Lately, I've been reading about the Peloponnesian War.

There are many figures I admire throughout, but an action by Pericles particularly stands out. As the war with the Spartan alliance began, he decided to abandon the farmlands outside the walls, avoid field battles, and focus on siege warfare, leveraging naval superiority to lead the war. When the Spartan alliance pressed forward, Pericles said to the people, "Now, my own estates lie outside the walls, and Sparta may preserve my assets to sow discord between me and the citizens. Even if such a thing were to happen, it would be but a stratagem of the enemy, and should it occur, I would donate those assets outside the walls." I was amazed by Pericles' wisdom in anticipating the enemy's schemes and addressing them wisely ahead of time.

Throughout history, despicable strategies often lead to destructive tragedies due to the lack of communication and blind conviction. In cases like the Three Kingdoms, if characters like Ma Chao or Lü Bu had applied rational skepticism to the data they encountered and verified the facts, could they have avoided the tragedy of their families being slaughtered?

In our country, closed groups that exchange only blind belief and empty empathy are spreading, and the act of pondering what is better, what is true, or engaging in communication has disappeared. Instead, speaking the truth, asking questions, and seeking verification are even criticized.

In this current state, South Korea cannot resolve misunderstandings or conflicts, and is vulnerable to all sorts of schemes. Some people are too busy grabbing at various excuses, rationalizations, etc., to attack others. Is this really okay?"