Wenzel Mehnert - Preparing for the hype to come: Fictional Technofutures to prime expectations of the future [Hype Studies Conference 2025 presentation]

Hacking Neologism Wenzel Mehnert (cultural studies, future studies, hype studies) Technology Foresight Austrian Institute of Technology Technikphilospohie TU Berlin, Speculative Fiction UdK Berlin (Alumni) Hacking Neologism // Hype Studies Conference, Barcelona, 2025 // Wenzel Mehnert Prolog 2 Dr. Minea Sangh Brilliant and influential frequency theorist Member of the Grand Holographic Council Dedicates her life to frequencyism and the harmonization of collective vibration Inventor of the CCF measuring device CCF: Cosmic Consciousness Frequency Attempted to re-legitimize the emotion of “grief” with proposal no. 3897. The proposal was rejected by the Council in 2040. Hacking Neologism // Hype Studies Conference, Barcelona, 2025 // Wenzel Mehnert Prolog 3 Dr. Minea Sangh Brilliant and influential [frequency theorist] Member of the [Grand Holographic Council] Dedicates her life to [frequencyism] and the harmonization of [collective vibration] Inventor of the [CCF] measuring device [CCF: Cosmic Consciousness Frequency] Attempted to re-legitimize the emotion of “grief” with proposal no. 3897. The proposal was rejected by the Council in 2040. Die Zukunft im Blick // VR Kunstpreis // Wenzel Mehnert // Berlin 09-2023 4 Act 1 – Exposition Technofutures as Linguistic Worlds Hacking Neologism // Hype Studies Conference, Barcelona, 2025 // Wenzel Mehnert Neologism 5 A neologism is a new linguistic creation. A new word (lexical neologism): [Cyberspace] or [Fridays for Future] A new meaning for an existing word (semantic neologism): [Cloud] or [Follower] Neologisms are response to social, technological, or cultural changes They fulfill a communicative function by making previously unnamed phenomena or concepts linguistically accessible and thus graspable, discussable, perceivable, thinkable, xxx-able, etc. They are The moment when the undefined becomes defined. Hacking Neologism // Hype Studies Conference, Barcelona, 2025 // Wenzel Mehnert Naming the Future Neologisms are technopolitical acts. They define problem-spaces and create solutions in one word (e.g. [blockchain]) [Fictional Technofutures], meaning Science-Fiction that impact tech development, often serve as incubators for terminology (e.g.[robot] [metaverse]). They map new linguistic terrains and create a shared [megatext] of potential futures. 6 Hacking Neologism // Hype Studies Conference, Barcelona, 2025 // Wenzel Mehnert Socio-linguistic Hype-Infrastructure Words enable Hypes, capture attention and create discursive legibility Hypes stabilize around terms like [Web3], [Quantum Internet], [Digital Twin]. Naming as a monetizing scheme: What can be named can be funded (e.g. [Superintelligence]). Words organize expectation: not what is, but what could be –– or rather what will be. Neologisms = infrastructure for future sensemaking. 7 Hacking Neologism // Hype Studies Conference, Barcelona, 2025 // Wenzel Mehnert Covering discourses Neologisms disclose worlds in fictional / scientific jargon. Techno-anticipatory regimes rely on semantic scaffolding. [Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)] does not discuss ethical debates or institutional agendas but human like intelligence. [Artificial consciousness] is the vision, smart weapons are the reality for IBM in 1970 Each term encodes a normative framing and adds a societal meaning [Brain Computer Interfaces] as [Cognitive Enhancer] or [Neuroweapon]. 8 Hacking Neologism // Hype Studies Conference, Barcelona, 2025 // Wenzel Mehnert Neologism (The linguistic symbol of the technology) Societal Meaning (The alleged impact on society) 9 Technofutures Hacking Neologism // Hype Studies Conference, Barcelona, 2025 // Wenzel Mehnert 16 Commodification of SF Neologism Societal Meaning [Loss of control] (Sociotechnical Regimes of control) [Cyberspace] (VR, Internet, BCIs) Hacking Neologism // Hype Studies Conference, Barcelona, 2025 // Wenzel Mehnert Hype as a Semiotic Economy Tech marketing recycles fictional semiotics. Naively called the „Sciece Fiction Loop“ Popular neologisms act as cultural currency ([Metaverse], [Brain Computer Interfaces], [Mind Upload]) Symbolic density creates illusion of inevitability. Language enables hype arbitrage: borrow [imaginability] from fiction. Control of neologism = control of futures and expectations. 17 Bankston, K. (2019). The Sci-Fi Feedback Loop. Open Transcripts. http://opentranscripts.org/transcript/sci-fi-feedback-loop/ Die Zukunft im Blick // VR Kunstpreis // Wenzel Mehnert // Berlin 09-2023 18 Act 3 – Climax The Quantum Hype Loop Hacking Neologism // Hype Studies Conference, Barcelona, 2025 // Wenzel Mehnert From Paradox to Promise Quantum tech thrives on ontological weirdness through terms like [superposition] or [entanglement]. Fictional representations (e.g., Dark, Tenet, Marvelverse, Multiverse narratives) pick up cultural fascination and amplify it at the same time. The Quantum mythos amplifies awe, mystique and joins in the larger narrative of technological progress and expecting innovation. Hype arises from deliberate semi-opacity, creating the feeling of an inevitable future. Setting the stage for what is to come. 19 Hacking Neologism // Hype Studies Conference, Barcelona, 2025 // Wenzel Mehnert The impact of Quantum Neologism Terms like [Quantum Supremacy] provoke both hope and ethical discomfort. Shutting down the international academic exchange on Quantum while firing up the urgency of development, ending in [Quantum Space Race] [Quantum Threat] tells a world end all forms communication and destroying global economy. Only way out is [Post-Quantum Cryptography] Neologisms align with narratives and plot structures: Utopia, cautionary tale, pandora’s box, dystopia, unavoidable chaos, [cryptocalypse] unless: [ENTER CALL FOR ACTION HERE] Neologisms blur line between speculation, fiction, plausibility and performativity. 20 Hacking Neologism // Hype Studies Conference, Barcelona, 2025 // Wenzel Mehnert Fictional Neologism as [actual world] building From speech acts to hype acts: language as world-building tool. Neologisms become performative. Precautionary Principle: „The crucial problem at this stage is that our hypothetical government does not know if other governments, hackers, or companies [bad actors] have already developed a quantum computer big enough to break systems and steal data. It would only know this once the attack had occurred, and so would have no time to react." (Possati, 2023, p. 16) 21 https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/06/sustaining-select-efforts-to-strengthen-the-nations-cybersecurity-and-amending-executive-order-13694-and-executive-order-14144/ https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/eu-reinforces-its-cybersecurity-post-quantum-cryptography Possati, L. M. (2023). Ethics of Quantum Computing: An Outline. Philosophy & Technology, 36(3), 48. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13347-023-00651-6 Hacking Neologism // Hype Studies Conference, Barcelona, 2025 // Wenzel Mehnert The Economic Afterlife of Fiction Futures become commodified anticipation through the terms we use to describe them. Startups and VCs use fiction-derived rhetoric to sell futures. Fictional quantum concepts translate into investment categories. Fiction used as fiscal stimulus of „what will be“ (evolved from the „what if“). Questions of futures reduced from „if?“, „what?“ or „who?“ to „when?“ 22 https://globalriskinstitute.org/publication/2024-quantum-threat-timeline-report/ Die Zukunft im Blick // VR Kunstpreis // Wenzel Mehnert // Berlin 09-2023 23 Responsible Hype? Towards a Hermeneutic reframing of Neologism Hacking Neologism // Hype Studies Conference, Barcelona, 2025 // Wenzel Mehnert Reading the Future Apply literary tools to decode neologism and hype narratives. Not: Hype is good or bad. But: What is it the end to its means? Hermeneutics helps resist seduction by buzzwords. Ask: What genre is this future? Who narrates it? For whom? For what purpose? In which context? To which audience? Critical reading = critical hype studies. 24 (Critical Hype Studes ≠ „criticizing hype as a form of study“) Hacking Neologism // Hype Studies Conference, Barcelona, 2025 // Wenzel Mehnert „I dont know what it is but its cool“ - Mario What does it feel like? Towards a typology of Hype language and Neologism: Stabilizing: [AGI], [Smart City] Disruptive: [quantum leap], [brain-cloud] Mythic: [Singularity], [Skynet] Infrastructural: [Cloud computing], [dataverse] Extraordinary: [Superintelligence], [Quantum supremacy] Each term encodes expectation, fear, or promise and resonates on different semantic and emotional level 25