A framework asserting that what we take as reality is a construct—a product of human practices, language, and social agreements. This doesn’t mean reality is “fake” but that our access to it and its meaning are always mediated by construction. The theory encompasses social constructionism, symbolic interactionism, and phenomenological constructionism. It explains why different communities can have different “realities” while still living in the same physical world: they’ve constructed different meaning systems, institutions, and ways of engaging.
Example: “Constructed reality theory explains why the same piece of land is a sacred site to one group, a resource to another, and a legal territory to a third—all real, all constructed.”
A sub-theory of constructionism focused specifically on objectivity claims. It argues that objectivity is not a property of things themselves but a label applied to knowledge claims that have been validated through certain social processes (peer review, expert consensus, standardized measurement). The theory shows that objectivity is constructed by communities of practitioners through shared methods, language, and institutions—it is a social achievement, not a given. Understanding how objectivity is constructed helps reveal why it can fail, how it can be biased, and how it can be improved.
Example: “Constructed objectivity theory explains why a drug trial’s results are called ‘objective’ only after passing through a network of protocols, reviewers, and regulatory processes—objectivity is made, not found.”
The sociological view that scientific knowledge, while aiming for objectivity, is inevitably a human construction shaped by social factors: funding priorities, institutional power, peer review culture, dominant paradigms, and even the personalities of leading scientists. This doesn't mean science is "just an opinion," but that the path to reliable knowledge is paved with social negotiations, controversies, and the gradual construction of consensus, not the simple revelation of pure nature.
Example: "Studying the Theory of Constructed Science, she saw the Nobel Prize not as a divine award for truth, but as the pinnacle of a construction process: decades of building a persuasive narrative, converting peers, winning grants, and marginalizing rival theories until one framework became the 'obvious' truth etched in textbooks."
The perspective that technologies are not neutral tools with inevitable effects. They are built by people with specific values, assumptions, and worldviews embedded in their design. A social media algorithm isn't just code; it's a constructed technology that embodies theories about humanattention, social interaction, and value (e.g., engagement = profit). These embedded constructions then shape user behavior, often reinforcing the very worldviews used to build them.
Example: "The dating app's 'matching algorithm' wasn't magic; it was a Theory of Constructed Technology in action. It was built on a model of human attraction as a checklist of preferences, which then taught users to see themselves and others as checklists. The technology didn't just find love; it constructed a new way of looking for it." Theory of Constructed Technologies
The idea that even raw facts are not simply discovered, but are shaped by the theories, tools, and questions that produce them. A fact is a carefully carved slice of reality, and the carving tools are our interests, technologies, and linguistic categories. The fact "the patient has a fever of 102°F" is constructed by the concept of "fever," the Fahrenheit scale, and the reliability of the thermometer. Change any of those, and you get a different fact. Facts are theory-laden.
Example: "The archaeologist explained the Theory of Constructed Facts: 'We say we 'found' a ceremonial dagger. But that fact was constructed the moment we decided to call it a 'dagger' and not 'scrap metal,' and 'ceremonial' instead of 'utilitarian.' The dirt gave us an object; we gave it a story that became a fact in our textbook.'"
While our lifespan is the number of years we will live, our healthspan is the number of healthy years we will have and our sexspan is is the number of years we will continue to be healthy enough to continue having an active sex life.
A lighthearted reaction upon receiving disappointing news of some sort. Usually something that isn't a particularly a big deal, esp. when it primarily affects someone else - sort of a mild schadenfreude. Sometimes doubled or tripled, and possibly said in a sing-songy voice for added comedic effect to imitate a muted trumpet, which is how the meme originated.