In a rare exercise of trust in public opinion, the British government is asking its subjects what they would like the future to be like. And no, this does not mean, “Should Tony Blair resign?” or “Should we declare war on America?” They probably wouldn’t like the answers to those. No, they are asking, “How should technology shape our future?” This will be done through a project called Science Horizons, which will present a variety of possible views of the future and ask Jo(e) Public what (s)he thinks of them. You can find out more from this BBC article, and from the official web site.

The obvious question here is whether anyone behind this project has bothered consulting people who make a living out of considering what the future might be like. But have a sneaking suspicion that if you asked them they would say, “No, we don’t want any science fiction writers involved, this project is only about things that might actually happen.” Still, they do manage to quote Bill Gibson in one of their documents, so there’s hope yet.