Thesis Proposal Draft : Steven Doughty
WHAT IS YOUR THESIS QUESTION? (approx 2-3 sentences)
I am interested in framing the interactions that people have with complex technological systems as social relations. By expanding the idea of personhood to include these non-human technological systems and looking at the intersection of traditional indigenous worlding practices and more recent social constructionism concepts. I think this can framework can lead to valuable positive benefits to individuals suffering from technology fatigue or future shock.
WHAT DO YOU PLAN TO MAKE? (approx 3-5 sentences)
My current idea is a biofeedback experience which prompts users to engage, with literally or conceptually, an altered conscious state in order to communicate with a small, but complex system. Something like the rate of a twitter or Instagram infinite scroll being obtusely connected to the users heart rate, the goal is to create an environment where users feel connected to a technological non-human person and not in control of it.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT TO YOU? (approx 3-5 sentences)
As technological systems grow from simple to complex and from “dumb” to smart. The relationships individuals have with the technology can no longer be one of mastery or control. An information flood at the wrong time can be as damaging to a person (individual, corporate, dividual) as literal flood. I think it is vital we recognize this and start thinking about how to live alongside these systems without mastery, before they reach the typical sci-fi metric for “consciousness” for the health and prosperity for everyone.
WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS WITH THIS PROJECT? (approx 3-5 sentences)
I envision people creating an object which if only temporarily or illusory gives the user a sense of being “in-relation” with a non-human technological person.
INFLUENCES OR INSPIRATION? (approx 1-2 sentence description accompanying each link)
- Roy Ascott
- Sante Fe Institue
HOW DO YOU ENVISION REALIZING THIS PROJECT? (max 150 words)
- I will need to develop a stronger understanding of the ideas and concepts both in the work of non-human persons from the anthropological field and material-semiosis from sociology
- I will need to develop an aesthetic for my audience (likely educated humans from the upper-middle class) which is evocative of “spiritualism” while being mindful of the people and worlds it is ultimately derived from.
- Create a taxonomy for tech-non-humans that allows for a quickly sharing the idea with others in the modern dominant scientific conceptual framework.
- Select or build a complex system which meets the taxonomic criteria.
- Share.
OPTIONAL QUESTIONS (approx 2-3 sentences each)
- WHAT ARE YOUR AREAS OF STRENGTH?
- Generalist both in knowledge and technical know-how
- WHAT AREAS DO YOU NEED TO WORK ON?
- Time management, coding, and writing.
- TECHNOLOGIES YOU WANT TO EXPLORE IN MORE DEPTH?
- Biofeedback technologies, simulation software, complex adaptive systems.
TAGS
#futureshock #AI #superpersons #actornetworktheory #shamanism #animism #socialconsciousness #cyborgs
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Hi Steven! This sounds wonderful. My thesis also brings in animism as a way to decenter the human. I would love to chat at some point. I was researching animism and Latour’s ANT in the fall in CE. Some references that you may find interesting:
Richardson, Kathleen. “Technological Animism: The Uncanny Personhood of Humanoid Machines.” Social Analysis: The International Journal of Social and Cultural Practice 60, no. 1 (2016): 110-28.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/297661590_Technological_Animism_The_Uncanny_Personhood_of_Humanoid_Machines
“Ancient Animistic Beliefs Live on in Our Intimacy with Tech – Stephen T Asma | Aeon Ideas.” https://aeon.co/ideas/ancient-animistic-beliefs-live-on-in-our-intimacy-with-tech.
Blok, Casper Bruun Jensen, Anders. 2013. “Techno-Animism in Japan: Shinto Cosmograms, Actor-Network Theory, and the Enabling Powers of Non-Human Agencies – Casper Bruun Jensen, Anders Blok, 2013.” Theory, Culture & Society, March.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0263276412456564.