5. The Fourth Method of Correlative Thinking – Yunghap (Convergence, 融合)

5.1. The Definition of Convergent Thinking

In Chapter 4, we made clear that "empathy" through Logos is not mere emotional sympathizing, but a powerful, distinctively human measure for discerning the social norms and the good and evil of the age. Humanity, having sought roots (mimesis), forged relationships (mythos), and established order (logos), now stands before the final stage of evolution. Beyond analyzing and discerning, a great integration is required—one that, at the cosmic dimension, thoroughly blends East and West, machine (AI) and human civilization as a whole into one and weaves a new framework. This is the reason the thinking of Yunghap (Convergence, 融合)—the completion of the four modes of correlative thinking—appears in Chapter 4.

Convergence is not the work of recklessly mixing this and that. It is the work of drawing out the strengths of different elements to create a new order that did not exist before. It is easily understood by thinking of bibimbap. The mixing of ingredients does not cause each individual flavor to disappear; rather, the overall taste becomes richer.

The same holds for scholarship. Philosophy alone cannot solve all technological problems, and engineering alone cannot solve all ethical problems. History and religion, economics and science, and the arts must meet in order to properly address the complex problems of the AI era.

To use the analogy of a middle school student's studies, convergence is solving a single problem by using together the reading comprehension of Korean language, the understanding of institutions in social studies, and the analytical capacity of science. This is because real-life problems always overlap across several subjects.

The fourth stage, "Yunghap (Convergence, 融合)," means creatively synthesizing diverse elements—ideas, cultures, methodologies, even the capacities of humans and machines—to produce something new and more powerful. This embodies the principle of "Consilience." One of the core themes is aiming at the "hybrid thinker" by integrating the East's holistic wisdom (correlative thinking) with the West's analytical rationality. "Liminal spaces"—transitional, in-between states in which ordinary rules are suspended—are fertile soil for the emergence of "creativity, flexibility, connection" and new synthesis. AI itself is leading society into such a liminal stage. Korea's popular-culture phenomenon, the "Korean Wave (Hallyu)," is presented as an example of successful cultural "convergence" that blended local and foreign elements to create something new and globally resonant. Korea's "bibim" (mixing) culture is also likened to a "yin-yang convergence" that offers ethical and creative insight.

As concrete methodologies of convergence, "Structurology" integrates heterogeneous fields of mathematics into a coherent system and seeks to understand phenomena through fundamental structures of connection (Kim Dong-ryeol 2010); "TRIZ" is a systematic problem-solving methodology that synthesizes principles from diverse fields to generate innovative solutions (Kim Ho-jong et al. 2011); and "Human Design" is presented as a system that integrates ancient wisdom (the I Ching, Kabbalah, the chakras) with modern science (genetics, physics) to explain the uniqueness of the individual (Krakower 2018). The ultimate goal is the convergence of human and machine—a "new human-AI co-evolution."

"Convergence" is a process that, beyond merely mixing existing elements, creates emergent properties transcending the sum of the parts and new solutions. This is especially important in the AI era, which faces unprecedented challenges. The discussion of liminal spaces suggests that truly new forms emerge in these "in-between-and-between" spaces. Methodologies such as TRIZ and Human Design are not mere collections of ideas but frameworks for generating new insight through synthesis. This means that in the AI era, human creativity will increasingly lie in "creative connectivity"—the fusing of diverse domains of knowledge, including knowledge that AI can generate, into a new and valuable whole.

The success of cultural convergence such as the Korean Wave provides a model by which a society can navigate globalization and technological change—not by resisting outside influences or losing its identity, but rather by integrating them creatively. This is "convergence" as a civilizational strategy. The demand for "convergence" implies the need to break down the barriers between traditional academic disciplines in education and research, and to foster more interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches so that humans can prepare for a complex future. If "hybrid thinkers" are needed, then the education system must change to foster them. The following table summarizes the diverse methodologies that embody the principle of "convergence" in the AI era.

Table 5: Methodologies of "Yunghap (Convergence, 融合)" in the AI Era

5.2. The Fourth Thought: ∀X, Theos

It grasped the infinite power of convergence (Yunghap) that breaks down boundaries and forges entirely new cosmic values. If stereoscopic thinking (Ipche), cyclical thinking (Sunhwan), and empathy (Gonggam) each sought the roots of life, formed relationships, and established order, it is now time for a great crucible to appear—one that melts all of this thinking into a single whole and sublimates it into a new galaxy. That is precisely Theos, the all-embracing "Fourth Thought" that this era has so urgently awaited.

The Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Catholicism, Islam), which hold that "X is everything," pursue the eternal life of the soul (靈魂永生) through a covenantal cycle grounded in the Ten Commandments between God and the human community. Because the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer encompass all of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity—corresponding to matter, spirit, and being—"X is everything" holds true. Since the logic of "X is everything" leads one to pursue the community over the individual and the spirit over matter, it comes to seek eternal life through the soul.

This expression does not mean that all boundaries completely disappear, but rather that each being is connected within a larger whole. A person is part of a family, part of a school community, and also part of society and history. What it captures is the sense that the small individual is not severed from the great whole.

Put simply, a single piece of trash I discard is connected to environmental problems, and a single comment I post is connected to someone's day. My choices do not end with me alone. In this sense, "X is everything" is also a statement of immense responsibility.

In the AI era, this way of thinking matters even more, because a single company's algorithm, a single nation's technology policy, and a single individual's usage habits all affect the trust and safety of the entire world.

As the Fourth Thought, "X is everything (∀X)" can be linked to a pantheistic perspective, embodying the insight that all beings are fundamentally connected as one and that individual things are diverse manifestations of the whole. This suggests the possibility that everything may interpenetrate and converge, transcending the dichotomous boundaries between part and whole, subject and object, human and nature, and further between human and machine. In the AI era, such thinking can open a new ontological horizon beyond anthropocentrism.

5.2.1. The Dissolution of the Academic-Credentialist Society and the Shift of Power

A representative domain among these new horizons is the academic-credentialist society. Existing fields disappear and new ones emerge. The era in which one's life was determined by college entrance exams is increasingly being shaken by AI. What one can actually do is becoming more important than the fact of having graduated from a particular prestigious university. AI has democratized access to information. Knowledge that once could be obtained only through excellent professors or expensive textbooks is now open to anyone through online lectures and AI tools. This is becoming a force that accelerates the cracking of the academic-credential monopoly.

This change, however, does not automatically create an equal society, because the very ability to make good use of AI can become a new privilege. Those who have difficulty accessing computers and the internet, those who cannot afford to learn AI tools, and non-English speakers who cannot fully utilize English-based AI due to the digital language gap—these people risk becoming a new class of the digitally marginalized. Seen through the eyes of Hwajaeng (Reconciliation of Disputes), even after the dissolution of the academic-credentialist society, power does not disappear but merely changes form and shifts. What matters is consciously designing that new power structure to be fairer and more open.

The advancement of AI technology is fundamentally transforming the ways knowledge is produced, distributed, and accessed, dismantling the foundations of the traditional academic-credentialist society. The power once maintained through the monopoly of knowledge and information is losing its force as AI makes such knowledge universally accessible. From the perspective of "X is everything," knowledge and wisdom are not confined to particular classes or institutions but exist everywhere in diverse forms, and AI can play the role of connecting and amplifying this dispersed wisdom. Accordingly, power shifts away from past academic credentials or status toward the ability to converge diverse knowledge, create new value, and offer solutions to complex problems.

5.2.2. The Convergence of East and West and of Human and Machine

The true wisdom of the AI era can emerge when the East's mimetic (complementary, imitative) thinking and mythic (narrative, symbolic) thinking, together with the West's logical (analytical) thinking, converge with human experiential wisdom and machine data-based intelligence. The perspective of "X is everything" shows that these diverse systems of thought and forms of wisdom are not mutually exclusive but can be integrated in a complementary manner. The following table presents cases and characteristics of East-West resonance applicable in the AI era.

Table 6: Methodologies of "East-West Resonance" in the AI Era

Humans can use AI's analytical capabilities to reinterpret Eastern wisdom in modern terms, while at the same time drawing on Eastern insight to guide the ethical and humane development of AI technology. Such convergent wisdom will be the core driving force behind solving the complex problems of the AI era and creating a new civilization.

5.3. A New Image of the Human: Gwanwang and Dosol

Gwanwang (冠旺) is the stage that arrives after Yokdae among the Twelve Life-Cycle Stages of Myeongni studies; it signifies the peak period in which one dons the cap (冠) and one's energy becomes flourishing (旺). In this book, in keeping with that meaning, it denotes a mature adult and autonomous conductor who embraces and "commands" (統率) all the preceding stages of Potae (potentiality), Yangsaeng (embodiment), and Yokdae (ethical discernment).

Gwanwang (冠旺) is the symbol of a figure who orchestrates complex situations with outstanding wisdom and judgment. This is not merely someone who possesses much knowledge or superior skill, but someone with the wisdom to recognize the abilities of different people and let each shine in their own place. The core role required of the human being in the AI era is precisely this image of Gwanwang. AI is a powerful instrument, but an instrument alone does not make music. A human like Gwanwang must decide for which piece, at what intensity, and within what harmony the instrument that is AI shall be played.

To put it in an analogy familiar to a middle-school student, Gwanwang is like an excellent team leader or class president—someone who does not pretend to be good at everything, but recognizes what each team member does best, distributes roles accordingly, and resolves conflicts fairly when they arise. In the AI era, such a person is also the one who makes the best use of AI. The ability to judge what tasks to entrust to AI, what tasks humans must do, and how to review AI's outputs is the contemporary role of Gwanwang.

Into what kind of being must the human be reborn in the AI era? The analogy of "Gwanwang (冠旺)" and "Dosol (兜率)" offers one answer to this question.

5.3.1. The Human as Gwanwang (冠旺)

An AI agent is an AI program that autonomously carries out specific tasks. In the near future, an era will come in which dozens of AI agents work simultaneously for individuals, for companies, and for governments. Information-gathering agents, scheduling agents, customer-service agents, and decision-support agents will all operate at once. To make proper use of this complex legion of agents, the orchestrating ability of a human like Gwanwang is required. Which agent to assign which task, how to coordinate agents when they conflict with one another, and how to verify agents' outputs—all these judgments fall to the human.

For Gwanwang's leadership to function effectively, two capacities are needed. The first is to know precisely the capabilities and limits of AI. If one cannot distinguish what an agent does well from what it does poorly, one ends up assigning the wrong task to the wrong agent. The second is the attitude of taking ultimate human responsibility for the results AI produces. No matter how good an agent's output, responsibility for that output's impact on people ultimately rests with people. This sense of responsibility is the core that safeguards the human as Gwanwang in the AI era.

Gwanwang symbolizes the image of a leader who orchestrates and guides complex situations with outstanding wisdom and insight. Like the conductor of an orchestra, the human in the AI era must perform the role of "Gwanwang," harmoniously orchestrating countless AI agents and automated systems and leading them toward a common goal. This demands, beyond merely controlling AI, a high order of wisdom and judgment that maximizes AI's potential while preventing ethical problems and realizing human-centered values.

5.3.2. The Realization of Tuṣita Heaven (兜率天)

Dosol (兜率) is the transliteration of Tuṣita, the ideal realm Dosolcheon (Tuṣita Heaven) where Maitreya, the future Buddha, dwells in the Buddhist cosmology. In this book, beyond its original spatial meaning, it is deliberately given a homophonic and ideational connotation—that of binding countless artificial-intelligence agents into one and leading and "commanding" (統率) them all. Since this accords with the image of Gwanwang, it is used as one connected part of the process of human growth.

Tuṣita Heaven is, in Buddhism, the ideal world where Maitreya dwells—a Pure Land brimming with wisdom and compassion. In the AI era, "Tuṣita Heaven" can serve as a metaphor for an ideal state in which human will and creativity can be infinitely expanded and realized through the AI network. By making AI a tool and partner for realizing one's own will, the human can unfold creative activity beyond individual limits and, going further, be reborn as an "expanded human" contributing to the welfare and development of society as a whole. This is an image of a future society that can be built through the harmonious coexistence of technology and humanity.

5.4. The Final Stage of Completion: Convergence

We can envision a truly mature image of the human, advancing toward the grand ideal of Tuṣita Heaven under the direction of Gwanwang (the commander). Humanity, having passed narratively through Potae, Yangsaeng, and Yokdae, at last comes to wield cosmic command with ease. Now the moment of "convergence (Yunghap)"—the final knot of this majestic and sacred grand journey of thought, and the ultimate goal that a hyperconnected civilization must reach—arrives before us.

Seeing stereoscopically, reading cyclically, connecting through empathy, and finally creating something new through convergence. When these four stages are completed, the human becomes not a mere user of AI but a designer of the civilization of the AI era. The word "completer" may sound grandiose, but its essence is simple: it means that the human is a being who does not simply accept the world AI has made, but chooses and takes responsibility for what kind of world to create.

The most important task for the human as completer in a hyperconnected society is to ask "good questions." AI quickly produces answers to questions, but which questions are important is something humans must decide. Just as this entire paper began from one great question—"How can humanity survive together in the AI era?"—future generations too must pose the large and important questions suited to their own times. Correlative thinking and the wisdom of Hwajaeng are the most humane training for cultivating the power of such questions.

Convergence, the final stage of correlative thinking, means that the human, drawing on the insights and capacities gained through stereoscopic thinking, cyclical thinking, and empathy, performs the role of an autonomous "completer" in the hyperconnected AI society. This goes beyond merely adapting to technology; it is the process of actively utilizing technology in accordance with human values and purposes, and creating a new civilizational ecosystem in which humans and AI develop together. Through convergent thinking, humans will build an order of symbiosis and harmony that transcends division and conflict, becoming the creative protagonists who lead the infinite possibilities of the AI era toward the prosperity of all humanity.