[W Forum] Virus and Sacrifice

The unexpected event happened just after I returned a rented bicycle. It was on the riverside walking path near Kamo Bridge upstream of the Kamo River in Kyoto. It was a place where two streams merged in a Y shape, similar to the confluence of the two rivers at the mouth of the Han River. The cool river flowed beneath a sky where a large hawk circled, and crows flew noisily as if being chased.

Having ridden the bicycle all around Kyoto, I was hungry. Just before returning the bike, I had taken a bite of a palm-sized bread and was holding it carefully to prevent the filling from falling out as I walked. Suddenly, I felt a 'tap' from behind, and the bread in my hand was snatched away. It was a huge hawk, about the size of an eagle. Only the transparent plastic wrapping that had covered the bread and a little bit of the egg mayo filling remained on my hand. The hawk had taken only the filling from my grasp. Fortunately, my hand was not injured, but the shock from the sudden incident did not subside even after some time.

No matter how much I think about it, humans do not seem to have any superior traits compared to other animals. On the African savannah, you can see animals running just hours after birth, but we humans just cry and wail even after twelve months. Even in our prime, we often stumbled and fell, hurting ourselves. Although humans can use language, the part of human language that can be trusted is very limited. So, are we smart? Maybe in what we have learned, but in areas we have not learned, we are almost no different from animals and can do nothing.

Most of the time, we cannot find the answer to problems. I heard of a study that cockroaches’ IQ can rise to 340 in emergencies, but I have experienced that in emergencies, my IQ drops close to zero. It is said that the only animals that sapiens can hit by throwing stones are sapiens themselves. Humans are weak beings.

What exactly has brought humanity to its current position? What was it that other animals dared not do? It was that we trusted each other and cooperated with all our might for the same goal. In other words, cooperation is something other animals cannot dare to imitate.

If, like in Alfred Hitchcock’s movie "The Birds," all birds cooperated to attack humans, we would be helpless. What if tens of thousands of cockroaches, like in the movie "Joe’s Apartment," cooperated to open the toilet lid and take over the house?

Why don’t animals cooperate? Because cooperation inevitably involves sacrifice, and the one who is sacrificed could be oneself, so cooperation is impossible. Insects like ants and bees sacrifice for the colony. The individuals who sacrifice, for example, the ones that stretch their abdomens like large jars to store honey, are systematically rewarded. The greatest ability of humanity is that cooperation was made possible through someone’s sacrifice.

Our survival is threatened by the sudden outbreak of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). But in this situation, the greatest weapon of humanity?sacrifice?is shining. The sacrifice of medical staff and related personnel who enter the infection sites and fight desperate battles to prevent infection for all of us. I offer infinite respect and gratitude for their noble sacrifice. And I believe that such beautiful sacrifice must be accompanied by clear rewards.

But what should be done about those who parasitize sacrifice by hoarding masks? And what about the lies and selfish behaviors that hinder our cooperation, behaviors no different from animals?

Seo Jae-yeon, Executive Director, Mirae Asset Daewoo Galleria WM

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.