Technology, Superpowers, and Humanity
Reflections on the Korean sci-fi TV show “Moving”
Recently, I have watched “Moving,” a Korean sci-fi TV show. With a scope of twenty episodes, the show presents stories of a few retired secret agents with superhuman capabilities struggling to protect their families living in the conventional society in modern Korea. The show does not give the audience an explanation of how these agents get their superhuman powers and abilities. Yet, it makes the arrangement that their children have inherited particular powers from their parents. As the story revolves around how the super-powered children awaken to master their extraordinary powers, the power play involving South Korea, the U.S., and North Korea has also gradually emerged.
As I immerse myself in the unfolding of events that explain the past lives of these superhuman parents, I find myself resonating with the unimaginable hardships they have to go through to live as normal human beings. And, of course, self-preservation and living low-key become the common lessons they distill into their children. When you possess an unspeakable and exceptional power, which is also not easily replicable, you are either feared and misunderstood or loved and worshipped. In this sense, the secret technology that has empowered the superhuman agents has also unavoidably strained their social relations.
Part of the main storyline is the competition among the secret agencies of three involved parties, South Korea, the U.S., and North Korea, to have super-human agents while checking competitors’ ability to do so. The existence of super-human agents, if we perceive them as the results of particular technologies, from the perspective of national interests, becomes the focal point of confrontation in the story. Underlying this technological race is the issue of fundamental human struggles for possessions, status, power, self-preservation and security, and having an edge.
From this angle, the topic of super-human capabilities and the associated technologies and scientific discoveries, regardless of how difficult it is to develop them, is a miniature of the age of grand technological advancement and competition. It makes sense if we consider the current battles among states and businesses regarding chips, artificial intelligence (AI), military statecraft, financial innovation, transmissible deadly viruses, nuclear power, and so on.
Scientific endeavors and technological progress are always a double-edged sword. While we cheer at the achievements of technological upgrades and breakthroughs to uplift our living status, as a collective human race, we are also invariably entangled with the aftermath and implications of technology’s misuse and deviated applications. In a sense, there are inherent and unpredictable risks associated with such progress. In essence, this paradox pushes humanity on the edge because as long as civilization is here to stay, we are destined to live with this reality that leads us to infinite uncertainty.
Let’s look at this issue on a small scale. It is not unfamiliar to notice how the invention of the internet, for example, despite being a neutral and practical tool, has, to some extent, instigated the issue of cyber threats. The internet has facilitated access to information for individuals, contributed to economic productivity and output, and connected and enriched people’s lives. But, at the same time, it has also caused persistent concerns, such as cybersecurity threats, disinformation, breach of privacy, and enlarging the capabilities of the surveillance state, particularly with the assistance of advanced AI technologies.
Indeed, problems with the internet might be considered an acceptable nuisance, which is the price we may have to pay for convenience and comfort. But what if there are more significant risks out there that our cognitive bias prevents us from seeing them? Unintended consequences that will repeatedly test the limits and resiliency of our humanity and fundamental moral values?
The challenge posed by technological advancement is not new in modern times. For the ancient Taoists, that which underlies technological breakthroughs and progress reflects the driving force of the human mind.
Chuang Tzu told the story of Zigong, a disciple of Confucius and a successful entrepreneur and scholar, revealing the Taoist attitude toward overusing the mind for scheme and calculation.
One day, he was traveling to the state of Chu, where he met a peasant dropping a bucket into a well. After drawing some water, he held the jar and watered his plants. This slow process involved a lot of labor with limited results. Zigong approached the peasant and suggested a well-sweep device, which is more efficient for drawing up water. But the peasant rejected his idea and said,
where there are machines, there are bound to be machine worries; where there are machine worries, there are bound to be machine hearts. With a machine heart in your breast, you’ve spoiled what was pure and simple, and without the pure and simple, the life of the spirit knows no rest. Where the life of the spirit knows no rest, the Way will cease to buoy you up. It’s not that I don’t know about your machine—I would be ashamed to use it!”1
Spiritual tranquility is crucial for the Taoists. The most challenging opponent is the individual self, who adopts a contending approach in life, striving for possessions, recognition, and power. Therefore, Taoists see a scheming mind as a reflection of constant desires, even though it is also behind all those incredible human inventions and technological breakthroughs.
This is not to say that Taoism advocates a principle of passivity and inaction in managing human affairs. Instead, it is about thoroughly understanding the phenomenal world and the realities of myriad things while being conscious of the consequences of particular human actions. As Lao Tzu said,
The submissive and weak will overcome the hard and strong.
The fish must not be allowed to leave the deep;
The instruments of power in a state must not be revealed to anyone.2
The unfortunate tragedy of power politics and psychological battles is that we all know the value of peace and harmony. Yet, we cannot resist the temptation to possess that particular edge because we assume it would give us claws when deterrence is needed.
But, it would be ridiculous to suggest abandoning innovation and technological upgrades. Then, how do we deal with the challenges posed by its advances? Roam with changes and embrace transformations while not allowing the mind to be disturbed and possessed by external conditions and internal desires. As Chuang Tzu noted,
If you are one with the great Way, then you no longer have preferences. If you are one with the cosmos, you are transformed.3
It is a spiritual lesson that we can transform ourselves under changing circumstances while not being captured and dictated by our desires. After all, inner peace, made possible by the stability of the mind, is the most powerful and immediate weapon we all have.
Burton Watson, “Heaven and Earth,” in The Complete Works of Zhuangzi (New York: Columbia University Press, 2013), 91.
Tao Te Ching, trans. D. C. Lau. (London: Penguin Classics, 1963), 41.
Martin Palmer, “The Great and Original Teacher,” in The Book of Chuang Tzu (London: Penguin Books, 1996), 58.