Facts or fiction?
a critique on vision assessment as a tool for technology assessment
pp. 93-117
in: Paul Sollie, Marcus Düwell (eds), Evaluating new technologies, Berlin, Springer, 2009Abstract
This essay questions the concept of vision assessment as an appropriate tool for technology assessment on methodological, anthropological and ethical levels, and shows its epistemic neighbourhood to the scenario-techniques. In general, the central idea of a "future technology" is critically analyzed, backed with central examples drawn from nanotechnology, human doping techniques, and social neuroscience. Main concepts that are used for critique are (a) feasibility and desirability, (b) discourse and debate, and (c) vision and utopia. In addition, the essay reflects on the new genre of pop science, a mixture of science and popular writing on which the concept of vision assessment heavily depends.