cómo vaya instrumentándose su papel

English translation: future developments will in all likelihood be determined by how its [proper] role is defined

12:20 Oct 16, 2017

Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Social Sciences - Social Science, Sociology, Ethics, etc.

Spanish term or phrase: cómo vaya instrumentándose su papel

This little section is causing me much grief. I will break it up into a couple questions. The whole thing is a problem, nu the main problem areas are "Poco imaginaban los atribuidos precursores" and "cómo vaya instrumentándose su papel".

Castilian Spanish to UK English

Orignal
...si algo parece seguro es que un ingrediente dominante del futuro va a ser la Red. O, dicho de otra manera, todo tiende a evolucionar adherido a cómo vaya instrumentándose su papel. Poco imaginaban los atribuidos precursores por dónde acabaría discurriendo la realidad que trataban de impulsar… poco más de medio siglo atrás.

VERY rough draft
...if anything is a certainty, it is that the Internet will play a dominant role in our future. Or, put another way, everything tends to evolve according to how its role is played. Little did they imagine where the ascribed precursors they tried to promote would lead to only a little more than half a century earlier.

S Ben Price KudoZ activity Questions: 1000 (6 open) (63 closed without grading) Answers: 447 Spain
Local time: 19:22

English translation:future developments will in all likelihood be determined by how its [proper] role is defined

Explanation:
In my reading, “su papel” here refers to the “Red,” which is a singular subject.

Selected response from:

Robert Forstag
United States
Local time: 13:22

Grading comment

Thanks!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

3 +3

future developments will in all likelihood be determined by how its [proper] role is defined

Robert Forstag

4 +1

to how its role as an instrument will evolve

Francois Boye

3 +1

the way its role is implemented

Thomas Walker

to the role they are given/ to what their role becomes

Robert Carter

Answers

46 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

to how its role as an instrument will evolve

Explanation:
My take

Francois Boye
United States
Local time: 13:22
Native speaker of:

French
PRO pts in category: 24

35 mins confidence:

to the role they are given/ to what their role becomes

Explanation:
"In other words, the way things tend to evolve is closely tied to the role they assume/are given/take on" or "...to what their role becomes"

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Note added at 49 mins (2017-10-16 13:10:13 GMT)
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I understand the text to mean that we can't know where a discovery will take us until people start actually doing things with that knowledge. A classic example is quantum physics and semiconductors, and, by extension, the Internet itself.

Robert Carter
Mexico
Local time: 11:22
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 36

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

todo tiende a evolucionar adherido a cómo vaya instrumentándose su papel

future developments will in all likelihood be determined by how its [proper] role is defined

Explanation:
In my reading, “su papel” here refers to the “Red,” which is a singular subject.

Robert Forstag
United States
Local time: 13:22
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 152

Grading comment

Thanks!

5 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

the way its role is implemented

Explanation:
For the sentence, I think something like: "Or, in other words, everything will tend to evolve in accordance with the way its role is implemented." And I agree with the previous answer, that "its" refers to the Internet.
For me, the difficult word in this sentence is "adherido," typically meaning "acceded" or "adhered," neither of which is very helpful here. A WordReference dictionary lists a meaning of "agree with" for "adherirse" (see below).

Reference: http://www.wordreference.com/es/en/translation.asp?spen=adhe...

Thomas Walker
United States
Local time: 10:22
Native speaker of:

English

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cómo vaya instrumentándose su papel

English translation: future developments will in all likelihood be determined by how its [proper] role is defined

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