the truth has to be well constructed, it isn’t ‘just’ constructed. Simply claiming objectivity, and in the process bracketing out all subjectivity, is not part of a realistic description of what goes on when science does a good job and establishes a truth. Just as each branch of science rarely solves problems on its own – physics might need algebra; sociology might need a bit of geography or statistics – a realistic description must embrace a heterogenous array of actors. This was the basis of Latour’s pluralism.
📑 Bruno Latour showed us how to think with the things of the world, respecting their right to exist and act on their own terms
Latour and his colleagues presented scientific knowledge as a deliberate construction, a product of various social, political and economic interactions that are in constant competition. This pluralist view of knowledge is at the origins of the field of science and technology studies, which critically analyses the sciences while also trying to build bridges with the humanities – between ‘matters of fact’ and ‘matters of concern’, as Latour put it. Latour was a founder of what would become the field’s main approach, actor-network theory. This is not so much a theory as a method. It asks us to follow the nonhuman actors doing things to each other, and to not focus on the artificial oppositions we have built between, for instance, subject and object. That opposition is at the heart of positivist science, which tends to insist that facts are just waiting to be discovered in an objective world and, once discovered, become permanent.
With Bruno Latour’s recent death, Stephen Muecke reflects on life and legacy. One of the interesting points that Muecke unpacks is the question of ‘truth’ in regards to Actor Network Theory:
Welcome back to another month.
With a series of structural changes going on at work, I was asked how I felt about my job. I explained to my manager that I felt that a lot of what we do is thankless. This is not to say that schools are not thankful, but rather it feels like a large amount of our time is spent doing what feels like other people’s work. For example, this month, another buggy upgrade was pushed into production by the technical team without adequate testing or documentation. This meant that a large amount of my time was spent trying to figure out what was happening with all the problems raised by schools to raise with the technical team to fix.
On the home front, our yard redesign has somehow been completed even with the ridiculous amounts of rain that we have had. I remember raising concerns about flooding when we went to Albury, however it feels like things have only stepped up since then. It feels like a new record seems to be broken each week at the moment. Although it is hard to capture something that is so widespread, however I feel like the video of the Woolshed Falls near Beechworth summed it up for me.
Personally, I managed to go to two concerts this month, Montaigne and Art of Fighting. Associated with this, I dived into the work of Daði Freyr and Montgomery. In addition to this, I have been listening to new albums from Carly Rae Jepsen and Taylor Swift on repeat with my daughters. In regards to reading, I purchased a two month subscription to Audible. I got halfway through Miriam Margolyes’s reading of Charles Dickens’ Bleak House and gave up. Instead, I then turned to Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children. I was also reminded about the fragility of my digital identity when I was hit with a handful of WordPress errors and reminded how important it is to have structured backups.
Here then are some of the dots I have been connecting together:
Education
“Let Them Leave Well”
Andrea Stringer shares some thoughts on teacher retention.
The Two Definitions of Zettelkasten
Chris Aldrich talks about what we talk about when we talk about zettelkasten.
Why Learn to Read?
Deborah Brandt explains that learning to read has meant many things over time.
Technology
Running Twitter Isn’t Rocket Science. It’s Harder
For me, Clive Thompson captures things best, explaining how working with all the variables to land a rocket is still a far cry from the complexity of grappling with 400 million Twitter users.
Blockchain’s real world problem
Ryan Barrett reflects upon the the potential of the blockchain and the importance of human trust.
The GIF Is on Its Deathbed
Kaitlyn Tiffany reflects on the demise of GIFs.
General
Why Are the Kids So Sad?
Malcolm Harris explores why children today are so sad. Hint, maybe because we all are.
You’re learning a lot, but is it valuable?
Oliver Quinlan reflects on productive learning in response to new situations as opposed to learning to cope with a dysfunctional workplace.
It’s Gotten Awkward to Wear a Mask
Katherine Wu reports on the tendency to discard mask wearing as a bad memory, instead seeking out a sense of supposed normalcy.
Bruno Latour showed us how to think with the things of the world, respecting their right to exist and act on their own terms
Stephen Muecke reflects on Bruno Latour’s life and legacy.
More Proof That This Really Is the End of History
Francis Fukuyama applies his thesis that history ends with the prevalence of democray to today.
Read Write Respond #081
So that was October for me, how about you? As always, hope you are safe and well.
Image by Bryan Mathers