Quantum Social Science is Essential

Understanding the essence of quantum social science is critical to transforming our approach to social change.

Quantum social science?

Some years ago, I read a discouraging newspaper article about yet another failed round of international climate negotiations. The journalist concluded by suggesting we all take a look at the work of Professor Alexander Wendt. Why? I looked him up and discovered that Wendt, the Mershon Professor of International Security at Ohio State University, is one of the most influential theorists of social constructivism in international relations. He had challenged realist approaches by asserting that social structures were made up of shared ideas, not material forces, and that interests and identities were constructions rather than givens. That made sense to me!

Changing Minds

Then I read more about Wendt’s work and discovered that he had changed his mind. In fact, he was challenging some of the foundational assumptions of the social sciences. After reading a chapter he wrote on “Social Theory as Cartesian Science: An Auto-Critique from a Quantum Perspective,” I wrote to him and told him that I was interested in what this all means for climate change. His response was something along the lines of “we should be thinking about the Earth as one quantum social organism.”

Fascinating! At the time, Wendt was writing a book: Quantum Mind and Social Science: Unifying Physical and Social Ontology. He generously sent me draft chapters as they were written, and I was hooked. Challenging the assumption that consciousness and social life are classical physical/material phenomena, he was now advocating for a quantum social science. Drawing on quantum brain theory, Wendt hypothesizes that consciousness is a macroscale quantum phenomenon:

This matters, because in a quantum world lots of things are possible that aren’t in a classical one, and so a quantum perspective presents an opportunity not only to overcome dualism in social science, but to expand our conception of social reality altogether.”

If there were ever a time to expand rather than shrink our conception of social reality, it is now. Although our social reality seems to be shattering, most people have never heard of quantum social science, and it is easy to write it off as a ridiculous idea. On the contrary, I would say that it is essential to consider what it is and what it means for our understanding of social change.

Essential means “of the utmost importance” or necessary, and what is necessary is for us to understand that the essence of quantum social science is our intrinsic oneness. Quantum phenomena like entanglement, non-locality, and superpositions are used by quantum social scientists to describe social interactions and human behavior. Yet who are these quantum social scientists, and where do we find them?

Learning More

If you want to learn more about quantum social science, Alexander Wendt hosts an annual “boot camp” that brings together experts from diverse fields whose work makes links between quantum theory and social science. This free online course, sponsored by the Mershon Center and the Carnegie Corporation of New York, will cover some of the foundational elements of quantum social science and demonstrate why it is essential.

The fourth annual boot camp will be held from 8-12 July, 2024. Some of the presentations this year include:

• “Quantum Social Theory: Entanglement, Responsibility, and the Question of Relevance” by Chris McIntosh (Bard College, USA)

• “Quantum Law and Economics and Newtonian Law and Economics” by William Hubbard (University of Chicago, USA)

• “International Interaction Game Revisited: Quantum-Inspired Model of Militarized Interstate Disputes” by Jakub Tesař (Charles University, Prague) and

  Catarina Moreira

• “Superposition, Coloniality, Law and Sovereignty: Thou Shalt Not Murder”

  by Mark Salter (University of Ottawa, Canada)

• “Global Constellations of Affect and Memory: Emptiness, Experience, and Entanglement” by Karin Fierke (University of St. Andrews, Scotland)

I love learning about different ways of approaching our social world, and the question-and-answer sessions after each presentation have helped me to process the ideas. Recordings are available from all of the previous presentations (I did one on “Quantum social change: you matter more than you think” at the second boot camp in 2022). If you are curious and open to considering an expanded conception of social reality, register here and I’ll see you at summer camp!

“If you haven’t found something strange during the day, it hasn’t been much of a day.”

— John Archibald Wheeler