ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to introduce different ontological positions, so that students can be aware of the assumptions that are entailed. Consider two major innovations that have transformed human experience—the airplane and the graphical user interface. An important factor that differentiated these innovators from their peers was the fact that they framed what others saw as problems of technology as problems of human experience. Where Langley was designing an aircraft, the Wright Brothers were exploring the experience of flight, which they understood to center on the ability to control the aircraft. Readers with a background in science and technology may find it implausible that philosophical considerations have practical relevance for their work. Philosophy may be an amusing diversion, but it seems that the theories relevant to technological development are those of the hard sciences and engineering. Many designers and engineers dismiss input from the ‘soft’ sciences as too ‘fuzzy’ or as simply a matter of ‘taste’ or ‘marketing.’
