[Bbanggubneun Tajagi] Nuclear Family? ... Ga Remains but Zok Disappears

The 'Nuclear Individual' Era More Fragmented Than Nuclear Families
Observations by Data Expert Song Gil-young, Vice President of Daumsoft

"We will all be fragmented, scattered, and stand alone. It is the era of the ‘Nuclear Individual’ beyond the nuclear family."

Song Gil-young, Vice President of Daum Soft and author of Era Forecast: The Age of the Nuclear Individual, calls himself a ‘Mind Miner.’ This means he makes a profession out of reading people's minds from vast amounts of data. Sensitive to social changes, he presents the concept of the ‘Nuclear Individual.’ With the advancement of AI-based technology, the systems that have maintained society until now are changing, giving birth to the ‘Nuclear Individual.’

The ‘Nuclear Individual,’ emerging in an era where even the nuclear family is fragmenting, is a being that is divided, scattered, and stands alone. With digital tools and AI development, traditional social authorities are breaking apart, and in a life cycle that can reach 100 years, the boundaries of organizations and family fences are dispersing. It is a new kind of individual who stands alone, contemplating their own capabilities and survival in this era.

The Nuclear Individual is less sensitive to boundaries. They have no resistance to the fusion of cultures beyond national borders and are accustomed to communal living. Although family events and gatherings naturally decreased due to social distancing during COVID-19, neighborly communities living close by, taking care of each other, have entered their network of relationships. There are alternative family forms where a Chosun-jok grandmother, who acted as a live-in helper for a woman raising a child alone, and a 90-year-old grandfather she began caring for again, gather on weekends or holidays in solidarity. The author diagnoses this by saying, "In the era of the Nuclear Individual, ‘ga (家, home)’ remains, but ‘jok (族, clan)’ is disappearing."

The author foresees a future where the Nuclear Individual is no longer a variant but the standard. He anticipates various changes, from the global popularity of K-culture, the everyday use of AI assistants, academic inflation, multicultural families and population structures affected by low birth rates, to the end of filial piety in an aging society. Through this, he forecasts the coming era and contemplates what each person should prepare for survival.

He does not insist on winning in unconditional competition. He emphasizes that ‘barely making a living’ is not a bad thing. For example, anyone can become a writer through various platforms, but if everyone does the same work, the number of consumers decreases. The future the author envisions is a ‘loosely connected mutual aid marketplace.’ It is a kind of barter or labor exchange among creators. A web novelist buys emoticons from an illustrator, and the illustrator subscribes to the web novel in return. This is no different from the past when a local fried chicken shop owner entrusted clothes to a neighboring laundry, and the laundry owner bought drinks at the nearby supermarket. The online world becomes like a neighborhood commercial district. The author argues, "When we step down from competitive winning and shed the constraints of appearances, we can acknowledge and reflect on ourselves," adding, "When we sincerely respect each other and pursue ‘best’ as an absolute value rather than ‘the best’ as a relative value, we will become free."

Compared to its grand start, the conclusion feels somewhat like a Zen koan. The examples in the book are full of d?j? vu. The ‘young generation who can’t make delivery calls,’ ‘bosses who give hints to work overtime,’ and the advice to ‘preserve your own value like the luxury brand Chanel and aim for the global market as the highest level’ are all clich?s to anyone. Sometimes, the meaning of the ‘Nuclear Individual’ wavers. Rather than containing precise data-based cases and analyses, it leans more toward sentimentality. Yet its significance may lie in the fact that modern people are already overwhelmed with information, so it offers a moment to pause and reflect.

Era Forecast: The Age of the Nuclear Individual | Written by Song Gil-young | Kyobo Bookstore | 340 pages | 21,000 KRW