'Lecturer Met by the Representative of Korea Lecturer Newspaper' - Kim Kyung-il Edition
[Korea Lecturer News Reporter Han Sang-hyung] For the 'Lecturer Met by the Representative of Korea Lecturer News' interview series, we met Professor Kim Kyung-il of Ajou University, a “master of cognitive psychology.” Professor Kim received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in psychology from Korea University and his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Texas at Austin. He has been a professor in the Department of Psychology at the College of Social Sciences, Ajou University since 2006.
He served as President of the Korean Society for Music Perception and Cognition (2008–2010), Director of the Admissions Center at Ajou University (2013–2015), and Director of the Central Psychological Autopsy Center (2014–2015). He is also currently serving as the Director of the Game Science Research Institute and Chairman of the Game Culture Foundation (2018–present). His numerous publications include *Psychology of Wisdom*, *The Minds of Others*, *Wisdom of the Mind*, and *Professor Kim Kyung-il's Psychology Class*.
Q. What motivated you to study psychology?
I have always lived by trying to do the opposite of what I hated doing the most. This happened when I was in my senior year of high school. I was looking at introductory books for various majors at a bookstore, and I hated Introduction to Law the most. So I asked those around me, "What is the exact opposite of law?" Most of them said psychology. The same goes for my choice of Cognitive Psychology. I couldn't even imagine doing Counseling Psychology, but Cognitive Psychology was the most different field of study. I think thinking simply is what has made me who I am today.
Q. When and how did you come to stand before the public?
I don't remember clearly, but I think word of it gradually spread as I did a lot of corporate consulting and lectures. In the early days of lecturing, I mainly focused on technical aspects. After that, I think I went through a process of gradually discussing concepts from other fields of psychology based on cognitive psychology.
Q. Is there anything memorable that happened during your psychology lectures?
This happened before 2010. It was when I was giving a lecture to department heads at a large corporation who had recently laid off five or six or more of their subordinates on their own accord. They were truly people with complex emotions. Although I encountered an audience filled with various feelings such as sadness, pain, and anger, lecturing to those who were literally "too heavy-hearted" was the most difficult and challenging. Of course, I believed I could help them, but it was a moment when I felt uneasy and struggled with what I should say to them.
Q. What are the benefits if instructors utilize psychology in their lectures?
Psychology is a discipline that investigates cause and effect—that is, causal relationships. Therefore, it is a very meticulous field of study. However, why did the psychologist come up with the cause of that result? While the connection itself is interesting, you can deliver a much more engaging lecture if you can share the psychologist's mindset and personal anecdotes that led them to take an interest in that relationship. It seems people like instructors who express their thoughts and experiences in an entertaining way.
From left, Professor Kim Kyung-il, Publisher Han Sang-hyung
From left, Professor Kim Kyung-il, Publisher Han Sang-hyung
Q. Could you share your thoughts on the role and value of psychology in the age of AI?
Ultimately, AI learns patterns. Therefore, it is highly vulnerable to deviations from those patterns. In this sense, I believe it is crucial to understand and embrace those who deviate from institutions, customs, and conventional wisdom. Furthermore, effectively leveraging their capabilities in reverse will become an important human domain in the future. Psychology will be a highly useful discipline precisely in this regard.
Q. Do you have any future plans or anything you would like to say?
We are now hearing abound about the "era of 100" and "120." We have become a society where people live and work for incredibly long periods. Consequently, we have entered an era where we must view aging from a new perspective. I also believe it is necessary to possess unique abilities that AI cannot replicate and to express a sense of presence. I hope that through psychology, which is based on cause and effect, you will lead a life with a perspective distinct from the world. Thank you.
주요
기사
댓글
0