Technology-based future forecasting functions as ritualistic exorcism

Evidence

Third, the future has acquired a new expression in the development of modern technologies of information processing and decision making by computer and cybernated devices. Here the future is a participation ritual of technological exorcism whereby the act of collecting data and allowing the public to participate in extrapolating trends and making choices is con- sidered a method of cleansing confusion and relieving us from human fallibilities. — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 671

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces the striking concept of ‘technological exorcism’ — data collection as cleansing ritual — a key Carey term.
• QUESTION: Worth chasing: does Carey see today’s data-driven forecasting and ‘data-driven’ culture generally as an extension of this technological exorcism? Very applicable to modern predictive-analytics rhetoric.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 671
• XREF: connects to: Future-oriented discourse masks the loss of a genuine public sphere — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 765; Future-oriented discourse evades present political participation; Predictive threat-detection rests on epistemologically fragile assumptions — Grégoire Chamayou, A Theory of the Drone, 198 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Future-oriented discourse masks the loss of a genuine public sphere #expands (0.75) — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 765
• Future-oriented discourse evades present political participation #expands (0.75)
• Fate returns as a psychological support in secular modern risk environments #expands (0.70) — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 323
• Predictive threat-detection rests on epistemologically fragile assumptions #expands (0.60) — Grégoire Chamayou, A Theory of the Drone, 198
• Preemptive drone targeting rests on epistemologically fragile predictions #exemplifies (0.55)
• Technical systems shape subjectivity by functioning as discourse networks #expands (0.55) — , The Braided Reading EPUB, 1224