Counterfactual computers

“Counterfactual computers” is an experimental writing project exploring alternative trajectories of computing through a series of “case” narratives, highlighting hinge points and latent potentials in computing history.

This work aims to broaden our understanding of technological development and inspire new approaches to computing by exploring “what if” scenarios in computing history. Taking a multi-pronged approach, “Counterfactual computers” uses a combination of historical research, LLM-supported morphological analysis (※), expert engagement, and counterfactual reasoning techniques. This combination of methods allows for the relatively rapid construction of plausible alternative histories that are imaginative but grounded in historical possibility.

Drawing on insights from postcolonial technoscience, this work aims to detach our understanding of computing from exclusively Euro-American contexts. By critically examining how power structures, cultural assumptions, and local knowledge systems could have shaped alternative computing paradigms, “Counterfactual computers” sets out to unsettle our conception of what computers are, have been, and could yet be.

Focusing first and foremost on hardware, this approach treats computers as objects with their own biographies and cultural significance. This emphasis allows the work to explore how the physical form of computers shapes and is shaped by prevailing contexts, embodying and perpetuating specific social structures and cultural values.

Blurring the boundaries between historical research and speculative fiction, “Counterfactual computers” will:

• Highlight the role of contingency in technological development
• Explore how different cultural, social, and economic factors could have shaped alternative computers
• Support critical reflection on the relationship between technology, society, and culture
• Prototype and refine approaches to computer-supported counterfactual thinking
• Uncover possible solutions to contemporary challenges by revisiting paths not taken

By challenging narratives of unilinear progress and creating space to reflect on the cultural assumptions baked into current computing paradigms, “Counterfactual computers” aims to contribute to more nuanced, inclusive discussions about technology and society.

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