Interesting premise, it leaves me wondering whether a technology that is advanced instead of emerging makes it more suitable to be used for more creative, open-ended R&D tasks
I tend to agree but I guess it’s a bit of a jargon game. If im the developer and user of an application, this is likely labeled as emerging, however at some point I get so good at using it that the creative outcomes would transcend the nature of the application anyway
I think so, simply because you start from a different premise with this metaphor. It presents a different challenge to think about a technology as advanced instead of emerging. It opens the mind to imagine different things to do with it
Absolutely LOVE this one, Maarten! My policy studies brain immediately reads it as an argument that points out the flaws in path dependency --- both in terms of the development of the technologies themselves, as well as in the sociocultural ways that technologies are imagined and employed.
As we know from the path dependency lit (I linked to one of the best OG articles from Paul Pierson below), its a difficult force to overcome! BUT you provide an answer! The way to overcome the all-encompassing structural force of path dependency is to engage in small scale experiments that provide alternative ways of imagining, using, and thinking about technologies. These small-scale experiments can provide normative arguments and examples of how tech SHOULD be imagined and used, that differ from the mainstream, path dependent visions!
@maarten -- I've also been reading "Envisioning Real Utopias" by Erik Olin Wright, and this post definitely jives with it! Especially with respect to the idea of imagining and trying to create real, new, and better institutional structures that *could* work (and that are ambitious!) - and differentiating this from "incremental reforms" that slightly alter existing structures. It's cutting that difference between Utopian and Practical --- and as you suggest above, small scale experiments are a way to reach for this!
Interesting premise, it leaves me wondering whether a technology that is advanced instead of emerging makes it more suitable to be used for more creative, open-ended R&D tasks
I tend to agree but I guess it’s a bit of a jargon game. If im the developer and user of an application, this is likely labeled as emerging, however at some point I get so good at using it that the creative outcomes would transcend the nature of the application anyway
I think so, simply because you start from a different premise with this metaphor. It presents a different challenge to think about a technology as advanced instead of emerging. It opens the mind to imagine different things to do with it
This is great 💫💫💫
This is great 💫💫💫
Absolutely LOVE this one, Maarten! My policy studies brain immediately reads it as an argument that points out the flaws in path dependency --- both in terms of the development of the technologies themselves, as well as in the sociocultural ways that technologies are imagined and employed.
As we know from the path dependency lit (I linked to one of the best OG articles from Paul Pierson below), its a difficult force to overcome! BUT you provide an answer! The way to overcome the all-encompassing structural force of path dependency is to engage in small scale experiments that provide alternative ways of imagining, using, and thinking about technologies. These small-scale experiments can provide normative arguments and examples of how tech SHOULD be imagined and used, that differ from the mainstream, path dependent visions!
https://www.jstor.org/stable/2586011
Yes, indeed! Have you read James Bridle's books?
I have not, but I now have 'em on my list to pick up!
@maarten -- I've also been reading "Envisioning Real Utopias" by Erik Olin Wright, and this post definitely jives with it! Especially with respect to the idea of imagining and trying to create real, new, and better institutional structures that *could* work (and that are ambitious!) - and differentiating this from "incremental reforms" that slightly alter existing structures. It's cutting that difference between Utopian and Practical --- and as you suggest above, small scale experiments are a way to reach for this!
https://www.versobooks.com/en-ca/products/2143-envisioning-real-utopias
Cool, this is now on my reading list!