Sci-Fi Writers Dream Up Ideas For US Government

cheezitmike writes "This week in Washington, DC, a group of Sci-Fi writers is helping the US Department of Homeland Security envision the future at the 2009 Homeland Security Science & Technology Stakeholders Conference. The agency is hoping the interaction between writers and bureaucrats helps the government 'break old habits of thought' and 'help managers think more broadly about projects and their potential reactions and unintended consequences.' And, it's at minimal expense to taxpayers, since the writers are consulting pro bono."

Comments

George Orwell

[nEoN nOoDlE]

Seems like now that they've gone and made 1984 a reality, they need new material to work off of.

Re:George Orwell

[spiffmastercow]

Seems like now that they've gone and made 1984 a reality, they need new material to work off of.

Really? I'd say we're closer to Brave New World these days.. Don't forget to take your soma--err, i mean Paxil.

Re:George Orwell

[RDW]

It could be worse. The writers might suggest world peace could be achieved by some extensive remodelling of New York City real estate triggered by the appearance of a giant squid.

Noooooooo......

[A beautiful mind]

You're just giving them ideas! You don't want them to know how a dystopian future tyranny might maintain control!

Re:Noooooooo......

[Un pobre guey]

No joke. This is the last thing we should be doing. They need a crash course in understanding factual reality, not some wacky sci fi hallucination.

Re:Noooooooo......

[Jurily]

They need a crash course in understanding factual reality, not some wacky sci fi hallucination.

The voters, too. Someone keeps electing these morons.

Here's a couple wild ideas

[Anonymous Coward]

* Stop torturing people. It's good at terrorizing, but doesn't actually help catch bad people.

* Stop locking people into iron cages because they ate a particular kind of plant.

Here's a freebie:

* Stop making laws based on dictates of an invisible guy in the sky who burns people for eternity because they stuck their jimmy in the wrong hole. It's just a little kooky when you think about it.

Seriously, consulting sci-fi authors? How about consulting superheros like Captain Common Sense?

Re:Here's a couple wild ideas

[joepa]

Seriously, consulting sci-fi authors? How about consulting superheros like Captain Common Sense?

Unfortunately, there's good reason to believe that Captain Common Sense is a homophobic theist. To draw the kinds of enlightened conclusions that the parent does, it turns out that we need to override our common sense tendencies. Consulting sci-fi writers is actually quite a clever way of dealing with the limitations of common sense.

An Improvement

[Maalstrom Aran]

Ideas, created with pure thought and imagination, that are offered to the government sounds like a much better process than those offered by politicians and lobbyists. Generational ideas are what can improve our place in life, not those created from greed of power.

Re:An Improvement

[Jah-Wren Ryel]

Yeah, an improvement but only in the entertainment value.

These guys do best exactly what we don't need more of from the DHS - "movie plot threats."

"Movie plot threats" are a dime a dozen, we will bankrupt ourselves trying to defend against even a fraction of a precent of them. We need to spend money on the basics like first responders, medical facilities, emergency planning, etc that apply to any threat, man-made or acts of god.

And once that stuff is taken care of to a reasonable degree, the rest of the money needs to stay in the hands of private citizens who will make much more productive use of it - whether it is as simple as buying food and shelter for their families or running small businesses.

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

Old news

[dosun88888]

They've been using George Orwell as inspiration for a while now.