possibility studies

In the words of speculative fiction writer Ursula Le Guin: ‘As great scientists have said and as all children know, it is above all by the imagination that we achieve perception, and compassion, and hope.’

discourses about human possibility should not be Eurocentric or Western centric but actively invite experiences and ideas that grow out of decolonisation as a position from which we can actively reimagine self, other, and world.

Experiences of the possible transform the self . The fact that humans can pretend things are not what they are, reimagine the past, envision multiple futures and conceive the impossible, are all transformative experiences.

(4) The dominant notion of reality is deeply related to the fact that we (moderns) believe in science and abstract knowledge as arbitrators of truth, in the autonomous and competitive individual as the kernel of society, and in the economy as a separate domain ruled by “free markets.” These entangled set of beliefs have created the modern idea that

If we can recognize that change and uncertainty are basic principles, we can greet the future and the transformation we are undergoing with the understanding that we do not know enough to be pessimistic. —Hazel Henderson1

Experiences of the possible depend on more than individuals; they require a wide ecosystem that includes human and non-human actors and their entanglement. Humans don’t always occupy a central position in this system as objects and material spaces can guide the discovery of new possibilities (e.g., new affordances) and enable their enactment.

The construction of norms, values, and ideologies around who, in society, is expected or has the right to discover new possibilities and, conversely, who is denied such opportunities is a political act. In fact, power relations within and between groups are a key determinant in the dynamic of the possible and the imposition of impossibility.

lack of institutions working seriously on issues where technology and society intersect.