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🇰🇷 South Korea /Energy & Infrastructure

The Remainder: Understanding Order by Examining What's Left Out

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

Analysis Named sources Context piece
  • The concept of "the remainder" highlights how established orders define what is included and excluded.
  • By examining what falls outside the norm, one can understand the underlying structure and its limitations.
  • Observing the "remainder" is crucial for a deeper understanding of any society or organization.

The word "remainder" carries a curious duality, signifying both excess and deficit. Whether it's money left over after a purchase or a debt yet to be paid, the "remainder" only emerges once a standard, boundary, or line has been drawn. This concept suggests that nothing is inherently a remainder; it becomes so only in relation to a pre-defined order.

Consider the phrase, "Everyone go home except those who haven't done their homework!" or conversely, "Everyone stay home except those who have done their homework!" In both scenarios, the action is the same, some people leave, others stay, but the criteria defining the "remainder" differ significantly.

The remainder does not appear and disrupt order. Order is established first, and then the remainder arises. By looking at the remainder, we can see where the lines were drawn.

— Kim Jin-haeExplaining the relationship between order and the concept of 'remainder'.

In mathematics, no number is initially a remainder. The number 1, for instance, is not a remainder until we divide 7 by 3. Remainders appear when we impose a division, creating a neat, orderly result. However, the remainder itself seems like a leftover, something that falls outside this clean order.

To truly understand a society or organization, it is faster to look at the 'remainder' outside the boundaries, rather than the center.

— Kim Jin-haeAdvocating for the importance of examining excluded elements for deeper insight.

The article posits that remainders do not disrupt order; rather, their existence reveals the order itself. By looking at what is left out, we can discern the lines that were drawn and understand what the established order includes and excludes. The "remainder," therefore, is not a disruption but a key to understanding the nature of the order that created it.

Ultimately, to truly understand a society or organization, one should look beyond the center and focus on the "remainder", those elements that exist outside the established boundaries. It is through examining these marginalized or excluded parts that the true face of the order, its inclusions, and its exclusions, becomes apparent. The "remainder," in this sense, is decisive.

The remainder reveals the true face of the order that created it, showing what it includes and what it pushes out.

— Kim Jin-haeHighlighting the analytical power of the 'remainder' concept.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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