2022-06-15

What will the future be like? Good or bad? A lot of science-fiction writing imagines a world which is dark and scary. In Blade Runner, Harrison Ford1 hunts robots in a chaotic2 Los Angeles. Planet of the Apes shows a bleak3 future for humankind. And what about The Hunger Games? Don't get me started.

There's a word to describe the kind of future world which often appears in science fiction: dystopia. It means an imagined place where things are unpleasant or bad. The opposite is utopia. But does tomorrow's world have to be so depressing?

No. A new project wants to use the power of science fiction to inspire people to create a better future. Project Hieroglyph4 brings together writers, scientists, engineers and artists to create optimistic stories about things which really could happen in the next 50 years.

It's just a matter of making an effort. Experts say it's easier to create a dystopia than write a feel-good story. There's more conflict in a world full of problems