An OOPSLA talk
I staunchly refused Robert Biddle when he invited me to give a talk at OOPSLA. More than once.
I’m not sure when it’s scheduled, but my OOPSLA talk is titled “Actor-Network Theory: Nothing to Do with TCP/IP or Distributed Objects”
Today we agree that DNA is the template for inherited characteristics. But that agreement didn’t just happen the instant Watson and Crick published. Work still had to be done—lots of work. Actor-Network Theory (ANT) is a social science theory about the work done to reach and maintain agreement, particularly in science and technology. It’s my hope that understanding the techniques of ANT will help OOPSLA attendees understand why those Programs, Languages, and Systems we work on are simultaneously so change-resistant and so fragile.