ABSTRACT
Sinclair reflects on the ability of stories to write the next operating system for humanity by communicating knowledge, forming an understanding of the world, prescribing behavior, and imagining futures. Today’s tools and connected social cultures are catalyzing both hyperlocal and global participation in imagination. The technologies coming with the current paradigm shift are powerful, yet they rely on a narrow group of people to decide their value for humanity, repeating patterns of exclusion. New interactive tools, data science, smart algorithms, and immersive platforms can be leveraged to include a broad scope of people. Proofs of this concept exist in initiatives like The Detroit Narrative Agency and Canada’s Illustrating the Future Imaginary program, which use science fiction to help communities reconcile their values with technologist cultures, such as machinima. Had such a democratized imagination framework existed in the hindsight of past industrial revolutions, it might have mitigated the deep resentments created by the top-down or prescriptive-transition approaches of the time. Sinclair concludes by asking if a fuller representation of humanity could collaborate to define technology’s value, purpose, and capabilities, offering a window of opportunity to create an inclusive process for designing humanity’s future through story.
