Thoughtful territories: Imagining the thinking power of things and spaces

Abstract

This debate article considers the questions concerning the intelligence or thinking powers of things and spaces, and suggests that these issues now need to receive detailed attention in the development of social, cultural and urban theories of digitalisation. By outlining the implications of a set of existing and forthcoming technologies, this piece claims that we now need to begin to imagine the near future so as to keep up with what is commonly described as social and cultural speed up. The paper concludes by drawing upon the recent ‘non‐fiction’ work of the cyberpunk writer Bruce Sterling to begin to imagine the form that the ‘things’ of the future might take. The central argument of the piece is that Sterling’s attempts to set a new design agenda should also be considered by those interested in understanding the social and cultural transformations of the digital age.

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