Detectors are remarkable tools. We design and use them not to do things with them but to make things do something, namely, to appear. Detectors make things cause their manifestation. Things’ manifestation depends on how these tools materialize their physical and mathematical properties, the operations they carry out, and the specific circumstances of their application. Rather than fading away during use like tools in daily life, detectors must maintain their objective presence throughout the obs…
Read moreDetectors are remarkable tools. We design and use them not to do things with them but to make things do something, namely, to appear. Detectors make things cause their manifestation. Things’ manifestation depends on how these tools materialize their physical and mathematical properties, the operations they carry out, and the specific circumstances of their application. Rather than fading away during use like tools in daily life, detectors must maintain their objective presence throughout the observation process, actively structuring both phenomena and our ability to experience them. The present essay explores how detection technologies engineer our perception and make things come to the fore.