What is reality? It might seem like a straightforward question, but Ursula Franklin, a pioneering thinker in technology and society, saw it as layered and complex. In her book The Real World of Technology, she outlined four types of reality that shape human experience. These realities—vernacular, extended, constructed, and projected—define how we interact with the world, learn from others, and make decisions. Today, with technology mediating more of our experiences, Franklin’s framework feels more relevant than ever.
1. Vernacular Reality: The Everyday World
Vernacular reality is the world of direct experience—the things you see, touch, taste, and do. It’s your daily routine: making breakfast, commuting to work, feeling the warmth of the sun. This reality is both personal and shared, forming the foundation of our lives.
But even this most basic reality isn’t immune to change. Technology alters it in subtle ways: food delivery apps replace grocery runs, virtual meetings replace in-person interactions, and screens mediate our perception of the present moment. The more we filter vernacular reality through technology, the more disconnected we risk becoming from direct experience.
2. Extended Reality: Learning from Others
Extended reality is everything we know from secondhand sources—history books, documentaries, stories told by our grandparents. It allows us to understand events and emotions we haven’t personally lived through.
Artifacts and cultural memory play a key role in extended reality. Museums, literature, and even family heirlooms link us to past experiences. Today, digital archives, Wikipedia, and social media have expanded this reality, making vast amounts of knowledge accessible. However, Franklin warned that technology also curates and shapes what we learn, highlighting some narratives while omitting others.
3. Constructed Reality: The World Shaped by Media
Constructed reality is not just about facts; it’s about how those facts are framed. News reports, advertisements, political propaganda, and fiction all shape our understanding of the world. This reality isn’t about what happened but about how events are presented to us.
With modern media, constructed reality is more powerful than ever. Algorithms push certain stories to the top of our feeds. AI-generated content blurs the line between truth and fiction. Carefully edited social media posts create idealized versions of life. Franklin recognized that these forces don’t just reflect reality—they actively shape it, influencing our beliefs and behaviors.
4. Projected Reality: The Future We Imagine
Projected reality is about what comes next. It includes economic forecasts, political predictions, five-year plans, and even religious concepts like Heaven and Hell. These visions of the future influence how we act today.
Technology has supercharged projected reality. AI models predict stock trends, climate simulations warn of potential disasters, and utopian (or dystopian) sci-fi narratives shape cultural anxieties. Franklin understood that projected reality isn’t just speculation—it affects real-world decisions, from government policies to personal investments.
The Rise of Pseudo-Reality
Franklin warned that technology could distort all four realities, creating what she called pseudo-reality. Social media, 24-hour news cycles, and deepfake technology generate illusions of presence—where we feel like we are experiencing events firsthand when, in fact, we are only seeing a curated version. These pseudo-realities, driven by attention-grabbing algorithms, often favor the unusual over the ordinary, the shocking over the mundane.
We are constantly bombarded with staged, selective, and sometimes manipulated content that feels more real than reality itself. Franklin’s insights challenge us to question: Which reality am I living in? Who is shaping it? What’s being left out?
Seeing Through the Layers
Understanding these four realities helps us navigate a world where truth is increasingly mediated. Recognizing when we are engaging with direct experience, learning from others, absorbing constructed narratives, or shaping the future empowers us to think critically.
Franklin’s framework is not just an academic idea—it’s a tool for making sense of an ever-changing world. The more we acknowledge these realities, the more agency we have in defining our own.
Which reality do you think influences you the most?
