Tech & Mythology Project Snapshot – Feb 2021

 Here’s another update to the Tech & Mythology project outline. See previous snapshots from October and July 2020 for background.

The Tech & Mythology project explores how people use socially significant stories to make sense of the impact of digital technology on their lives.

Digital technology (social media, artificial intelligence, the internet, etc.) is powerful, pervasive, and mysterious: it shapes how we live and work every day, but the algorithms, markets and networks that makes it all happen are invisible. People have always used stories to make sense of such greater-than-human forces. We are looking for contemporary shared stories (myths, if you will) that help us relate to digital tech.

Stories are not the only, let alone the dominant, way we make sense of the world. Reason and logic (“facts”) have been intellectuals’ preferred way since the Greeks, and emotions and instincts (“feelings”) dominate our everyday life. This project focuses on stories because they combine facts and feelings, and are a bridge between intellectual and everyday discourse.

The project is asking questions like:

• What are our contemporary myths?
• Can classical myths shed light on current technology?
• What are the narrative dynamics of policymaking?
• What are public perceptions of digital technology (including companies and celebrities) in terms of characters and narratives?

We are using several methods, including:

• Mythographic analysis of tech companies and entrepreneurs
• Textual analysis of public proceedings and associated coverage, e.g., antitrust
• Online surveys
• 1-1 interviews

Our focus, at least at this stage, is on understanding rather than recommendations, i.e., the project is descriptive rather than normative. Planned deliverables include reports, events, and articles.