Research Questions for the Tech & Mythology Project

 My February project snapshot listed some of the questions the Tech & Mythology project is asking. S. V., a researcher I met through the ATLAS Institute, challenged me to document my research questions. After peeling several layers off the onion, here’s what I came up with.

Overall, the one-liner is this: Can taking a mythological view can help us to understand and govern digital technology better?

That unpacks into four questions:

1. Do people use stories to make sense of the impact of digital technology on their lives? 
2. If so: Who, when, where, how?
3. What, if anything, is the relevance of mythography and other approaches?
4. What are the implications for public policy?

Each of these questions can be unpacked in turn:

1. Do people use stories to make sense of the impact of digital technology on their lives? 
1. What are people’s perceptions of digital technologies, companies, and celebrities in terms of characters?
2. Are there stories about technology that are widely known, believed, and acted on?
2. If so: Who, when, where, how?
1. Are stories held in common across significant social groups?
2. Are there characteristic narrative structures and/or patterns? 
3. Does prevalence, structure, etc. differ in significant ways?
4. Applicability of other concepts, e.g., narrative, discourse, social imaginaries, frames, tropes, archetypes?
5. What’s the relevance of geography, demographics, identity, role, affiliation, etc.? (In other words: which “people”?)
6. Do people personify technologies, and if so how, and with what consequences? (Cf. archetypes, egregores, corporate personhood, etc.) 
7. Are there characteristic structures and/or patterns of the stories used? (Cf. archetypes, tropes, mythology, folklore categories.)
3. What, if anything, is the relevance of mythography and other approaches?
1. Are there analogies between contemporary stories and traditional myths, legends and folklore? (Cf. Prometheus stealing fire, Hephaestus and his automata, Loki and the treasures of the gods, magical mills like the Sampo, the wizard’s nephew.)
2. Can analyzing digital technology (including personalities, companies, and industries) in terms of classical myth shed light on current tech behavior and trends?
3. What is the nature and role of tech-related ritual in contemporary society? 
4. (How) have other cultures used stories to make sense of technology? What do traditional myths, legend and folklore have to say about how other cultures processed technology?
5. How do stories relate to beliefs, imaginaries, frames, etc.?
4. What are the implications for public policy?
1. (How) do stories influence public and expert opinion?
2. (How) do stories influence action, e.g., policymaking?
3. Does this analysis suggest ways to improve policymaking?