Abstract:

Human beings have an extraordinary ability to conjure up mental stories. Here we provide theoretical background on the application of conceptual blending storytelling to design fiction, and suggest that double-scope stories can provide a pedagogical framework to imagine the near future of information technologies. Imagining and communicating beyond the incremental is crucial to the dissemination of actual innovation.
Suppose that Charlie Chaplin wants to make an omelette and realises that his fridge has run out of both energy and fresh eggs. He looks at the empty pan over the cooker and feels disappointed. That is one mental story, with roles, actions, goals, agents, and objects. At that very moment, he remembers of the chicken scene from “Sunnyside”. In that story, Chaplin gets a fried egg on the run by holding a chicken over a pan. This second story clashes with the story he actually lives. It is a false story and Chaplin should not make the mistake of holding a chicken over a hot pan. Indeed, Chaplin doesn’t get confused. “Someone who is inhabiting the real story of the present and who is simultaneously remembering a different story can partition them, so as to monitor each without becoming confused about which items belong to which stories”. Fauconnier and Turner (F&T) have characterized the human effort to activate conflicting mental structures as a conceptual blending.
Let the story continue. Chaplin takes his phone and calls Pennsylvania’s based “Rent the Chicken”, a business that rents chickens for people who want fresh eggs from humanely raised hens. The entrepreneur promises a fast delivery, so the problem is partially solved. This is a story that fits the world we live in. Now, looking at the fridge, an idea pops up in Chaplin’s mind. He calls “Energy Chicken”, a company that places an intelligent microchip in the hen’s body. The device transforms the heat produced by the hen when eggs are laid down, into electricity. It is a smart product that operates under remote control, so one can program for the time and frequency of deliveries. More eggs, more electricity. In times of information technology, many devices depend on energy transformation, like the bicycle that, when the cyclist pedals, transforms mechanical energy into electricity and feeds the e-bike battery. Also, a host of new interactions and behaviours accompany technological devices, such as the Philips’ wireless hue lightbulb, a smart product that works via an intuitive remote control. You can use the control either to dim or change the colours of your lights, or to set a wake-up light alarm clock. Given this scenario, there are good reasons to conceive of both “Rent the Chicken” and “Chicken Energy” as part of the world we leave in. “Energy Chicken”, however, is fictional: fictional, but feasible. No doubt, it could inspire a film in Chaplin’s style. Not a science fiction film, but a digital video informed by design fiction, providing experiences that go beyond the incremental, beyond the next product release.
We conclude by suggesting that, for the purpose of communicating beyond the incremental, two complementary abilities are relevant to storytelling pedagogy: to conjure up stories that run counter to the story we actually inhabit, and stories that, despite fictional, run together to the story we actually inhabit.

Keywords:

Double-scope Stories, Design Fiction, Storytelling Pedagogy, Information Technologies