Terms

Words are interesting. Their meanings are often not as settled as they might seem as they move in and across communities.

I thought it might be interesting to have a topic here about words and what they refer to even if, as social objects, their fluidity is part of their condition.

The idea was provoked by a conversation I was participating in where people were referring to ‘cultural-’ and ‘cooperative-’ technologies. These could include techniques and practices: patterns of human behavior - not just ‘machines’ and ‘things’.

It reminded me of a word that I encountered a year or two ago through @shibco of The New Design Congress: ‘sociotechnical’.

I link to the wikipedia entry for this word: Sociotechnical system - Wikipedia

I’m still learning about the history of this word. It seems central to my concerns here.

Related: Fred Emery - Wikipedia

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