How Hopeful Stories Can Shape a Better Future with Ed Finn
Imagination is the key to anticipating & navigating transformative change.
Cohere podcast, co-hosts Bill Johnston and Dr. Lauren Vargas chat with Ed Finn, the founding director of the Center for Science and the Imagination at Arizona State University.
As an associate professor in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society and the School of Arts, Media, and Engineering, Finn provides fascinating insights into the Center's endeavors, the collaborative imagination and writing project 'Hieroglyph,' and the pioneering Imaginative Collaboration Framework. Throughout the discussion, Finn emphasizes the influential role of hopeful stories in shaping collective visions for the future and shares examples demonstrating how these narratives can drive innovation, learning, and societal transformation.
“I think we need many more people to feel empowered and invited to imagine their own futures. This is why Hieroglyph as a book is still helpful. There are invitations for you to imagine possible futures. You might read one of the stories and say, “oh, that’s really cool, but I don’t think I wanna actually be in that future, you know?”
But then you’re starting to think about what you might want instead. And that’s building imaginative capacity.”
In this episode, we discuss the following:
[1:56] Introducing Ed Finn
[6:30] Founding the Center for Science and the Imagination at ASU
[17:38] Discussing Project Hieroglyph
[31:15] Developing the Imagine Collaboration Framework
Mentioned in this episode:
[Book] Future Tense Fiction: Stories of Tomorrow by a partnership of Slate, Arizona State University, and New America
[Book] Frankenstein: Annotated for Scientists, Engineers and Creators of All Kinds edited by David H. Guston and Ed Finn
[Book] Hieroglyph: Stories and Visions for a Better Future edited by Ed Finn and Kathryn Cramer
[Book] What Algorithms Want: Imagination in the Age of Computing by Ed Finn
[Article] ‘Collaborative imagination: A methodological approach’ by Ed Finn and Ruth Wylie
[Website] Center for Science and Imagination
[Website] Center for Science and Imagination - Teacher Resources
[Website] Hieroglph
About our guest(s):
Ed Finn is the founding director of the Center for Science and the Imagination at Arizona State University where he is an associate professor in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society and the School of Arts, Media and Engineering. He also serves as the academic director of Future Tense, a partnership between ASU, New America and Slate Magazine, and a co-director of Emerge, an annual festival of art, ideas and the future. Ed’s research and teaching explore imagination, digital culture, creative collaboration, and the intersection of the humanities, arts and sciences. He is the author of What Algorithms Want: Imagination in the Age of Computing (MIT Press, spring 2017) and co-editor of Future Tense Fiction (Unnamed Press, 2019), Frankenstein: Annotated for Scientists, Engineers and Creators of All Kinds (MIT Press, 2017) and Hieroglyph: Stories and Visions for a Better Future (William Morrow, 2014), among other books. He completed his PhD in English and American Literature at Stanford University in 2011 and his bachelor’s degree at Princeton University in 2002. Before graduate school, Ed worked as a journalist at Time, Slate, and Popular Science.
Call-to-Action(s):
If you liked this episode, check out: Exploring Immersion with Ed Rodley and The Role of Friendship in Enhancing Virtual Experiences with Joi Podgorny
For more reflections about the intersection of community and futures literacy, subscribe to the Cohere Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.
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