{"id":36235,"date":"2025-11-04T10:40:44","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T15:40:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/?post_type=article&#038;p=36235"},"modified":"2025-11-14T15:41:59","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T20:41:59","slug":"tech-writing-for-humans","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/publications\/tech-writing-for-humans","title":{"rendered":"Why science and tech writing is not up to this moment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Dear Reader<\/strong>,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With some admirable exceptions, American science and tech writing is a drag. The world changes but the words stay the same. You know the ones I mean:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8230; <em>privacy \u2026 bias \u2026 disparate impact \u2026 corporate misbehavior \u2026 scientists say \u2026 we now know \u2026 autonomy \u2026 informed consent \u2026 misinformation \u2026 techbros \u2026 DEI \u2026 woke \u2026 fascism \u2026 restoring science to its rightful place<\/em> &#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m not here to debunk any of these concepts. But taken together, this mode of thinking has become stifling. It doesn\u2019t get to core questions about what science is or what we are. It diminishes us. It divides us. It offers facts but not truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The New Atlantis<\/em> works in a fundamentally different mode. Our aim is not \u201ccommunication,\u201d \u201cstorytelling,\u201d or \u201cafflicting the comfortable.\u201d It is this: building a culture where science and technology work for, not on, human beings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Let me first tell you<\/strong> what we believe that culture looks like. It is a culture that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>understands the core anxiety about technology as the threat of&nbsp;dehumanization.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>fosters a richer discourse about science and tech, asking about dignity, degradation, the obligations between generations, the good life, and meaning and purpose.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>places<strong> <\/strong>wiser limits on dehumanizing technologies, research practices, and applications of science.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>resists the temptation to<strong> <\/strong>use medicine and biotechnology to conquer human nature, or to regard our bodies as raw material, and instead sees their purpose as caring for the sick while protecting the dignity of every person.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>views science not as a vehicle for putting humanity in its place or revealing what we cherish to be illusory but as an expression of human curiosity and endeavor.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>moves beyond the misguided dreams of making politics subservient to science \u2014&nbsp;or of ridding experts from politics once and for all \u2014 and instead creates new institutions, practices, and ways of thinking in which democratic deliberation and scientific expertise inform, guide, and place sound limits upon one another.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>revives confidence in its ability to create new technologies and policies that ameliorate suffering, increase prosperity, strengthen family and communal bonds, counter threats to and from the environment, and open new possibilities for understanding and exploring the universe.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>But I also want to <em>show<\/em> you<\/strong> what it looks like. Call to mind again the Standard American Science Writing Diet \u2014&nbsp;then go take a look at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/The-New-Atlantis-poster-2025.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">poster we\u2019ve made for this campaign<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/The-New-Atlantis-poster-2025.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/poster-collage-for-screen-1400w-640x828.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-36278\" width=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/poster-collage-for-screen-1400w-640x828.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/poster-collage-for-screen-1400w-1280x1656.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/poster-collage-for-screen-1400w-1187x1536.jpg 1187w, https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/poster-collage-for-screen-1400w-1583x2048.jpg 1583w, https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/poster-collage-for-screen-1400w.jpg 1855w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">   &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Powerful public thought can elicit many responses: elation, despair, or \u201ctake <em>that!\u200a<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But at its best, it can do more than any of that. I still recall what I felt when, as an undergraduate studying computer science and physics, wrestling uneasily with what modern science told us about the world and our place in it, I first encountered <em>The New Atlantis<\/em>\u200a: relief. Put into words, my response was: \u201cThank you, <em>this<\/em> is what I was looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ordinarily in a letter like this<\/strong>, I would now tell you about X, Y, and Z tangible impact your philanthropic dollar will have if you support our project. I could tell you lots of things like that: the extra big article we could fund, the extra Senate office our work could show up in, our 60% growth in subscribers this past year and how we could beat it next year. These are important markers of our influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But my case to you is something deeper than any of this. That response I\u2019m describing is rare in the ideas world. It is powerful. And it is powerful because it is <em>not<\/em> entirely about tangible outcomes, like moving a poll or passing a ballot initiative. Instead, this power is open-ended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As I write this, the landscape of American thought is more in flux than at any time in memory. The need for culture-reshaping work is greater than ever before. And so is the opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Is technology for us or are we for technology?<\/strong><\/em> That is the question underlying our present sense of crisis. So stuck are we that <em>The New Atlantis<\/em> stands nearly alone in saying this <em>is<\/em> the question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you respond to our work with a \u201cthank you\u201d too, you are already a member of a club charged with an important task: helping the country grasp this question and answer it well. Take a look at our <a href=\"\/publications\/what-your-gift-can-do\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2025 campaign goals<\/a> and consider what your role means to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With thanks for your support and your readership,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ari Schulman<br>Editor,&nbsp;<em>The New Atlantis<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:15px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons justify-center\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button aligncenter font-callunasans uppercase font-bold text-lg tracking-wider is-style-outline\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-background wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/cgi-bin\/webscr?cmd=_donations&amp;business=donations@thenewatlantis.com&amp;item_name=Donation+for+The+New+Atlantis&amp;no_shipping=1&amp;return=https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/thank-you&amp;cancel_return=https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/donation-cancelled&amp;cn=Any+comments+for+us?&amp;currency_code=USD&amp;tax=0&amp;lc=US&amp;bn=PP-DonationsBF&amp;submit.x=20&amp;submit.y=13\" style=\"border-radius:0px;background-color:#004d8f\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Donate now<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style=\"box-shadow: none; color: #004d8f\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/donate#moreways\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Give by check or advised fund<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;&nbsp;\u2b29 &nbsp;&nbsp;<a style=\"box-shadow: none; color: #004d8f\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/publications\/what-your-gift-can-do\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>What your gift can do<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dear Reader, With some admirable exceptions, American science and tech writing is a drag. The world changes but the words stay the same. You know the ones I mean: &#8230; privacy \u2026 bias \u2026 disparate impact \u2026 corporate misbehavior \u2026 scientists say \u2026 we now know \u2026 autonomy \u2026 informed consent \u2026 misinformation \u2026 techbros \u2026 DEI \u2026 woke \u2026 fascism \u2026 restoring science to its rightful place &#8230; I\u2019m not here to debunk any of these concepts. But taken together, this mode of thinking has become stifling. It doesn\u2019t get to core questions about what science is or what&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":36483,"template":"","article_type":[18],"noteworthy_people":[],"topics":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/36235"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"version-history":[{"count":108,"href":"https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/36235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36492,"href":"https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/36235\/revisions\/36492"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=36235"},{"taxonomy":"noteworthy_people","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/noteworthy_people?post=36235"},{"taxonomy":"topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics?post=36235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}