[ Future Wave] Korean Politics Through the Lens of "Quantum Mechanics"

Repeated Binary Choices Before the Presidential Election
Trapped in Newton's Mechanistic Worldview
Quantum Thinking Instead of Dichotomy
Toward Politics That Embraces Multiplicity and Uncertainty

It is truly the season of politics. With the presidential election approaching, each political party is preparing a “primary”?a nationwide audition for the public. Yet, once again, we find ourselves facing a reality in which we are forced to make the “lesser evil” choice in a society of extreme politics and binary options.

Korean politics has long been trapped in a confrontational structure between opposing camps: progressives versus conservatives, left versus right. The problem is that this confrontation has functioned not as “coexistence with difference,” but as “negation of difference.” We too easily judge opinions different from our own as “wrong,” and define the opposing camp as an “enemy to be defeated.” Policies from the other side are not seen as subjects for discussion and coordination, but as targets for unconditional opposition and obstruction. This adversarial structure leads to legislative paralysis in the National Assembly, weakened policy implementation by the executive branch, and widespread disgust and cynicism toward politics as a whole.

American political scientist Ted Becker has criticized that many of today’s political system problems are rooted in the “Newtonian mechanistic worldview.” The worldview presented by Newton took deep root in the humanities and society as a whole after the 17th century. Society came to be understood as a machine that could be analyzed mathematically, social problems were explained through clear causal relationships, and humans were regarded as beings who maximize their interests through rational calculation. This way of thinking was institutionalized in political philosophy through Hobbes and Locke, and governments began to be treated as machines constructed according to grand blueprints. Predictability, rationality, and controllability were the core of the Newtonian political paradigm.

However, in the 21st century, we can no longer view the world as a simple machine. The world is complex, uncertain, and interconnected in nonlinear ways, and humans are emotional and affective beings. Politics is no longer a static blueprint, but more like a living, ever-changing organism. The simple binary of “right and wrong” or “all or nothing” cannot explain such a complex society. If politics remains trapped in a framework of binary choices, it is now time for a new imagination?one that allows for “both to exist.”

In this context, quantum mechanics suggests the possibility of a new turning point for Korean politics. Quantum mechanics breaks away from the dichotomous and linear thinking of Newtonian classical physics. According to quantum mechanics, particles can exist in multiple states at once (superposition), and observation changes the outcome (observer effect). Furthermore, it is impossible to know everything precisely at the same time (uncertainty principle), and relationships and context (entanglement) are crucial in this world.

Applying the worldview of quantum mechanics to Korean politics, “superposition” evokes the multi-layered identity of citizens who can simultaneously hold both conservative and progressive values. The “observer effect” prompts us to consider how media, opinion polls, and social media influence political reality. In other words, depending on the perspective from which citizens view political phenomena, the outcomes and meanings can change. The “uncertainty principle” reminds us that political outcomes are never entirely predictable, and countless possibilities open up depending on changes in human emotions and consciousness. Finally, “entanglement” emphasizes the invisible connections between regions, communities, classes, and generations, suggesting that a change in consciousness in one area can ripple out and affect others.

Conflicts in Korean politics often intensify when one camp tries to monopolize the “absolute truth.” However, social issues are not that simple. A conservative approach may be effective in economic policy, while a progressive perspective may work more persuasively in welfare policy. We must be wary of interpreting complex realities through a single logic. Quantum thinking suggests that politics should not fear “contradiction” and “tension,” but instead embrace them. That is, when politics shifts its focus from “ideological banners” to the “diversity of reality,” only then can we move beyond extreme confrontation and conflict.

Of course, quantum mechanics cannot directly resolve ideological conflicts in Korea. However, could it not sufficiently change the frame through which we view politics, the way we understand conflicts, and the perspective through which citizens perceive themselves? We need a new political imagination that moves beyond the classical political language of good and evil, black and white, winner and loser, and embraces multiplicity, interconnectedness, and uncertainty.

The scientific revolution sparked by Newtonian mechanics in the 17th century transformed human ways of thinking and social structures. Likewise, the scientific revolution led by quantum mechanics and artificial intelligence in the 21st century is fundamentally reconstructing the very way we perceive and interpret reality. Technological advancement does not remain merely a matter of technology. It affects the way we see the world, the way society is run, and even the framework through which we understand human existence.

Politics is no exception to these changes. Change is inevitable, and politics now demands a completely new dimension of imagination and approach. The concepts found in quantum mechanics could offer one such alternative.

Seo Yongseok, Professor at KAIST Graduate School of Future Strategy