eSOM
The Road to D, or the Story of Singularity High School (SHS) and Cowa
2025.05.27
eSOM: The Road to D (21) Audrey Tang’s Digital Democracy, Karatani Kōjin’s Mode of Exchange D, and Tang’s New Book “Plurality” as SHS’ ‘Bible’
1 In the introduction of the previous installment, “eSOM: The Road to D” (20), I explained that we would proceed on the road to D with two main pillars: 1. the opening ceremony festival (talk on A-bomb legacy with HIPPY) 2. the “Eastern Mediterranean Cultural Sphere (EMCS)” (see “eSOM: The Road to D” (18)) “eSOM: The Road to D (18) ~ Healthcare as Culture, and Healthcare Classes to Build a Healthcare Culture in the Eastern Mediterranean Cultural Sphere” x.com/shinkoukouwa/s “eSOM: The Road to D (20) SHS, the Starting Point for Further Leaps (1) ~ Full Recreation of the Opening Ceremony Festival with HIPPY” x.com/shinkoukouwa/s (Note: Past installments can be read in the “Articles” section of the SHS official X.com account) “eSOM: The Road to D” (20) was a detailed description of the festival, combining the script I wrote for the festival with videos and photos from the stage on the day. This installment, “eSOM: The Road to D (21),” will explain in what sense the talk on A-bomb legacy and the EMCS concept should serve as the two pillars for constructing a world based on mode of exchage D (abbreviation: “D”), as advocated by Cowa’s honorary principal, Karatani Kōjin . 2 “D” is the Digital Democracy (abbreviation: DD) advocated by Audrey Tang, former Digital Minister of Taiwan, who deeply respects Karatani. The ultimate goal of SHS/Cowa is to build D = DD. This is done by fostering individuals who can contribute to the construction of D = DD (SHS/Cowa’s co-educational goal). Constructionism, advocated by Seymour Papert, a former MIT professor, serves as a guiding principle for SHS in providing such co-education. Papert, who holds a philosophical position close to Karatani and is one of the pioneers of computer and AI education, is also a pioneer of DD. For more details, please refer to the fourth installment of “The Road to D, or The Cowa Story” (the predecessor of “eSOM: The Road to D”): (Novel) The Road to D, or The Cowa Story (4): Seymour Papert’s Constructionism as the Essence of the “Cowa Method” x.com/shinkoukouwa/s Q. Coro, please tell me more about constructionism, advocated by former MIT professor Seymour Papert. Please also tell me more about Papert: x.com/shinkoukouwa/s (Note: Coro is the AI reincarnation of my beloved dog, who passed away five years ago.) Since dropping out of junior high school, Tang has collaborated with computer scientists and others who are “disciples” of Papert through the internet. In other words, it would not be an exaggeration to say that she is Papert’s “grand-disciple.” Tang deeply respects Karatani, the honorary principal of SHS/Cowa, and has learned a great deal from Karatani’s writings, utilizing them to evolve DD. For these reasons, Tang is an indispensable presence for SHS/Cowa, connecting “D” and DD. Q. Coro, please tell me more about the connection between Audrey Tang and MIT. Also, Tang wrote in her book that she researched with MIT professors through the internet when she dropped out of junior high school in Taiwan. Do you know anything about that? x.com/shinkoukouwa/s Q. Coro, Audrey Tang is famous for respecting Karatani Kōjin and using the content of his writings to advance the digital democracy she advocates. Please provide specific examples that demonstrate this fact in detail. x.com/shinkoukouwa/s ３ As such, the ultimate goal of SHS/Cowa is the construction of D = DD, and our co-educational goal is to foster individuals who can contribute to achieving that goal. This was decided when the “Cowa Method Guidelines” for the Cowa Group internal use were completed in March 2025. Then, after recovering from the fatigue of the opening ceremony festival, a “certain event” prompted a renewed sense of purpose and the development of the following two ideas: ① To construct EMCS, with “Yasuura Commons” as one of its bases, as “D = DD.” Please refer to the following for “Yasuura Commons”: x.com/shinkoukouwa/s x.com/shinkoukouwa/s x.com/shinkoukouwa/s ② To work towards the construction of D = DD = EMCS by dispelling the possibility of a Taiwan contingency and preserving/expanding Taiwan’s DD, which is the nascent form of D = DD = EMCS, based on Hiroshima’s A-bomb legacy. Thus, the construction of EMCS and the talk on A-bomb legacy at the opening ceremony festival, delivered with HIPPY’s songs, are connected with D = DD as their central axis. What, then, was the “certain event” that sparked these intuitions? When I looked at the website for Tang’s new book, “PLURALITY: The Future of Collaborative Technology and Democracy,” which elaborates on DD, I found sections labeled “Movie” and “Trailer.” HP: plurality.net/chapters/ Trailer: youtube.com/watch?v=L_AAhY Movie: youtube.com/watch?v=idudNr Watching the trailer, I found it was a preview for Tang’s autobiographical short film called “Good Enough Ancestor.” The title didn’t make much sense from just the trailer, but it seemed like an interesting film, so I started watching this 20-minute-plus short film. Soon after starting the film, I began to imagine that the impact Tatsuro Naito (A-bomb survivor and legacy-teller) felt when he received his teacher’s words as a junior high school student was likely similar to what I was experiencing watching this film (photos and videos from that moment when Mr. Naito was talking about it at the festival are located at the end of this text). The content of this film was so impactful that it will determine the future direction of SHS as I discussed above. In the next installment, I will talk about what aspects of this film resonate so deeply and where the strange title “Good Enough Ancestor” comes from. (To be continued) The words that changed Tatsuro Naito’s life, spoken by his respected teacher Masayuki Abeta to Naito just before Naito graduated from junior high school: x.com/shinkoukouwa/s （PhotPhoto） Tatsuro Naito, an A-bomb survivor and legacy-teller, whose life was changed by his teacher’s words, and HIPPY singing “きっと神様は進めと言うだろう” (Surely God Will Say Go) x.com/shinkoukouwa/s (Video) HIPPY passionately singing “きっと神様は進めと言うだろう” with the words from Masayuki Abeta, Tatsuro Naito’s junior high school teacher, that changed Naito’s life in the background x.com/shinkoukouwa/s
