Jason and Ann Morrison have far more faith in their fellow
humans than I do. The couple is expecting a baby and have turned to an unlikely
group of people to decide the name of their first child: complete strangers. Jason
is a Google engineer who has set up an online poll with 17 name choices—plus,
and here’s where it gets scary, a write-in option.
The Morrisons are aware of the margin of error inherent in
this naming technique. As Jason writes on his blog, “This is a difficult
decision that will have a huge impact on the life of an innocent human being. Naturally,
we are turning to random Internet strangers for help.” So far, more than 4,500 random
Internet strangers have opted to weigh in. (If you want to join the unknown,
opinionated masses, vote here.)
Let’s hope these random strangers have a bit more
discriminating tastes than the 150,000 people who voted to name a baby whale on
the Greenpeace site last year. The winner, by an overwhelming margin, was Mister
Splashy Pants.
Photo: The Sydney Morning Herald
