Quantum physics reveals systemic interdependence: How collective perception shapes reality and governance
Original framing: “Why we should all take quantum physics extremely personally” — New Scientist
Quantum mechanics emerged in a context of European colonial expansion, where physics became a tool for justifying racial hierarchies and resource extraction. The Copenhagen interpretation’s focus on observer-dependent reality paralleled the rise of consumer capitalism, where individual perception became a commodity. The article’s personalization of quantum physics mirrors the 20th-century shift from structural determinism to neoliberal self-optimization.
The article’s personalization of quantum physics reflects a broader neoliberal trend where structural crises are reframed as individual challenges, obscuring the role of power in shaping reality.
Quantum mechanics, born in an era of colonial extraction, is now being repurposed to justify techno-solutionism, where the malleability of reality becomes a commodity for the elite. Yet Indigenous traditions and marginalized communities have long understood interdependence as a lived practice, not a scientific curiosity—offering a blueprint for decolonial quantum futures. The solution pathways must therefore center reparative justice, collective governance, and epistemic pluralism, ensuring that quantum technologies serve the many, not the few. The trickster’s laughter reminds us that the universe is not a puzzle to be solved individually but a web to be tended together, where Hermes’ theft becomes Coyote’s lesson: knowledge is only power when shared.