《软边缘》一书开宗明义,要以软决定论作为研究信息技术与社会结果之间关系的主要方法。作者在讲述这些媒介的演进时,较多地进行了对相关历史的阐述,进而对硬决定论做出了批判。他对比基因和媒介指出:基因可以对蛋白质的结构产生决定性的影响,我们可以将其称为一种硬决定;然而即使是基因也不能与生物表现的性状间构成绝对的关联,后天环境同样能影响有机体的特点。相比之下,作为社会组成部分的媒介对社会发展的影响还要更软一些。如一些激进的硬决定论者认 Soft Edge is a book that states that soft determinism should be the primary method of studying the relationship between information technology and social outcomes. When narrating the evolution of these media, the author carried out more elaboration of relevant history and then criticized the theory of hard determinism. He compared genes and the media to point out that genes can have a decisive influence on the structure of a protein and we can call it a hard decision; yet even genes that do not constitute an absolute association with a biological representation can also be used Affect the characteristics of the organism. In contrast, the media as a social component have a softer impact on social development. As some radical hard-liners see