How Can Science Fiction Help Design Better Science and Tech Policies?

By Pune Media On Jan 30, 2025 21

Careless algorithms, disaster refugees, computer girlfriends: Many predicaments of our time came to life in science fiction long before they became science reality. Fiction can be a tool to explore the consequences of technological change more fully; as Ed Finn writes in Issues in Science and Technology, “Good science fiction does not dream up just the automobile, but also the traffic jam.” Putting the future in context—in its own imagined world—forces writers to grapple with questions and consequences that could otherwise easily be glossed over (and often are).

How can we use fiction to fix our current “traffic jams”? Future Tense Fiction, a speculative fiction project published by Issues in Science and Technology in collaboration with Arizona State University’s Center for Science and the Imagination, uses imagination to examine how science, technology, policy, and society might shape our futures. On Thursday, February 20 at 3 p.m. ET, join us for a conversation celebrating the project with Ed Finn, William Hurd, Cole Donovan, and Malka Older, moderated by Lisa Margonelli, about how imagining fictional worlds can inspire us to make better realities.

To get Future Tense Fiction content delivered weekly to your inbox, sign up for Issues’ newsletter. Future Tense Fiction stories, response essays, and interviews are available for free at www.issues.org/futuretensefiction.

Panelists:

Ed Finn

Founding Director, Center for Science and the Imagination at Arizona State University

William Hurd

Vice President of Strategy, CHAOS Industries; Former Member of Congress

Malka Older

Author; Faculty Associate, Arizona State University; Executive Director, Global Voices

Cole Donovan

Former Assistant Director for International Science and Technology, Office of Science and Technology Policy

Moderator:

Lisa Margonelli

Editor-in-Chief, Issues in Science and Technology

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