[The Editors' Verdict] Digital Technology Leading the Hyperconnected Society

Kim Kyung-soo, Professor Emeritus at Sungkyunkwan University

The Voice blind auditions are a competition where judges (coaches) decide solely by listening to the contestants' singing, without any prejudice based on their appearance. It started 11 years ago in the Netherlands and is now operated in 145 countries worldwide. Considering that the United Nations (UN) has 193 member countries, McDonald's franchises in 122 countries, and Starbucks in 83 countries, one can gauge its popularity.

Originally broadcast on TV, this program offers more than just a way to spend leisure time. With the advancement of digital technology, users can now edit content according to their preferences on social networking services (SNS), making it easier to access views of the world that were previously difficult to reach.

Once, upon hearing a Tibetan folk song, I thought it must share roots with our traditional Korean chang (唱). However, traditional songs from a wide area extending beyond Asia to Europe showed the same similarity. In The Voice France, a woman playing a traditional instrument and singing high notes in front of a silent audience seemed like the seeds of human culture spreading out.

Contrary to common belief, women often appear more rational, while men tend to be more emotional. Among the judges, women tend to listen to the entire song before making a judgment, whereas men often rely on curiosity. On a Northern European channel, when a young person who seemed to have lived a difficult life sang slowly, male judges who teared up eventually sobbed. Judging from the song title, they probably recalled their own once difficult lives.

In The Voice Southeast Asia, when a young, small girl who seemed to have grown up without proper education or affection timidly began singing the "Queen of the Night," it was heartbreaking. However, her voice, which gradually overwhelmed everything, sounded like the door opening to this child's future. A visually impaired teenage girl who became famous through The Voice sang a song in her music video comforting people weary from COVID-19. Her clear and pure voice seemed to whisper, "I am someone who cannot see ahead, too. Please stay strong."

In high-income countries, immigrant-origin judges invariably appear. They are celebrities enjoying great popular fame. In a world where social status is measured not by skin color but by wealth, the frustration and anger felt by those pushed to the margins help explain why nationalist, country-first sentiments rejecting foreigners have emerged at the heart of the global world.

Dani Rodrik argued in "The Globalization Paradox" that high levels of globalization, democracy, and state power cannot coexist but only coexist in tension. Contrary to Rodrik's claim, digital technology has enabled the coexistence of these two worlds. However, conflicts between globalization and state power cause tension and confrontation between the two. The money many countries distributed during the pandemic crisis is a product of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), which believes that the state with exclusive minting rights did not supply enough money. Despite doubts about intrinsic value, cryptocurrencies broke through ceilings in opposition to state powers that caused inflation.

Human curiosity has driven the advancement of digital technology. And digital technological progress has led to a hyperconnected society. Considering the motivation behind technological progress, it is impossible for state power to reverse the hyperconnected society and, further, globalization.

The Voice is not the only thing on SNS. Fake news, hate, and agitation are keywords of pessimism about the hyperconnected society achieved by digital technology. The plunge in Facebook's stock price due to whistleblowing on unethical behavior is evidence that market discipline works properly. Therefore, systems must be strengthened to prevent private interests from being pursued at the expense of the public good. Only then can the two worlds coexist.

Kyungsoo Kim, Professor Emeritus, Sungkyunkwan University

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