Ontological Breakdown: Toward a World of Many Worlds

Examining the taken-for-granted assumptions and views of the world underlying the design of technological artifacts, this work posits that a lack of ontological self-reflection can constrain imagination, impeding movement toward a world of many worlds. I propose ontological breakdown as an analytic lens for interrogating the default assumptions underlying the design of technology, using LLMs as a case-study and drawing parallels to the discourse on values in design. Then, I share three ways in which I have used ontological breakdowns generatively to (1) surface ontological difference and create spaces for experiencing ontological alternatives to our defaults, (2) explore ontological alternatives in the design of artifacts and enable the end-users to notice their own ontological defaults, and (3) expand ontological diversity by empowering the end-users to move beyond the prescribed defaults. I demonstrate the generative potential of ontological breakdowns by providing examples of my work in personal informatics.