Dreaming of Chemical Bonds at the End of the Growth Era

Abstract

It may differ depending on whether defining ‘Korean ancient history’ in a narrow or broad sense, but according to Korean History Research Report, a total of 1,307 articles related to ‘ancient Korea’ were published between 2021 and 2022. It was recognized that the annual quantitative flow of articles on ‘Korean ancient history’ peaked in 2018 and has entered a downward or plateauing period. It seems to have slightly shrunk compared to the number of articles on ‘Korean history’ and history as a whole showing a recovery in quantitative growth during the same period. However, considering expected decline in the inflow of new researchers due to the decrease in population, it is difficult to deny that we are all standing at or moving towards the end of the Growth Era.BR The decentralization of research topics has been criticized consistently, but diversification is an irreversible trend. Expecting researchers to become part of a large theoretical framework or great discourse again seems to be a hope of the past Growth Era. Instead, researchers may naturally gather around the materials or themes that their own pursuing leads to. It goes without saying that joint research will be more important, but simply putting each arguments together is not enough. It is necessary to increase the results from ‘chemical bonding’ among researchers.