*Editor’s note: K-VIBE invites experts from various K-culture sectors to share their extraordinary discovery about the Korean culture. 

Chapter 1. The Past

Andrea Pozzo: Opening a Virtual World through Illusions

 

By Noh Seok-joon (Master K-architect engineer)

All humans dream of happiness and hope that everyone, including themselves, can share in this joy. This fundamental human desire for happiness leads to imagination, which in turn creates the concept of a utopia, an ideal society that exists only in the mind.

 

The concept of 'utopia' was first proposed in 1516 by Thomas More, an English politician and humanist. The term 'utopia' combines the ancient Greek words 'u' (meaning 'not') and 'topos' (meaning 'place'), as well as 'eu' (meaning 'good') and 'topos,' resulting in the dual meaning of 'no place' and 'good place.' Thus, utopia generally translates to 'a happy place that exists nowhere.'

 

Thomas More made an innovative attempt to transform the 'happy place that exists nowhere' into 'a happy place that exists somewhere.' Through his groundbreaking work, Utopia, More proposed an idealized state and city where all members of society could live happily—a nation not for a select few in power but for the happiness, freedom, and equality of the majority of ordinary people.

 

Utopia: From Imagination to Reality

 

In the 16th century, Europe, under the feudal system, saw the brutal oppression and exploitation of the majority of peasants and lower classes by monarchs and nobles. Thomas More contemplated a country where commoners and the lower classes could live happily without oppression, resulting in the creation of the ideal state of Utopia.

 

Thomas More's Utopia consists of two books. The first book satirizes and criticizes the corrupt absolutist politics and the evils of private property in 16th-century Europe, particularly in England. The second book provides a detailed introduction and explanation of Utopia.

 

Utopia is a political fantasy structured as a story that encompasses the characteristics of literature, politics, law, philosophy, and ethics. It features a fictional character named Raphael who describes the ideal island nation of Utopia to Thomas More.

 

Concerned and saddened by the lives of his people, More viewed King Henry VIII's politics, which exploited the economic foundations of the people, as needing reform and proposed Utopia as an ideal country to replace it.

 

Emphasizing the importance of equality for all humans, Thomas More presented an extremely egalitarian state theory through Utopia. This nation comprises 54 cities, all constructed according to the same plan, resulting in identical appearances. All houses within the cities have the same structure, with doors always open so that anyone can visit anywhere. It is based on the principle of communal ownership and labor, with citizens eating together in communal halls and wearing the same clothing.

 

Personal taste and freedom are also respected. Citizens of Utopia work only six hours a day, sleep for eight hours, and spend the remaining time reading books, engaging in hobbies, and receiving any education they desire.

 

Thomas More's Utopia is the first work to vividly depict an ideal society that everyone imagines and desires but has never dared to implement in reality. This work holds significant political and sociological meaning beyond being a simple literary piece. When Thomas More wrote Utopia, the feudalistic social system connected humans in a rigid hierarchical structure from the king to peasants and farmers.

 

In such a reality, an ideal society where everyone could enjoy equality and happiness existed only in the imagination of a few individuals. Proposing the institutions and mechanisms to realize Utopia, More's work was a groundbreaking event in political and social thought.

 

Furthermore, More's Utopia did not end as an abstract theoretical proposal. He utilized knowledge and imagination in politics, society, religion, geography, and architecture to propose such a concrete vision that everything in Utopia could materialize in a virtual space. More not only proposed specific spaces from an architectural perspective to enable communal living but also detailed all the laws, rules, and living norms occurring there.

 

Thomas More's Utopia goes beyond a mere imaginary proposal. Its vivid and concrete suggestions, feasible in reality, became a crucial model for subsequent utopian societies envisioned by French utopian socialists and communists. In fact, the ideas proposed in Utopia became important foundational resources for designing buildings, cities, nations, political and economic systems, and social institutions in socialist and communist societies.

 

Thomas More's Utopia and the Modern Metaverse

 

Thomas More's creation of a reality-based virtual utopia, offering a concrete plan that could be implemented in the real world, has significantly influenced the concept of utopian virtual spaces in modern times.

 

From the Relationship Between God and Humans to Relationships Among Humans

 

Thomas More's Utopia marked a critical turning point by shifting the focus of virtual worlds from the relationship between God and humans to relationships among humans and between humans and the real world. Previously, all virtual worlds and spaces, such as heaven, hell, and purgatory, were created from the relationship between God and humans. However, More broke this mold and addressed real-world relationships, such as those between kings and commoners.

 

In a time when commoners, the exploited and oppressed class, lived extremely difficult lives, More envisioned an ideal virtual world, Utopia, to overcome these societal issues. He meticulously designed a political and social system in which humans could live most happily and created a virtual space to realize this. Through Utopia, he dreamed of a world where everyone was happy, free from the exploitation and oppression of the real world. This aligns with the modern metaverse, which focuses on the lives of humans in reality and even seeks to integrate virtual and real-world experiences.

 

From Infinite Scale to Measurable Human Scale

 

With Utopia, the scale of virtual spaces transitioned from the infinite to a human-measurable scale, focusing on human-to-human relationships rather than divine ones. The afterlife spaces depicted in the Christian worldview, such as hell, heaven, and purgatory, were vast and otherworldly, extending to divine realms, making their scale almost immeasurable. In contrast, More's Utopia was proposed as a small island nation with 54 cities, each concretely and numerically defined, reflecting the scale of human cities and architectural spaces.

 

In other words, after Utopia, virtual spaces shifted from an infinite scale to a human-scale that could be measured and inhabited.

 

From Imaginary Stories to Real Stories

 

The events in More's virtual space did not unfold in mythical stories from the Bible or in an imagined afterlife never experienced by humans. Instead, More's Utopia addressed real-life events affecting individuals, based on the real world, and envisioned a future virtual world where all members could live happily and equally.

 

From Observer to Experiencer

 

In Utopia, the story unfolds through a dialogue between the fictional character Raphael and Thomas More. This format, where a fictional character experiences the utopian space on behalf of the reader, is akin to the current methods of accessing virtual reality and the metaverse.

 

Thomas More's Utopia was a groundbreaking event in history that shifted the focus and stage of interest in virtual spaces. It serves as an intriguing example of how a virtual proposal can influence reality and lead to the creation of a new entity. Virtual worlds and spaces, born from human imagination and concepts, are continually created and debated until they eventually materialize as real spaces through technological advancements. This ongoing creation and realization of virtual possibilities have driven the evolution and progress of the real world. It suggests that many virtual concepts we imagine today might become reality in the future.

 

Since its inception, More's utopian ideas have been studied within various countries and social systems and remain one of the most crucial topics for future exploration. The metaverse, too, can be seen as part of the effort to create an ideal utopia for humanity based on digital technology.

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