Recently, there have been a lot of issues such as the political scandal between President Park Geun-hye and Choi Soon-sil and the election of Donald J. Trump as president. As a result of these two events, many people have been thrown into confusion both at home and abroad. In Korea, the majority of people have held candlelight vigils nationally and called for the president to resign. In the case of America, the election of Donald J. Trump has resulted in mass demonstrations. However, since those events have been caused by none other than our votes, we shouldn’t blame anyone. Kim Jeong-min(’14, Dept. of Chemistry) said, “I think we all have to take responsibility for what has happened to us so far. As a person living in a democratic society, we all shouldn’t shrink from our responsibility, and especially when we cast a vote, we need to scrupulously check if the candidate is cut out to be a president. In addition, we also have to try to overcome regionalism, which has a huge effect on people’s choices, especially in Korea.”
  Then, what is the dominant reason for us to vote for someone? Many people believe that their votes are based on rational thoughts. However, the author of the book Just How Stupid Are We?, Rick Shenkman, said, “When it comes to voting, many people are swayed by personal feelings rather than voting rationally.” For example, during an election period, through mass media, we can easily see some candidates who visit and help poor people, such as the elderly or the disabled in person, so as to improve their image. To be honest, we cannot deny that we are influenced by those fake images.
  In addition, the author pointed out, “It is a lackadaisical attitude to just ascribe our messy situation to a president. Actually, a serious problem isn’t caused by just one person’s fault. In fact, we all have contributed to it.”
  Then, what is the psychological reason why we cast a vote based on our personal feelings? Park Sang-hee, a professor of the Dept. of Psychology, answered this question by saying, “First, there is a theory called ‘dual-process’ in psychology. According to the theory, there are two types of thinking. One is System I thinking where the human brain works as fast as possible to decide on something quickly, and it usually happens automatically. The other is System II thinking where the human brain works slowly to decide on something carefully, and it is an intentional action. As for the actions of people while voting, people’s actions are affected by the latter system, and since the process of System II thinking is dependent on our intuition, people’s choices are affected by their personal feelings, stereotypes, and biases when they vote.” He also presented a theoretical solution: “In order to prevent it, first, we need to be aware that our action is likely to be biased. Second, we need to know accurately both about the amount of and the direction of the bias. Third, we need to have a strong will to fix the bias. Finally, we should possess cognitive resources, which are necessary for fixing it. But since it is difficult to meet all those conditions, just having an awareness of it helps us to make a good choice, which is the first step.”
  Voting is our precious right and duty. First and foremost, a vote belongs to the people. Through voting, we can change our lives and futures. In order to realize true democracy, we need to reconsider the meaning of our votes.

By Lee Seong-ho l shl36@cbnu.ac.kr
By Oh Byung-hyun l bh37@cbnu.ac.kr
By Kim Hyo-seon l hs37@cbnu.ac.kr
Illustrated by Kim Mun-ju