This essay proposes the concept of existential technologies—technologies that alter evolutionary trajectories over long spans of time, operating beyond conventional epistemic and moral frameworks—through a close reading of Stanisław Lem’s Summa Technologiae (1964). Lem is mostly known as a science-fiction author, but this essay looks to his theoretical text as an understudied and philosophically rich account of long-term technological change. Lem’s speculative futurology anticipates today’s debates around artificial intelligence, biopolitics, and epistemic automation, but also the moral and epistemological dilemmas posed by uncontrollable technological change. In contrast to both techno-utopian and techno-dystopian narratives, Summa Technologiae offers a vision in which technology evolves alongside and sometimes against humanity, generating outcomes that exceed ethical planning.
In dialogue with Lem, the essay introduces two key categories: gnostic technologies, which automate epistemic functions, and anthropoforming technologies, which alter embodiment and identity, together constituting the domain of existential technologies. Re-reading Lem's work in the context of evolutionary amorality and Eastern European intellectual history—with its experiences of technological intrusion and historical catastrophe—this essay demonstrates how existential technologies transcend both human control and moral comprehension
Read the Existential Technologies article in Antikythera Journal at https://t.co/QvIPJqfjs1
Author @bognamk
Graphic Design and Development @_noviki
Annotations @annagreenspan
Happy New Year from @TRACTS_Network! Looking forward to a great year of @COSTprogramme networking, research meetings & training schools from Lisbon to Warsaw. Stay tuned for events on #traces of inequality, technology, sisterhood, conflict, empire and more. #Tractsresearch
With @_noviki we are building Traces Atlas, a critical, experimental & reflexive multimedia online space on the conceptual, methodological, and ethical explorations of traces and tracing #research
We are pleased to announce that we work with @_noviki studio to help us create a unique visual identity, curated content & an online Traces Atlas https://t.co/T7HV9vUFvN Noviki see graphic #design as a #research process & work across publishing, curatorial & exhibition practice
Estuvimos en la pasada edición de @librosmutantes en @LaCasaEncendida con @_noviki, uno de los estudios #polacos de #diseñadores gráficos con mayor proyección internacional. Por si te lo perdiste, te dejamos algunas de las imágenes y más información: https://t.co/GBhX7z40WM
Few slides from our upcoming lecture #Futureofwork at @beckmanscollegeofdesign April 14th / from digital to print and from print back to digital, how our aesthetic inspirations flow / we will focus on the impact... https://t.co/xYNgF8fpZr
Two-days collaborative investigation on geopolitics, possible and impossible futures carried out in graphic design language by our post-studio and sixteen participants of different nationalities and places of... https://t.co/D6QOJhzlFX
Enter Design Eutopia with @_noviki! ⚡️
Noviki will be on the TopForm stage at The Mitchell Library on Friday the 19th of October, as well as hosting a 2-day workshop on Saturday the 20th and Sunday the 21st of October at @The_Lighthouse! 🔥
Book: https://t.co/LEtUbKLCZS
Enter Design Eutopia with @_noviki! 👽
Noviki will be on the TopForm stage at The Mitchell Library on Friday the 19th of October, as well as hosting a 2-day workshop on Saturday the 20th and Sunday the 21st of October at @The_Lighthouse! 👏
https://t.co/LEtUbKLCZS
Choose from the many amazing 2-day workshops on offer taking place from Sat 20th - Sun 21st of October.
2-day workshops available include: David Carson, @_noviki, @CaviarTV, @StudioSpass, @ortypeis, @pentagramdesign and Erik Kessels.
Find out more: https://t.co/OMUUn1g3e8