Alien Futuring

Coulton, Paul and Stead, Michael (2022) Alien Futuring. In: Stories4Policy:, 2022-07-05 - 2022-07-06, Lancaster University.

Abstract

This talk will problematize the framing of technological futures through rhetorical devices such as the Futures Cone which arguably promotes a one-world-world perspective, in that it assumes a collective (western) acceptance of a particular historicity and notions of time when used to consider and design technological futures. Instead, it will suggest the adoption of an alternate perspective which primarily draws from the work of Brazilian philosopher Alvaro Vieira Pinto who considered the past and the future as shaped by the present – a present open and creative due to constant change. In addition, it will incorporate game design philosopher Ian Bogost’s proposition of Alien Phenomenology which allows us to better consider the notion of ‘human’ as part of complex assemblages of human and non-human actants in interdependent relationships but operating within independent perspectives. This framing of Alien Futuring enables us to begin to act on present orthodoxies of design and promote more sustainable practices that go beyond purely human considerations and to begin to accommodate futures for non-human entities, both technological and ecological.