Annotation
preface 02/02
With the spread of the Internet in the 21st century, anyone can now publish and access information.
Nearly 20 years have passed since I wrote this thesis, and social structures have changed significantly, as have various ways of thinking and values. I, too, have led a life I could never have imagined when I wrote this thesis, and there are now many things I would like to add to it.
However, precisely because the importance of archiving has grown in the modern era, I believe there is great value in presenting this thesis exactly as it was originally written, without altering the text, and adding information in the form of annotations.
There is an issue I was already vaguely aware of even as I was writing this thesis. It is the concern that the original ideas underlying any religion or worldview may have been distorted by later generations—whose values differed from those of the era in which they originated—thereby significantly altering their very raison d’être.
There are many significant differences between the person I was in my twenties—when I first wrote this thesis — and the person I am today, 30 years later (2026). That is precisely why giving priority solely to my current values and drastically altering the content I wrote twenty years ago could significantly undermine the values of my past self.
People are supposed to continue growing as they get older. However, it is clear that we also lose certain things along the way. My current profession involves working with students who are roughly the same age I was when I wrote this thesis. As someone with life experience, I am able to discern the essential qualities within each of them and help them further enhance those qualities. That is why I have decided to leave the full text of this thesis—with all its obvious shortcomings—as is, and to delve deeper into its content through this annotation.