easily as shopping on Amazon.

In fact, because it’s so easy to access starting materials, officials don’t really know how many urban farms are running in the United States. A 2013 survey by the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) received 315 responses from people operating facilities they describe as urban or suburban farms. However, federal grants for agriculture development show thousands of city-dwelling recipients, indicating that the number of urban farms is likely much higher.

“You have to look at these facilities in cubic feet as opposed to square feet. We can really put out a lot of produce from a facility like this,” Dave Haider, the president of Urban Organics, a company that operates urban farms based in St. Paul, Minnesota, told Futurism. Technology allows vertical farmers to control the environment in their farms, enabling them grow a lot more in the same amount of space, according to a 2014 study in the Journal of Agricultural Studies.

    Image: Futurism

Urban farms can grow more than just fruits and vegetables. Urban Organics grows three varieties of kale, two varieties of Swiss chard, Italian parsley, and cilantro, but uses the same water to raise Arctic char and Atlantic salmon — a closed-loop system often called aquaponics. Fish waste fertilizes the plants, which clean and filter the water before it goes back into the planters; excess drips into the fishtanks.

Urban Organics opened its first farm inside a former brewery complex in 2014. In the years since, it’s brought food where it’s needed most: to people in the food deserts of the Twin Cities. In 2014, The Guardian named the company one of the ten most innovative urban farming projects in the world.

“Trying to put a dent in the industry when it comes to food deserts is really one of the driving factors behind our first farm, which was actually located in a food desert,” Haider said. Urban Organics sells its produce to local retailers and provides locally-sourced fish to nearby restaurants. “That was sort of a sort of our approach — let’s try to grow produce and raise high-quality protein in an area that needs it most.” As more people move to cities, problems like food scarcity might get even worse.

The vertical farm is also environmentally-friendly. Aquaponics systems result in very little waste. Vertical farming allows growers to use their finite area more efficiently, so we collectively can better utilize established space instead of creating more arable land, leaving more ecosystems intact. Placing the farms close to vendors and consumers means that fresher produce can reach tables with less reliance on trucks, which contribute to pollution and global warming.

What’s the Harm in an Urban Farm?

As people all over the world move to cities, urban centers sprawl to accommodate them. Often, that means taking over former farmland to support more people. In New Jersey, cities like Camden and Trenton are becoming more populous as they convert into urban spaces.

Vertical farming can limit that sprawl. “Vertical farms can actually come into these areas to recolonize the city and to take spaces that have been removed from producing anything,” Paul P.G. Gauthier, a vertical farming expert at the Princeton Environmental Institute, told Futurism.

But setting up an urban farm is often not an easy task. Finding enough space for an affordable price can present a significant obstacle for potential farmers. Vertical farmers also need to know how to operate more technology, including systems that control elements such as soil contaminants and water availability, that nature takes care of on a traditional farm.

     Image: Futurism

Now, companies are popping up to help urban farmers get their facilities up and running. One Brooklyn-based company, Agritecture Consulting, helps people and organizations that want to start their own vertical farms to conduct market research and economic analyses, and to design and engineer the farm plans. The company has successfully completed more than a dozen projects to date, creating farms around the world, including some in the cramped confines of Manhattan and Brooklyn.

The benefits of urban farming practices extend beyond the tangible aspects of growing food in underserved areas — there’s also a fortunate side effect of cultivating community. That’s a big draw for organizations, including Urban Organics and Agritecture Consultants.

Growing Communities

Urban Organics opened a new facility this past summer. It’s much larger than the organization’s other locations, and could provide more than 124,700 kilograms (about 275,000 pounds) of fresh fish and nearly 215,500 kilograms (more than 475,000 pounds) of produce to the nearby area each year.

The former brewing complex in which the new farm is located is undergoing a revitalization, adding artists’ condos and even a food hall, according to a press release emailed to Futurism. Haider is excited about the potential of the new facility and the impact it will have on the developing neighborhood. “Not only are we creating some good-paying, quality jobs with some medical benefits, but these are jobs that just didn’t exist in the area prior to Urban Organics. And these are the things that excite us,” he said.

This winning formula of bringing food and jobs to these areas can help build underserved communities. “Once that’s done, we get to go out to identify the next markets and then do it all over again,” Haider said.

Empowering individuals to get into urban farming can build community, too. Henry Gordon-Smith, the co-founder and managing director of Agritecture, has a side project called Plus.farm, a do-it-yourself resource website for individuals and small groups looking to start urban farms of their own. It’s his passion project, his “labor of love,” he told Futurism. “This is my way of not-so-subtly democratizing some of the best practices. It’s a great way for people to create their own approaches, which is what I really want to see.” The site allows farmers to come up with their own hacks — better lights, better sensors, better growing techniques — and share them on the site’s forum. That’s how an ancient practice like farming continues to improve with modern tools.

Farms of the Future

As people continue to study and tweak urban farming practices, we will continue to learn more about how they can benefit the areas surrounding them and the greater global community. Data on how urban farms directly affect their local communities may compel lawmakers to support and invest more in urban farms.

Gordon-Smith has planned another side project to this effect: an entire building or neighborhood to test urban farming technologies while gathering data. Though the location has not yet been decided, Gordon-Smith has already received a $2 million commitment from Brooklyn borough president Eric L. Adams; he has also taken his proposal to the New York City Council. The proposal is waiting for consideration from the Committee on Land Use, and there is no indication of when it will be decided.

Vertical farming, and urban agriculture in general, could be a significant boon for areas with the resources to invest, feeding residents and bolstering the local economy. Still, it’s important to know that urban agriculture is not a singular solution to solve a massive problem like helping people access enough nutritious food. Gauthier, the Princeton urban farming expert, points out that there are a lot of important crops that simply cannot be grown indoors, at least not yet. “We’ll probably never grow soybeans, wheat, or maize indoors,” he said. “Vertical farming is not the solution for solving hunger across the world. It’s not the solution, but it is certainly part of the solution.”

Other efforts to combat world hunger grant people in poor nations more economic freedom by giving them lines of credit, or instituting basic income policies, like those being tested in Kenya. Education, social change, and female empowerment are all social initiatives that can help more people access the food they need to sustain themselves and their families.

Urban farms have the potential to change the world’s agricultural landscape. Granted, we’re probably not going to see a planet of supercities in which all farming is done in high-rise buildings. But urban farms can bring greater yields in smaller areas, increase access to healthy options in urban food deserts, and mitigate the environmental impact of feeding the world. That seems like enough of a reason to continue to develop and expand these transformative farming practices.

Article source : https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/01/why-urban-farming-is-changing-the-future-of-agriculture?utm_content=bufferf3ae6&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

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< Questions >

Q1. Have you ever heard about the urban farming? Could you explain this concept? 

*** Urban Farming

The North American Urban Agriculture Committee defines it as:
"The production, distribution and marketing [and disposal] of food and other products within the cores and edges of metropolitan areas. Urban agriculture is a complex activity, addressing issues of food security, neighborhood development, environmental sustainability, land use planning, agricultural and food systems, farmland preservation, and other concerns."

The USDA National Agricultural Library notes:
"Around 15% of the world's food is now grown in urban areas. City and suburban agriculture take the form of backyard, roof-top and balcony gardening, community gardening in vacant lots and parks, roadside urban fringe agriculture and livestock grazing in open space."

For the purposes of this website within the context of EPA's Brownfields and land revitalization program, urban agriculture can include public, community and private community gardens as well as larger scale urban farms or orchards as well as growing herbs, spices, flowers for market, raising chickens or livestock, and keeping bees. Urban agriculture may also include growing crops for animal feed or bedding, as well as non-food crops for landscaping, flower gardens, seed, bulb or plant sale, oil, fragrance, dye, biofuel and fiber.

Particular concerns regarding soil contaminants and exposure risks that present issues for in-ground gardens and farms may be avoided where hydroponic, roof-top gardens or farms or vegetated walls or other structures using controlled growing medium and limited soil contact.

source: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/frequent-questions-about-brownfields-and-urban-agriculture

Q2. What is the Organic Farming Scheme?

*** The Organic Farming Scheme (OFS) is an Agri-environment package which supports conversion to organic production. OFS agreements run for a period of five years during which you are committed to farming according to organic standards and remaining certified by an organic certification body.
source: https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/articles/organic-farming-your-questions-answered

Q3. Do you think that technological development driven innovation can tackle the food security issue? 

Q4. What would be the benefits and side effects of urban agriculture? 

Q5. If you can raise one product in your roof top, what would it be?