[One Thousand Characters a Day] Professor Kim Kyung-il's 'Wisdom for Preparing for Death'

Editor's NoteOnly humans create graves. In ancient tombs, items used by the deceased were often placed together. Graves contain not only the body but also the hope that the world continues to exist after death and the belief that the departed soul moves on somewhere. Realizing that life is finite and preparing for death is a uniquely human ability rarely found in other animals. At the end of Wisdom of the Mind, the discussion focuses not on death itself but on the wisdom of life that can be gained through death. Professor Kim Kyung-il advises, "Do not be lonely. Be very grateful, receive much gratitude, and create opportunities to prepare for a beautiful death in the distant future." Word count: 910.

Humans are creatures who love to imagine. When asked, "Can you become rich?" most people can immediately let their imagination run wild. They vividly picture themselves as wealthy. However, if asked to imagine their family getting hurt or a nuclear war breaking out, it is not easy to conjure such images. Our brains tend to reject imagining such horrific events.

So, how will I die? Have you ever imagined the moment you leave this world? It is an extremely difficult thing. Just imagining it is already painful.

Ironically, in movies and dramas, we constantly witness someone's death. A study investigating which scenes?'birth,' 'marriage,' or 'death'?appear most frequently in media aired over a certain period found that 'death' overwhelmingly ranked first. Thinking about it, I recall seeing wedding scenes only occasionally in films, and there are few movies that properly depict childbirth scenes. But in most movies, the protagonist inevitably dies. Even if the protagonist survives, someone dies. Characters die in romance films, and they die in action films. In war movies, we can watch thousands or tens of thousands die without much reaction.

We often imagine blessings, celebrations, and precious moments in life. Imagination is the brain's process of concretizing, learning, and preparing for these events. But when it comes to death, which we should prepare for well, we reject imagining it because it is painful and dreadful. That is why death always seems to come suddenly for us humans.

Whether it is a patient who has been ill for a long time or someone who passed away from an acute illness, everyone feels startled, regretful, and troubled in the face of death. Perhaps this is why we learn through media?to prepare a little better for death.

- Kim Kyung-il, Wisdom of the Mind, Forest Books, 18,800 KRW