Permalink of this method: https://www.universalforesight.com/uf-methods-bank/11259
| Nature of the method: | Qualitative Methods |
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Science Fictioning (SF) is an activity that deals with stories assuming that
possible events which have not yet materialised have taken place, usually at
some point in the future, and elaborates on the consequences of this.
Because it involves fictional narrative – and much commercial science fiction is driven
more by the need to have adventure or surprise – the method is not very
commonly linked to serious governmental or business policy-making.
However, it is quite common for scenarios to be illustrated in reports by brief
vignettes which use SF-like techniques to illustrate one or other point of the
imagined future world. Such vignettes generally lack narrative drive, but may
have considerable illustrative force. Commercial SF is often used, mostly
informally, as a source of inspiration by people thinking about the future. The
main limitation of generating new SF, as a technique, is the difficulty of
finding people with inventive, novel and abstract mindsets. The main
challenge in using published SF as a source of inspiration is locating the
quality SF in the haystacks of pulp adventure and escapist fantasy.