1. Introduction

The greatest question of the AI era is, in fact, a question about the human being rather than about technology itself. The more machines write, draw, and predict, the more human beings must re-explain "why do I matter?" This book foregrounds Correlative Thinking because the human being is not a mere information-processing device but a holistic being who forms relationships, creates meaning, and shares responsibility.

The term Correlative Thinking sounds difficult, but its meaning is simple. It is a perspectival way of thinking that, rather than breaking things apart into separate pieces, looks at how they are connected to one another. For example, Correlative Thinking is not merely observing the fact that it is raining, but considering together how that rain changes a student's walk to school, a farmer's harvest, a city's drainage system, and even a person's mood.

This perspective is especially important in the AI era. AI may be overwhelming in sheer volume of information, but the task of responsibly binding together what that information means for people and communities, all the way through, must be done by human beings.

1.1. The Threshold of the Technological Singularity and the Place of the Human

We live in a Hyperconnected era in which intelligent machines link every domain of life ever more tightly. Artificial intelligence (AI) now goes beyond simple computation or the automation of repetitive tasks, penetrating deeply into fields once regarded as uniquely human—from creative artistic activity to complex decision-making. As AI grows ever more sophisticated, exercising even creativity and intuition, people around the world are posing a question in which awe and anxiety intersect: "What, then, makes the human being special?" In a society led by AI, what can human beings do, and on what foundation can they survive and flourish?

Amid this paradigm shift, human beings face the grave concern that they may be reduced from "choosing beings" who design and control technology to beings who are "chosen or overlooked" by algorithms. The job market, information feeds, and even social interactions are increasingly mediated by AI systems that filter, select, and decide. This goes beyond the mere problem of job loss; it suggests that social control may be transferred, subtly yet profoundly, to AI and its designers. Such a shift may lead to a deep existential crisis concerning human value, purpose, and uniqueness, and any survival strategy must therefore address this existential dimension, not merely technological adaptation.

1.2. The Limits of Analytical Thinking and the Rise of Correlative Thinking

We have seen the reality in which the place of the human is threatened by the technological singularity. How, then, should we break through this existential crisis? The isolated analytical thinking of the West alone cannot surmount this crisis. Now is the inevitable moment when the uniquely human "Correlative Thinking"—which reads the world in a convergent way by connecting all things—must come to the forefront of the world.

Traditional strategies for human development—namely analytical reasoning, specialization, and linear planning—are revealing their limits in effectively responding to the complex, rapidly changing problems of an AI-saturated modern society. The very analytical methods that built the modern world now struggle to cope with the complex and fast-changing problems of an AI-saturated society. We are caught in a kind of existential dilemma: how can we solve, using the very same approach, the problems created by an analytical and mechanistic approach?

There are clear fissures in the current approach. In the economy, fierce competition and reductionist metrics of success alienate individuals and render society unequal. In education, once AI learns to perform a task, education for narrow expertise can be rendered useless overnight—a change that also shakes the very foundations of a credential-centered society. Culturally, the relentless focus on logic and efficiency has brought great progress, but it has often come at the sacrifice of community, creativity, and mental well-being. We are witnessing a world rife with the paradox of being materially abundant yet emotionally unfulfilled, globally connected yet often severed from meaning.

These "fissures" are better understood not as newly arising from AI, but as the result of vulnerabilities inherent in existing systems being further amplified and made visible through AI as a catalyst. AI deepens existing inequalities and the crisis of expertise, serving to reveal systemic flaws all the more clearly. In particular, "severance from meaning" is a serious problem that appears as a result of excessive reliance on the analytical, efficiency-centered paradigm; and if AI is introduced without holistic value judgment, this crisis of meaning may deepen further. Because AI is itself a product of the analytical tradition, if its deployment and use are guided solely by efficiency, there is a great risk of accelerating human alienation and the loss of purpose.

In the face of this challenge of our times, this report proposes that clues to the answer can be found in "a vibrant ancient intellectual tradition"—in particular, in East Asia's "Correlative Thinking (相關的思惟)" or "holistic relational reasoning." Correlative Thinking is a way of understanding the world through analogy, connection, and context, without dividing everything into fragments. It is rooted in the holistic worldview of yin-yang, the Five Phases (Wuxing), and other concepts of East Asian philosophy and cosmology. Crucially, it is also a way of thinking that encompasses the whole human being—not only the intellect but also the body, emotions, and intuition.

Correlative Thinking is not a mere nostalgic return, but a "practical survival strategy" that enables human beings to exercise their unique strengths in the AI era—finding meaning amid chaos, empathizing deeply with others, connecting disparate domains, and adapting through creativity and ethical insight—roles that AI cannot perform. The ultimate goal is a new "human-AI co-evolution" that reaffirms the meaning of human existence in harmony with intelligent machines.

1.3. The Purpose and Method of This Study

We have confirmed that, beyond the limits of analytical thinking, Correlative Thinking is needed. How, then, can this vast framework of thought be concretely applied to reality? To this end, this study takes as its methodology a four-stage framework running through Daoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism—the roots of the Eastern spirit—and develops its discussion concretely.

The four stages this book presents are not ornamental philosophical jargon. Ipche (stereoscopic thinking) allows one to see many facets together; sunhwan (cyclical thinking) allows one to read the rhythm of change; gonggam (empathy) allows one to fathom the heart of relationships; and yunghap (convergence) allows one to bind together disparate elements to create new value. The four stages can be seen as four lenses for interpreting reality.

In particular, expressions such as X and -X are not symbols to be memorized like mathematical formulas, but signposts marking the direction of thought. X points to one position or property, and -X points to another direction that is opposite or symmetrical to it. What matters is not eliminating one of the two, but seeing what kind of relationship the two form.

Rendered into the everyday life of students: seeing a single problem from multiple perspectives is ipche; reading the repetition of failure and recovery as growth is sunhwan; reading together the hearts of friends and teachers is gonggam; and connecting knowledge from Korean, social studies, and science to create new answers is yunghap.

This study aims to explore the consilience of Eastern and Western thought as a survival strategy for human beings in the AI era, and in particular the possibility of a contemporary application of Correlative Thinking. To this end, it concretizes Correlative Thinking into a four-stage framework—ipche (立體, Mimesis), sunhwan (循環, Mythos), gonggam (共感, Logos), and yunghap (融合, Theos)—and discusses how each stage can respond to the challenges of the AI era. This framework aims to go beyond the mere presentation of philosophical concepts to provide practical guidelines for personal and social adaptation.

Stage 1 is Mimesis-based ipche (stereoscopic): centering on Daoist thought, it explores the interdependence of opposites and their harmonious generation. (X is -X, and -X is X)

Stage 2 is Mythos-based sunhwan (cyclical): centering on Buddhist thought, it examines nonlinear development and relational generation. (X is neither -X nor X)

Stage 3 is Logos-based gonggam (empathy): centering on Confucian thought, it seeks clear relational ordering and the expansion of communal order. (X is X, and -X is -X)

Stage 4 is Theos-based yunghap (convergence): centering on Western (Abrahamic) religious thought as a fourth mode of thought, it explores the power of convergence that crosses boundaries to create new value. (X is everything, ∀X). Here, "Western religion" refers to the entire Abrahamic lineage of religions—that is, Protestantism, Catholicism, and Islam.

This four-stage framework critically examines both Eastern Correlative Thinking and Western Analytical Thinking, and by approaching AI and hyperconnectivity with "a mode of thinking that sees both the forest and the trees, both the connections and the nodes," it will enable an integrated and rich response to the challenges of the AI era. This report seeks to draw insights from both Eastern Correlative Thinking and Western Analytical Thinking. As the expression goes, "the Western and Eastern intellectual traditions are like the two halves of a whole brain"; what matters is "rebalancing" the holistic dimension that has been relatively undervalued in modern society. Such a "Consilience" of Eastern and Western thought enables a more integrated and rich response to the challenges of the AI era.

What cannot be seen no matter how meticulously one looks from the foot of the mountain can be grasped at a single glance from the summit. The human body, which AI lacks, becomes the foundation of Correlative Thinking, and this becomes the means of seeing all the knowledge AI possesses at a single glance from the mountaintop.

"Consilience" goes beyond a mere academic blending; it signifies the essential cognitive evolution required for humanity to manage AI effectively. Although AI is itself primarily a product of Western analytical thinking, its influence carries a complexity that requires the holistic understanding of the East. True consilience means using analytical tools to understand the mechanisms of AI, while employing correlative wisdom to guide its purpose and integration. It is also, together with a critique of intellectual hegemony, an assertion of the equal validity and necessity of diverse worldviews in solving global challenges.

The following table presents a comparison of the principal features of Analytical Thinking and Correlative Thinking.

Table 1: A Comparison of Analytical Thinking and Correlative Thinking