Technology starts with imagination, not analysis

The human-bacteria cheese succeeds because it proposes “a different world, one in which we are not disgusted by human-derived bacteria but happy to consume cheese made with their help” while “effortlessly fulfils the essential condition” of believing in itself through actual physical existence. The cheeses were real enough to be passed around a lecture theatre, producing genuine visceral reactions ranging from measured objectivity to transgression of “accepted boundaries of decency.” This demonstrates design fiction at its best: technically plausible (using standard cheese-making processes), provocative without being dystopian, and open-ended enough to generate diverse responses while remaining grounded in material reality.

This criterion establishes design fiction’s Goldilocks zone between pure imagination and clichéd warnings. “Not too fanciful” means maintaining technical plausibility so people take it seriously rather than dismissing it as fantasy—the futures depicted “might never happen, but they could.” “Not simply dystopian” rejects reflexive techno-pessimism that defaults to killer robots or Frankenstein monsters, which “squeeze out more nuanced responses.” Instead, effective design fiction should be “neither utopic or dystopic but rather ambiguous and messy,” presenting futures complex enough to invite genuine deliberation about desirability rather than triggering predetermined horror or enthusiasm. This balance enables the careful, critical conversation designers seek.

The echo-chamber metaphor captures how technological imagination and science fiction “work as an echo-chamber, reflecting ideas back and forth” rather than flowing in one direction. This complicates simple narratives crediting either sci-fi or engineering as sole source of innovation. The Martin Cooper cell phone example illustrates this: while he claimed Star Trek inspiration, he’d actually been working on police radios, making the phone “a simple extension of that idea”—but “name-checking Star Trek was a good way to get people’s attention.” The relationship is mutually reinforcing and sometimes strategically invoked for promotional purposes. Understanding this complexity helps explain why design fiction occupies a distinctive space, self-consciously leveraging this echo-chamber effect for deliberative rather than purely promotional purposes.

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This article is rated Advanced due to its sophisticated conceptual framework requiring readers to track multiple theoretical distinctions (design fiction versus traditional sci-fi, diegetic prototypes versus regular prototypes, critical design versus commercial design), specialized vocabulary from design theory and philosophy of technology, and extended essay structure weaving together diverse examples to build cumulative argument. The piece assumes familiarity with cultural references from Aldous Huxley to Star Trek and comfort with abstract theoretical discourse. Its characteristic Aeon style—sustained intellectual exploration with rich examples—demands concentration and ability to synthesize ideas across 3,100 words, making it suitable for readers comfortable with long-form essay journalism addressing complex contemporary cultural and technological questions.

DARPA represents the realm where design fiction has minimal influence—powerful institutions with “lavishly-funded” R&D selecting projects according to “a single over-riding criterion: might they give the USA a military advantage in future?” This exemplifies how “most future technologies will continue to arrive as a done deal” despite talk of public engagement or responsible innovation. The “ghastly combination of sales talk and bureaucratese” in DARPA’s promotional language illustrates how military and security R&D “will probably go its own way, and we’ll get weaponised biology whether we like it or not.” By acknowledging this limitation, Turney avoids presenting design fiction as panacea while arguing “for the rest, though, there is a real contribution to be made”—establishing realistic rather than utopian claims for the practice’s democratic potential.

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