There are several people through whose work I was greatly motivated and inspired. I wished I could talk to them in person to get the direct impression. For the most minds who influenced me, I don't think I wanted to know them in person at all even though how greatly I admired their works. As for the minds I describe below, not only I admired their works, but also their ways of life which I tried to imitate in my younger days. I think I still do. My impression is that I could be like them. If I were a contemporary with them, I could be their friends to hang around with.

It was 5th grade when I first read Heinrich Schliemann's biography and was impressed by his life style. Schliemann, as a kid, read Homer's Illiad and Odyssey and dreamt about excavating the Troy to prove that Troy was really existed before Homer's days. Until Schliemann's excavation, Troy was a legend in a literature; thanks to him, Troy became a part of history. What the 5th grader was impressed was not the historical importance; I was too young to understand it. What really impressed me was Schliemann's plan to excavate and prove Homer's stories. Dream and make it come true.

He set the goal to excavate Troy. He DID believe Troy had really existed. That was the first step. The second step was to set up the specific goals to make it. He figured the third step is to have language skills. I think he acquired a dozen or so foreign languages. He knew that he needed money to use as the fourth step. He made enough money as a merchant. The fifth step was getting a time to excavate the expected site utilizing the resources he'd made. When Schliemann was 42, he started to working on excavating.

He worked his way through which he'd mapped out. It was so impressing to me that he pieced together the steps which seemed irrelevant to each other. What I really realized later from Schliemann's plan was that I am the owner and main character of my life; I'm the agent of my behavior; I'm responsible for my life and nobody else. (Schliemann's biographies I read were written for elementary and junior highschool students, and I worried that those might have misportrayed Schliemann's life. Anyway it was so impressing and insightful to me now and then).

Dr. Zamenhof invented Esperanto as a lingua franca. He dreamt and made it. Intending to study linguistics at that time, I was aspired by not only Zamenhof's linguistic achievement, but also by his benevolent doctor's contirbutions to the people.

All of Hermann Hesse's works influenced my thinking during my junior high and high school days. Being a high school student in late teens, I had lots of questions about life itself like everyone else. I can't talk much about Hesse's philosophy, but about his ways of thinking. I needed someone who can answer my questions and curiosities, but couldn't find anyone around me. But when I read Hesse's work, especially Demian, Beneath the Wheel, and Narciss and Goldmund, what I wanted to ask was uttererd in Hesse's words, and what I wanted to hear and be advised was also answered in Hesse's words.

So when forming my identity, I had little conflicts within myself regarding morals and everything else. I became well focused since then. It is not necessarily mean I agreed with all of Hesse's view. What relieved me was I was not the only one, and there were many struggling souls to strive and form idealogy and identity. Remember that Hesse's works are from early and mid 20th century Germany, and I was a teenager in Korea in late 70s. Historical time and geographical location overcomes human minds. It seemed like I was a character in Hesse's works; it seemed like he modeled me in his works.

Andre Maurois wrote novels, on history and some more other disciplines. He worked on many aspects of French cultural affairs. By reading Mauroi's works, I was introduced to many contemporary sides. I had many interests, and main philosophical questions were answered by Hesses' works. Something which were not uttered in Hesses' words, were answered in Maurois' words.

Reading history books were boring and painful for me: First, I was not well prepared to read history; Second, I read history books to talk about that famous books to my peers and mentors and to impress them. (Plutarch' Lives was exception and really enjoyable.) But when I read Mauroi's books, what I wanted to learn about history was clearly stated in his book. I could get what I wanted to learn easily. (Some of you might say that choosing a book which pleases one's taste is not a way to learn. But, unless I could read enough, I couldn't learn anything; and I was never intended to be a history student).

I read a few of Bertrand Russel's literary works during my teens, but didn't grab much from it. When I reread his works, I was in mid 20s and by that time, my worldview was clearly outlined. Being a mathematical logic student, I went over a couple of his mathematical works and became fully awed by his achievements in mathematics. If that were all, his name wouldn't be mentioned in this essay.

His History of Western Philosophy is the one I recommend to everyone. Virtually I agree with most of Russel's view in every aspects. Part of it is because I also studied mathematics which formed my rigorous thinking, as Russel did. (I have not achieved anything in mathematics, so don't be cynical about my remarks :-)). What I wanted to talk about the world, Russel stated in his books already. Most of my thinkings and musings were also verbalized in Russel's words. Since then what I frequently say back to my peers and mentors why don't I write about philosophical thoughts is: "All I want to say was written by Bertrand Russel already. So I have very little to say my own". (Some might say Russel's views are too biased and radical for some people. I also think so. Anyway we live in a biased world. You just read it and learn what you wanted to learn from it).

Along with Bertrand Russel's works, all of Hermann Hesse's and Andre Mauroi's books formed my thoughts. Depressing is that I don't think I'll ever put words better than those Three Minds. You need to see a hope and opportunity to get ahead in the field. Whatever subject Russel, Hesse and Maurois wrote about, I don't find any room for me to bring in new thoughts or methodology. They stated it already. If I feel I can write better than them, I will write on that subject, other than praising their works. In the meantime, I reread their works occasionally. (while trying to finish this essay, I'm reading some of Hesse's works for refreshments).

Buckminster Fuller is famous for his Bucky ball. I mentioned about Bucky in many of my writings on how he set my course of academic interests. A few of my advisers and mentors were Bucky's contemporaries or lecture-attendees, and through them I could hear more about Bucky which were not available on the printed materials. The practical application of abstract mathematics and geometry redirected my objective of studies. Study of logic and geometry need not to be confined to academic journals. One needs to free the imagination and look into the environments one lives in for the new direction.

Richard Stallman (of GNU project) started the concept of freely available software for the UNIX world. I like him not just because he made free softwares available, but because he stated and showed that the knowledge should be shared and not put price tag on it. I think most softwares are overpriced due to the overhead costs. We get the quality of UNIX softwares very cheaply or freely, and still UNIX programmers can make living writing UNIX programs. So Stallman and all the Stallman' GNU followers should be included in this category. Let's see how this GNU project is going. (4-1-97)