Rhetoric & Technical Communication
Rhetoric & Technical Communication
Toscano, Aaron, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Dept. of English

Resources and Daily Activities

  • Dr. Toscano’s Homepage
  • ENGL 2116-083: Introduction to Technical Communication
    • ENGL 2116 sec. 083 Major Assignments (Summer 2020)
      • Final Portfolio Requirements
      • Oral Presentations
    • June 11th: Continue with I, Robot
    • June 15th: Ethics and Perspective Discussion
      • Ethical Dilemmas for Homework
      • Ethical Dilemmas to Ponder
      • Mapping Our Personal Ethics
    • June 16th: More on Ethics
    • June 1st: Effective Documents for Users
    • June 2nd: Final Project and Research Discussion
      • Epistemology and Other Fun Research Ideas
      • Making Résumés and Cover Letters Better
      • Research
    • June 3rd: Technology in a Social Context
    • June 8th: Information Design and Visuals
    • June 9th: Proposals, Marketing, and Rhetoric
    • May 18th: Introduction to the course
    • May 19th: Critical Technological Awareness
    • May 20th: Audience, Purpose, and General Introduction
    • May 21st: Résumé Stuff
      • Making Résumés and Cover Letters More Effective
      • Peter Profit’s Cover Letter
    • May 25th: More Resume Stuff
    • May 26th: Plain Language and Prose Revision
      • Euphemisms
      • Prose Practice for Next Class
      • Prose Revision Assignment
      • Revising Prose: Efficiency, Accuracy, and Good
      • Sentence Clarity
    • May 27th: More on Plain Language
    • May 28th: Review Prose Revision
  • ENGL 4182/5182: Information Design & Digital Publishing
    • August 21st: Introduction to the Course
      • Rhetorical Principles of Information Design
    • August 28th: Introduction to Information Design
      • Prejudice and Rhetoric
      • Robin Williams’s Principles of Design
    • Classmates Webpages (Fall 2017)
    • December 4th: Presentations
    • Major Assignments for ENGL 4182/5182 (Fall 2017)
    • November 13th: More on Color
      • Designing with Color
      • Important Images
    • November 20th: Extra-Textual Elements
    • November 27th: Presentation/Portfolio Workshop
    • November 6th: In Living Color
    • October 16th: Type Fever
      • Typography
    • October 23rd: More on Type
    • October 2nd: MIDTERM FUN!!!
    • October 30th: Working with Graphics
      • Beerknurd Calendar 2018
    • September 11th: Talking about Design without Using “Thingy”
      • Theory, theory, practice
    • September 18th: The Whole Document
    • September 25th: Page Design
  • ENGL 4183/5183: Editing with Digital Technologies
    • Efficiency in Writing Reviews
    • February 17th: Verb is the Word!
    • February 24th: Coordination and Subordination
      • A Practical Editing Situation
    • February 3rd: I’m in Love with the Shape of You(r Sentences)
    • January 20th: Introduction to the Course
    • January 27th: Rhetoric, Words, and Composing
    • Major Assignments for ENGL 4183/5183 (Spring 2021)
  • ENGL 4275: Rhetoric of Technology
    • April 13th: Authorities in Science and Technology
    • April 15th: Articles on Violence in Video Games
    • April 20th: Presentations
    • April 6th: Technology in the home
    • April 8th: Writing Discussion
    • Assignments for ENGL 4275
    • February 10th: Religion of Technology Part 3 of 3
    • February 12th: Is Love a Technology?
    • February 17th: Technology and Gender
    • February 19th: Technology and Expediency
    • February 24th: Semester Review
    • February 3rd: Religion of Technology Part 1 of 3
    • February 5th: Religion of Technology Part 2 of 3
    • January 13th: Technology and Meaning, a Humanist perspective
    • January 15th: Technology and Democracy
    • January 22nd: The Politics of Technology
    • January 27th: Discussion on Writing as Thinking
    • January 29th: Technology and Postmodernism
    • January 8th: Introduction to the Course
    • March 11th: Writing and Other Fun
    • March 16th: Neuromancer (1984) Day 1 of 2
    • March 18th: Neuromancer (1984) Day 2 of 2
    • March 23rd: Inception (2010)
    • March 25th: Writing and Reflecting Discussion
    • March 30th & April 1st: Count Zero
    • March 9th: William Gibson’s Neuromancer (1984)
  • ENGL 4750-090 & ENGL 5050-092 Video Games & Culture
    • Assignments for Video Games & Culture
    • August 25th: Introduction to the Course
    • November 10th: Aggression & Addiction
    • November 3rd: Moral Panics and Health Risks
    • October 13th: Narrative, ludology, f(r)iction
    • October 20th: Serious Games
    • October 27: Risky Business?
    • October 6th: Hyperreality
    • September 1st: History of Video Games
    • September 22nd: Video Game Aesthetics
    • September 29th: (sub)Cultures and Video Games
    • September 8th: Defining Video Games and Critical Theory Introduction
      • Marxism for Video Game Analysis
      • Postmodernism for Video Game Analysis
  • ENGL 6166: Rhetorical Theory
    • April 13th: Umberto Eco & Jean Baudrillard
    • April 20th: Moving Forward on Theory
    • April 27th: Last Day of Class
    • April 6th: Lyotard’s The Postmodern Condition
      • What is Postmodernism?
    • February 10th: St. Augustine, On Christian Doctrine [Rhetoric]
      • Oratory and Argument Analysis
    • February 17th: Knoblauch on Magical and Ontological Rhetoric
    • February 24th: Rene Descartes’ Discourse on Method
    • February 3rd: Aristotle’s On Rhetoric Books 2 and 3
      • Aristotle’s On Rhetoric, Book 2
      • Aristotle’s On Rhetoric, Book 3
    • January 13th: Introduction to Class
    • January 27th: Aristotle’s On Rhetoric Book 1
    • March 16th: Friedrich Nietzsche
    • March 23rd: Mythologies and Meaning of Meaning (part 2)
    • March 30th: Derrida’s (refusal to have) Positions
    • March 9th: Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Women
    • Rhetorical Theory Assignments
  • LBST 2212-124, 125, 126, & 127
    • August 21st: Introduction to Class
    • August 23rd: Humanistic Approach to Science Fiction
    • August 26th: Robots and Zombies
    • August 28th: Futurism, an Introduction
    • August 30th: R. A. Lafferty “Slow Tuesday Night” (1965)
    • December 2nd: Technological Augmentation
    • December 4th: Posthumanism
    • November 11th: Salt Fish Girl (Week 2)
    • November 13th: Salt Fish Girl (Week 2 con’t)
    • November 18th: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Part 1)
      • More Questions than Answers
    • November 1st: Games Reality Plays (part II)
    • November 20th: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Part 2)
    • November 6th: Salt Fish Girl (Week 1)
    • October 14th: More Autonomous Fun
    • October 16th: Autonomous Conclusion
    • October 21st: Sci Fi in the Domestic Sphere
    • October 23rd: Social Aphasia
    • October 25th: Dust in the Wind
    • October 28th: Gender Liminality and Roles
    • October 2nd: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
    • October 30th: Games Reality Plays (part I)
    • October 9th: Approaching Autonomous
      • Analyzing Prose in Autonomous
    • September 11th: The Time Machine
    • September 16th: The Alien Other
    • September 18th: Post-apocalyptic Worlds
    • September 20th: Dystopian Visions
    • September 23rd: World’s Beyond
    • September 25th: Gender Studies and Science Fiction
    • September 30th: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
    • September 4th: Science Fiction and Social Breakdown
      • More on Ellison
      • More on Forster
    • September 9th: The Time Machine
  • LBST 2213/HTAS 2100: Science, Technology, and Society
    • December 10th: Violence in Video Games
    • December 15th: Video Games and Violence, a more nuanced view
    • December 1st: COVID-19 facial covering rhetoric
    • December 3rd: COVID-19 Transmission and Pandemics
    • December 8th: 500-word Essay
    • November 10th: Planet of the Apes. (1964) Ch. 27-end
    • November 12th: Frankenstein (1818) Preface-Ch. 8
    • November 17th: Frankenstein (1818) Ch. 9-Ch. 16
    • November 19th: Frankenstein (1818) Ch. 17-Ch. 24
    • November 3rd: Planet of the Apes. (1964) Ch. 1-17
    • November 5th: Planet of the Apes (1964) Ch. 18-26
    • October 13th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology), Ch. 5 and 6
    • October 15th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology), Ch. 7 and Conclusion
    • October 1st: The Golem at Large Introduction & Ch. 1
    • October 22nd: The Time Machine
    • October 29th: H.G. Wells and Adaptations
    • October 6th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology) Ch. 2
    • October 8th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology), Ch. 3 & 4
    • September 10th: Science and Technology, a Humanistic Approach
    • September 15th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem (Science), Ch. 2
    • September 17th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem (Science), Ch. 3 and 4
    • September 22nd: Collins & Pinch Ch. 5 & 6
    • September 24th: Collins & Pinch Ch. 7 & Conclusion
    • September 29th: Test 1
    • September 8th: Introduction to Class
  • New Media: Gender, Culture, Technology (Spring 2021)
    • February 16: Misunderstanding the Internet
    • February 23rd: Our Public Sphere and the Media
    • February 2nd: Introduction to Cultural Studies
    • January 26th: Introduction to New Media
    • Major Assignments for New Media (Spring 2021)
  • Science Fiction in American Culture (Summer I–2020)
    • Assignments for Science Fiction in American Culture
    • Cultural Studies and Science Fiction Films
    • June 10th: Interstellar and Exploration themes
    • June 11th: Bicentennial Man
    • June 15th: I’m Only Human…Or am I?
    • June 16th: Wall-E and Environment
    • June 17th: Wall-E (2008) and Technology
    • June 18th: Interactivity in Video Games
    • June 1st: Firefly (2002) and Myth
    • June 2nd: “Johnny Mnemonic”
    • June 3rd: “New Rose Hotel”
    • June 4th: “Burning Chrome”
    • June 8th: Conformity and Monotony
    • June 9th: Cultural Constructions of Beauty
    • May 18th: Introduction to Class
    • May 19th: American Culture, an Introduction
    • May 20th: The Matrix
    • May 21st: Gender and Science Fiction
    • May 25th: Goals for I, Robot
    • May 26th: Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot
    • May 27th: Hackers and Slackers
    • May 30th: Inception
  • Teaching Portfolio
  • Topics for Analysis
    • American Culture, an Introduction
    • Feminism, An Introduction
    • Frankenstein Part I
    • Frankenstein Part II
    • Futurism Introduction
    • Langdon Winner Summary: The Politics of Technology
    • Marxist Theory (cultural analysis)
    • Oral Presentations
    • Our Public Sphere
    • Postmodernism Introduction
    • Protesting Confederate Place
    • Punctuation Refresher
    • QT, the Existential Robot
    • Religion of Technology Discussion
    • Rhetoric, an Introduction
      • Analyzing the Culture of Technical Writer Ads
      • Rhetoric of Technology
      • Visual Culture
      • Visual Perception
      • Visual Perception, Culture, and Rhetoric
      • Visual Rhetoric
      • Visuals for Technical Communication
      • World War I Propaganda
    • The Great I, Robot Discussion
      • I, Robot Short Essay Topics
    • The Rhetoric of Video Games: A Cultural Perspective
      • Civilization, an Analysis
    • The Sopranos
    • Why Science Fiction?
    • Zombies and Consumption Satire

Contact Me

Office: Fretwell 280F
Phone: 704.687.0613
Email: atoscano@uncc.edu
LBST 2213/HTAS 2100: Science, Technology, and Society » October 6th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology) Ch. 2

October 6th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology) Ch. 2


Chapter 2: “The Naked Launch: Assigning Blame for the Challenger Explosion”

As Collins & Pinch mention, everyone alive remembers where they were when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded. Of course, their first edition of this book was published in 1998 before 9/11 and the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. Many of you might not remember those events, but, obviously, 9/11 was a very tumultuous time when the public searched for answers, so, if you were old enough, you probably remember where you were. I remember the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, but, as the nation was gearing up for an invasion of Iraq and we already had troops in Afghanistan, there wasn’t the same attention paid to it as to the Challenger disaster, which we discussed for months. As an aside, I was living outside Washington, DC, on 9/11 (teaching at George Mason University), so I was very much searching for answers and continued to anticipate the anniversary every year…until this year. It wasn’t until I heard a report on the radio about this year’s memorial for 9/11 victims that I remembered the significance of the day. Perhaps COVID-19 has replaced 9/11 for our main collective cultural event of trauma.

Similar to the “fog of war,” there’s a fog surrounding catastrophic events—lots of doubt, confusion, and misinformation. Sometimes it’s easy to figure out the immediate cause of a technological catastrophe, but it’s not as easy to have a bigger picture view in the moment or shortly after.

Three Things to Take Away From Ch. 2

  1. Judging past decisions can be skewed by hindsight. The Challenger disaster has many stories; there’s no single narrative.
  2. The details of the explosion that reached the public were incomplete and made into sound bites or easily consumed visuals.
  3. NASA and Thiokol engineers arrived at their decisions based on assumptions about the shuttle that were in dispute. The key players had to make arguments for or against launching.

Richard Feynman and the rubber in ice water demonstration.

Why still study the Challenger disaster?

Important Lessons/Questions to Consider

Continuing on the theme of more questions than answers, I hope the Challenger disaster discussion allows you to think more about the rhetoric of technology. The discourse surrounding the Challenger disaster influences how people—lay person and expert—(re)construct the meaning of the event. In other words, the audience’s assumptions and the information filtered 2nd, 3rd, 4th hand…lead to conclusions.

It’s important to know your audience. Sometimes that’s easy, but often times it’s not. Although speakers can’t completely control their messages, understanding how an audience might interpret one’s message is important. Consider the following types of people below. How might a person of that disposition conclude regarding the Challenger disaster? Consider generic assumptions that a person may have and how that influences his or her conclusions.

  1. Conspiracy theorist—the government always lies and covers up facts
  2. World-renowned physicist—this person knows his words will influence the public
  3. Politician against funding NASA
  4. A voter very much in favor of funding for NASA

Key Quotations

  • pp. 41-42: The popular belief for the Challenger disaster: “NASA managers succumbed to production pressures, proceeding with a launch they knew was risky in order to keep on schedule.
  • p. 43: “After the event it is easy to slot the heroes and villains into place. It is harder to imagine the pressures, dilemmas, and uncertainties facing the participants” making the decisions.
  • p. 66: “The problems with the joint were not…suppressed or ignored by NASA, the engineers were actually too well aware of the problems and the risks.”
  • p. 48: Burden of proof: “The engineers at Marshall had a reputation for being conservative and rigorous; they saw it as their job to keep the contractor honest by trying to ‘shoot down’ their data and their analyses.”
    A stance from this perspective would be more than just skeptical. The engineers would approach the contractors as adversaries, forcing them to overcome a hostile audience.
  • p. 74: “[A] risk-free technology is impossible and that assessing the working of a technology and the risks attached to it are always inescapable matters of human judgement.”
  • p. 74: “[T]he technical cause of the Challenger accident is to this day [as of 1998] not absolutely certain.”
    • More information on the Challenger explosion is at Space.com.

Consider the rhetoric of the two phrases:
“the Challenger accident” vs. “the Challenger disaster”

Similarity and Difference

  • p. 50: “Things appear similar or different depending on the context of use.”
  • p. 51: “Because most tests only simulate how the technology will be used in practice, the crucial question in judging test outcomes becomes: how similar is the test to the actual use?”

All description is done by comparison (to a large extent). When you define something, you use metaphors, similes, analogies, and other words. To explain an unfamiliar concept, you use a familiar concept to compare to it. For instance, the Internet protocol, TCP/IP is needed to have information successfully transmitted across networks. Without that, computers wouldn’t be able to talk to each other. Data wouldn’t be able to be assembled for delivery or compiled by the receiving computer. It would be like trying to have a conversation with another person who doesn’t speak your language. The words get to you, but you can’t translate them.

Similarity doesn’t mean being identical. It just has to be close or relatable enough to the audience. If one uses a comparison not closely enough related, it’s consider fallacious and called a false analogy. It is possible to refute all analogies as false if one argues that the comparison standard isn’t similarity but being identical. However, that would be too extreme and would miss the role similarity plays in defining concepts. Beware of rhetorical chicanery.

Acceptable Risk in Technology

We debate risks constantly. There is a risk to nearly every activity. All technologies have risks associated with them, but we still use them. No car is 100% safe, but we still drive because we’ve accepted the risks involved. The Challenger had risks associated with its operation, but the key players deemed those risks acceptable. Collins & Pinch point out that risk was also based on perspective.

  • p. 55: “It is wrong to set up standards of absolute certainty from which to criticize engineers.”
    • An extreme “hater” could have this perspective
    • An average citizen could have such a perspective
  • p. 55: “[T]o what degree do [the O-rings] have to seal?”
    • To what degree does light bend…depends on which plate you use.
  • p. 57: Acceptable risk is negotiated. It involves compromise.
  • p. 63: “Although the engineers at Marshall and at Thiokol were alarmed about the first ever blow-by, they felt that they had a three-factor rationale for continuing to classify the joint as an acceptable risk.”
    • There was agreement on the acceptable risk based on shared assumptions regarding O-ring erosion.
    • There wasn’t agreement on the risk of low (or high) temperatures and to O-rings.
  • p. 64: “[A]ll the engineers directly involved…still considered the joint to be an acceptable risk.”
  • p. 65: We can’t assume “engineering knowledge is certain knowledge.”
    • But we do expect probability. What’s probable? Context usually dictates the level of probability of safety we expect from a technology.

The points above aren’t here to claim that scientists lie and deceive the public. Of course, there have been occasions where that has happened, but if that was the majority of science–deception–we wouldn’t have the knowledge we have today or the technologies we have. There would be only negative scientific ethos. Scientists and engineers are human (even if they don’t talk like humans), and they make mistakes just as all humans do. Hindsight might make us sure, but, being in the “thick of the event,” is different. Just because scientists and engineers supported different positions doesn’t mean one side was lying or misleading.

Statements Coming Back to Haunt You

Remember, the media report sound bites and focus attention on an area of a topic. They can’t go into the amount of detail a huge investigation would go into. Provocative statements, even if out of context, can influence an audience more so than explaining complex issues and data.

  • p. 69: “When do you want me to launch, next April?”
  • p. 72: “It’s time to take off your engineering hat and put on your management hat.”

Next Class

For Thursday, 10/08 read Ch. 3 and 4. Don’t forget that your post for this week is due Friday, 10/09, at 11:00 pm.

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