Speaking Without Words
Korean Title: 말하지 않고 말하기
Author: Kim Chung-woon
Publisher: Book 21
ISBN: 9791173579721
464 pages | 132 * 204 mm | 555 g
| Important! Please read before you order! |
| >>>This book is written in Korean. |
About This Book
Cultural psychologist Kim Chung-woon’s Speaking Without Saying a Word begins with a revolutionary shift in perspective. Drawing together the work of developmental psychologists Lev Vygotsky and Daniel Stern, evolutionary anthropologist Michael Tomasello, and sociologist Harvey Sacks, the founder of conversation analysis, Kim proposes six fundamental conditions of human communication. Beginning with the moment an infant first feels its mother’s touch, these conditions extend through language acquisition and the formation of the self, ultimately reaching the foundations of democracy and civilization itself. The result is nothing less than a comprehensive map of human interaction.
Kim does more than explain psychological theories. He places each concept in dialogue with contemporary reality, offering fresh and incisive ways of understanding both society and human nature. Why could Barack Obama’s six seconds of silence be considered one of the greatest moments in twenty-first-century public speaking? How does Harry Harlow’s famous monkey experiment from seventy years ago continue to illuminate the importance of emotional attachment today? Why are cyberspace and social media so often saturated with jealousy and anger? These questions unfold through unexpected connections to the ideas of Vygotsky, Piaget, Kant, and many other influential thinkers, revealing remarkable depth and breadth.
In the final chapters, Kim advances a compelling argument. The intersubjective experiences through which we admire others and feel admired in return-what Hegel described as the struggle for recognition and Kant approached through the concept of the sublime-remain beyond the reach of machines. In an age when artificial intelligence can imitate human language with extraordinary fluency, what we truly need is not more sophisticated speech. Rather, we need the feeling of being recognized through admiration within a social and cultural context of mutual respect.
When mutual respect disappears, people become trapped in endless comparison, quick to anger, and deeply shaken by even minor psychological wounds. The communication our society needs today is neither more information nor faster connectivity, but the restoration of intersubjective experiences grounded in admiration and recognition. The foundation of a humane digital society lies not in technological advancement alone, but in a culture of respect that enables people to feel seen, valued, and acknowledged through mutual admiration.
Availability: Usually ships in 5~10 business days.
