The empirical study of engineering as a social activity—how engineers work, how design happens, how values shape technology, how engineering communities function. Social Sciences of Engineering examines engineering education, professional norms, design practices, and the social impacts of engineering decisions. It reveals that engineering isn't just technical problem-solving—it's social practice with social consequences.
"Engineering is just applied science, they say. Social sciences of engineering asks: then why do engineers rely so much on tacit knowledge? Why do designs reflect cultural values? Why do some technologies fail socially even when they work technically? Engineering is human, and social science shows how."
by Dumu The Void March 2, 2026
Get the Social Sciences of Engineering mug.The empirical study of technology as a social phenomenon—how technologies are developed, adopted, resisted, and transformed by social forces. Social Sciences of Technology includes science and technology studies (STS), history of technology, sociology of technology, and technology studies. It examines how technologies shape society and how society shapes technologies, revealing that technology is never just tools—it's politics, culture, and power made material.
"You think technology is neutral. Social sciences of technology asks: then why do different societies develop different technologies? Why do technologies have different impacts in different contexts? Why do some technologies fail and others succeed for non-technical reasons? Technology is social, and social science shows how."
by Dumu The Void March 2, 2026
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The empirical study of progress as a social phenomenon—how societies understand, measure, and pursue progress. Social Sciences of Progress examines how progress narratives shape policy, how progress is distributed, who benefits from claims of progress, and how progress is contested. It reveals that progress isn't just a fact—it's a story societies tell themselves, with real consequences for who gets what.
"We're making progress, they say. Social sciences of progress asks: progress for whom? Measured how? Compared to what? Who's left out of the story? Progress isn't just a fact; it's a narrative, and social science shows who writes it and who's written out."
by Dumu The Void March 2, 2026
Get the Social Sciences of Progress mug.The empirical study of how history is produced, contested, and consumed as a social activity. Social Sciences of History includes historiography, sociology of historical knowledge, and memory studies. It examines how historical narratives are constructed, how they serve present interests, how they're taught and remembered, how they shape identity. It reveals that history isn't just the past—it's what we say about the past, and that saying is always social.
"History is what happened. Social sciences of history asks: says who? Based on what sources? Told by whom? For what audience? History is always told from somewhere, and social science shows the somewhere that textbooks hide. Not to deny the past, but to understand how we know it."
by Dumu The Void March 2, 2026
Get the Social Sciences of History mug.The application of creative AI to scientific discovery—using AI not just to analyze data but to generate novel hypotheses, design unexpected experiments, and propose new theories. Creative Science would combine AI's pattern-recognition capabilities with mechanisms for genuine scientific creativity: generating hypotheses that humans wouldn't think of, designing experiments that test unexpected connections, synthesizing across disciplines in novel ways. The frontier where AI becomes a scientific collaborator, not just a tool.
"The AI didn't just analyze the protein data; it proposed a new folding mechanism that explained anomalies everyone had ignored. That's Creative Science—AI as collaborator, not calculator. Not just finding patterns, but imagining explanations."
by Nammugal March 4, 2026
Get the Creative Science mug.A broad framework for studying phenomena beyond current scientific reach—whether because they're outside our universe, beyond our observational capacity, or simply not yet accessible to scientific method. Outer Science includes paraphysics, multiverse theory, and the study of realms that may be permanently beyond empirical investigation. It's science at its limits—and beyond. Not abandoning method, but extending imagination.
"Science studies what we can observe; Outer Science studies what we can't—yet. The multiverse, other dimensions, the nature of consciousness—these may be beyond current science, but they're not beyond thought. Outer Science is the discipline of disciplined speculation: imagining what science might someday reach."
by Dumu The Void March 5, 2026
Get the Outer Science mug.The plural of Outer Science—encompassing multiple disciplines studying phenomena beyond current scientific reach. Outer Sciences include paraphysics, outer physics, multiverse cosmology, and speculative fields that push against the boundaries of knowledge. Each outer science approaches the beyond from a different angle: physics asks about other universes; biology asks about other life; psychology asks about other minds. Together, they form a meta-discipline: the sciences of what lies beyond science.
"Outer Sciences isn't one field; it's many. Outer physics, outer biology, outer psychology—each asks what lies beyond current knowledge in its domain. Not abandoning science, but extending it to the edges—and beyond. The Outer Sciences are what we do when we've reached the limits and want to see further."
by Dumu The Void March 5, 2026
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