Reconfiguring Emotional Values through Technology: A Critical Reading of Technocracy in Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

Abstract

The lives of game designers navigating love, friendship, creativity, and grief in a world driven by technology and success metrics will be examined in this study, which is based on Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow, and Tomorrow (2022). This study uses Max Weber's theory of technocratic rationalization to analyze the book, emphasizing how systems that value efficiency, calculation, and quantifiable results frequently ignore emotional values. The characters Sadie and Sam in particular—create games that capture profound human emotions, but they are confined to a society where value is determined by downloads, sales, and ratings. By emphasizing the ethical, artistic, and emotional aspects of creation, this study seeks to demonstrate how Zevin challenges contemporary technocratic culture. By using this perspective, the book becomes a reflection on how society strikes a balance between technological advancement and emotional depth in addition to being a story of love and loss. This study assesses the risks of disregarding emotional values in a data-driven world using Weber's theoretical framework.