A Quantum Approach to ‘The Dry Salvages’ I-III: A Play of Surface

This paper addresses the emerging necessity for interdisciplinary integration in the current fourth industrial age by applying the principles of quantum theory to T. S. Eliot’s meditative poem, “The Dry Salvages” I-III. In this paper, I attempt to apply the principles of quantum theory while acknowledging that humans, as thinking beings, inevitably engage in epistemological approaches to objects. Ignoring the well-known adage in physics that claiming to understand quantum theory is, in fact, indicative of ignorance, I have forcefully drawn upon several aspects of quantum theory. These include superposition, entanglement, non-locality, uncertainty principle, particles, waves, wave function collapse. The attempt to observe things microscopically, as implied by quantum theory, is detached from everyday human life. Accordingly, it contrasts with Newtonian theory, which observes macroscopic objects. Therefore, while acknowledging that the certainty of Newtonian theory is currently applicable, it cannot be denied that the simultaneous application of the uncertainty of quantum theory has significantly enhanced human cultural life while giving rise to the risk of competition between humans and machines. When analyzing human life at an atomic level, we witness the collapse of metaphysical sandcastles, prompting a renewed awareness of the inauthentic reality.