The value of superdiverse human-technology entanglements

Abstract

Human-technology relations are time and place related processes. Today, it is very common to describe human-technology interaction by stating that technology is ubiquitous and permeating all aspects of our everyday lives. This is often compounded by the fact that technological development has been rapid, and it seems to be accelerating. This speed makes the understanding the effects that technology has on us and our lives challenging or even difficult to realise. These kinds of notions have been repeated for decades already. The point here is not to criticize other scholars, but to argue that to reveal the value of quotidian human-technology entanglements we need to focus on the most mundane parts of our lives, scrutinizing something we do not necessary recall nor take notice of. This has been labelled as the “secret world of doing nothing” by ethnologists Billy Ehn and Orvar Löfgeren (2010) to describe the most mundane activities of our everyday lives.