Normative

A society builds the futures its people can picture themselves inside, so a story about technology should be judged by whether it gives the listener a part to play, not by how far it travels. Facts persuade and plans coordinate, but neither recruits. In the present transition the two stories on offer, doom and hype, both cast the listener as a spectator, and that, more than missing knowledge or missing capital, is what lets the future arrive by drift.

Narrative and audience