{"id":989,"date":"2022-07-21T19:30:19","date_gmt":"2022-07-21T19:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.designstudio.gatech.edu\/wordpress\/?p=989"},"modified":"2023-01-10T04:07:45","modified_gmt":"2023-01-10T04:07:45","slug":"unintended-consequences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/faculty.washington.edu\/nassimi\/criticism\/unintended-consequences\/","title":{"rendered":"Unintended Consequences"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>with Anne Pollock<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-3 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:70%\"><figure class=\"wp-block-post-featured-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"760\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/faculty.washington.edu\/nassimi\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/10535432774_23eadbc4d9_k-e1655666111885-760x400.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"object-fit:cover;\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<p>This research revisits the term \u201cunintended consequences,\u201d drawing upon an illustrative vignette to show how it is used to dismiss vital ethical and political concerns. Tracing the term to its original introduction by Robert Merton and building on feminist technoscience analyses, we uncover and rethink its widespread usage in popular and scholarly discourses and practices of technology design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The phrase \u201cunintended consequences\u201d found widespread usage in contemporary discourses on technology and policy after canonical sociologist of science Robert Merton\u2019s (1936) article titled: \u201cThe Unanticipated Consequences of Purposive Social Action.\u201d In this paper, Merton identifies three obstacles that limit one\u2019s ability to <em>anticipate <\/em>the consequences of purposeful action to achieve a particular goal: ignorance, error, and ideological blindness. The term \u201cunanticipated consequences,&#8221; however, has been overwhelmingly replaced in usage with the all-too- common \u201cunintended consequences,\u201d often used as its synonym. Used in this manner, the term enables a tacit argument that perfectly predictable entrenchment of social and political challenges are outside of design\u2019s purview and a way to marginalize the profound ethical questions at the heart of technological design choices. The overemphasis on intent\u2014 understood predominately in its individualistic interpretation\u2014forecloses consideration of the complexity of social systems in such a way as to lead to quick technical fixes. In this way, the term \u201cunintended consequences\u201d becomes a barrier to, rather than a facilitator of, vital discussions about design.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:30%\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Related Publications<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ol><li><a href=\"https:\/\/estsjournal.org\/index.php\/ests\/article\/view\/497\">Unintended by Design: On the Political Uses of \u201cUnintended Consequences\u201d<\/a> Nassim Parvin and Anne Pollock |&nbsp;<em>Engaging Science, Technology, and Society (ESTS).<\/em>&nbsp;5:1 (June 2020).<\/li><\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This theoretical exploration revisits the term \u201cunintended consequences,\u201d drawing upon an illustrative vignette to show how it is used to dismiss vital ethical and political concerns.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1134,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6],"tags":[13,14,21,26],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/faculty.washington.edu\/nassimi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/989"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/faculty.washington.edu\/nassimi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/faculty.washington.edu\/nassimi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faculty.washington.edu\/nassimi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faculty.washington.edu\/nassimi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=989"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/faculty.washington.edu\/nassimi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1746,"href":"https:\/\/faculty.washington.edu\/nassimi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/989\/revisions\/1746"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faculty.washington.edu\/nassimi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/faculty.washington.edu\/nassimi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faculty.washington.edu\/nassimi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faculty.washington.edu\/nassimi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}