‘Simply put, there is nothing deterministic about how societies respond to technological innovation.’ Sharp set of reflections on storytelling and sociotechnical ‘progress’: technologystories.org/crafting-stori
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I keep wondering whether this whole STS Latourish world of stuff every gets out there and influences anything. Know of any direct lines of influence?
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I mean, those authors, who belong to my secondary university department, do a load of policy work, both at the UK and European levels. But they blend STS, evolutionary economics, energy transition studies, innovation management, etc.
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I read whole piece - very abstract - and still had no clue if the overall collection was gonna be worth reading or not. Seemed dangerously possible it’d bend so far backwards to address gaps in mainstream tech futurism that it’d lose rigor. Say it ain’t so?
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Maybe the collection has all this. Intro article seemed woolly on whether it was trying to offer plausible or preferred narratives. I’m all for thick futures (h/t ) but there’s a long history of missing the point with progressive takes on the topic.
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The narratives that shape society as powerfully as technology, creating the stochasticity of impact, are not narratives about technology per se (religion, Simpsons, mythologies, MCU...)
Effect is absorptive though. What stories don’t sublimate, explodes.


