Work in Progress: Synthetic Sophists and the Predictive Situation

DRAFT IN PROGRESS - Synthetic Sophists and the Predictive Situation - Helbling.pdf

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This post shares an in-progress draft that reflects my research and writing style, conceptual development, and method of argumentation. The piece, Synthetic Sophists and the Predictive Situation, is a working manuscript that brings together rhetorical theory, critical technology studies, and trans studies to examine how algorithmic systems operate as persuasive and truth-producing actors within institutional infrastructures.

Rather than presenting a polished or finalized argument, the draft is shared as a snapshot of thinking in motion. It illustrates how I build theoretical genealogies, develop original conceptual frames, and move from lived experience to analytic claim. Sections of the manuscript remain provisional, with notes, placeholders, and future directions (only visible in the original Google document, not provided here) as part of the research process.

I include this draft as an example of sustained scholarly inquiry and iterative writing practice, offering a window into how ideas take shape before formal publication.