Techno-Optimism and Rational Superstition.
This article examines some of the implications of technological optimism. I first contextualize, historically and culturally (Christopher Nolan's Interstellar [2014] is considered as a particularly salient example), some contemporary variants of techno-optimism in relation to the equally significant...
| Published in: | Techné: Research in Philosophy & Technology Vol. 21; no. 2/3; pp. 342 - 363 |
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| Format: | Article |
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Philosophy Documentation Center
2017
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=126845069&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 126845069 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 01617249 2Y0N jtl: Techné: Research in Philosophy & Technology issn: 01617249 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: 2017 vid: 21 iid: 2/3 pid: 2411 pub: Philosophy Documentation Center artinfo: ui: 126845069 10.5840/techne201711977 ppf: 342 ppct: 21 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P size: 835KB tig: atl: Techno-Optimism and Rational Superstition. aug: au: Wilson, Alexander affil: Institute of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University, Langelandsgade 139, Aarhus C, 8000, Denmark su: Optimism Example Rationalism sug: subj: Optimism Example Rationalism keyword: accelerationism anthropocene neo-rationalism posthuman prometheanism prophetism rationality reason retro-causation transhumanism ab: This article examines some of the implications of technological optimism. I first contextualize, historically and culturally (Christopher Nolan's Interstellar [2014] is considered as a particularly salient example), some contemporary variants of techno-optimism in relation to the equally significant contemporary exemplars of techno-pessimism, skepticism and fatalism. I show that this techno-optimism is often instrumentalized in the sense that the optimistic outlook as such is believed to have some influence on the evolving state of affairs. The cogency of this assumption is scrutinized. I argue that in the absence of explicit probabilities, such optimism presupposes some form of retro-causation, where the future is held to somehow have a retroactive effect on the past. This suggests that the underlying mechanism by which techno-optimism is supposed to be instrumental in bringing about the future is fundamentally superstitious. Such superstition, of course, goes against our common understanding of reason and rationality, for adopting rational expectations about the world requires that we avoid the emotional over-determination of our assessments. I show that applied reason is conceptually entangled with this superstitious optimism in the continued successes of technology. The article thus reveals a curious sense in which reason is intrinsically superstitious. I offer an evolutionary explanation for this, showing that the biological origins of reason will by nature tend to produce rational agents which are superstitiously bound to realism and causality, and thus implicitly optimistic about technology's capacity to overcome contingency. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Techné: Research in Philosophy & Technology is the property of Philosophy Documentation Center and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Techné: Research in Philosophy & Technology holder: Philosophy Documentation Center dt: @attributes: year: 2017 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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