Calgary, January 2026
John wasn’t an avid reader. He was a practical man who didn’t waste time reading lies published by various fiction writers. Therefore, he was surprised when UPS delivered him a box with a big book in it. He was going to throw it into the garbage, but then he decided to look at it. The title of the book was the same as his name, John Smith, and the first page started with describing his first memories as a child. That indeed took up his attention. Who could know that? John never talked to anybody about his early childhood. As he continued reading, the book was describing the details about his life: his early childhood, his first days at school, his teachers, the results of school exams, his friends, and the date of his high school graduation. Then the book mentioned the real estate course he took, his first job, his first love, the first time he met his wife, Olivia, at one of the company’s office parties, their wedding, their life together, all the way up to now.
But that was not all. It was only half of the book. The second half described the future. It said that John would start his own real estate company, but due to some bad decisions, the company would fail, his wife would leave him, he would struggle to make a living, and he would die lonely at the age of seventy-nine. It was pretty depressing. However, at the very last page, there was a note: “If you would like to discuss the book, type into Google the following line:”, and there was a link to some application. When John did that, the screen of his computer showed his own face.
“Hello John,” said the face. “Did you like the book?”
“No, I didn’t. Who are you? And how do you know all that about me? How do you know my past, and how can you possibly know my future?”
“I am the digital image of yourself. You are real, and I am virtual, but apart from that, we are the same. That’s why I know everything about you.”
“But who created you, and where did all that information come from?”
“It was an experiment performed by a group of guys, and the information came from various records. There are photos of you as a baby, videos of you playing with your parents, playing with your friend, there are school records, records of your employment, records of your wedding, all is there. The guys just put it together.”
“OK, but how about the future? Why is it so depressing?”
“During your life, you made millions of decisions. Those guys analysed them and found a pattern, your way of thinking. They applied that pattern to your likely future decisions and used it in the second half of the book. For example, from your various business inquiries, they knew you wanted to start your own company but concluded that your way of thinking is incompatible with that of a successful businessman. However, the book is based on that pattern, and if you change it, the future will also change.”
“I hope so. But I have another question: Why me?”
“As I said, it was an experiment. The guys wanted to know if it could be done, and selected you as a normal, average person who is unlikely to sue them for various breaches of privacy laws. Anyway, this is all for now, but we will keep in touch to see how the future develops,” and the screen went blank.
John didn’t know what to think. Now he had a digital image of himself, his double, but was the image really his exact copy? If so, could the image come up with something John didn’t already know? The fact was that this doble wasn’t a living thing and as such didn’t have any emotions. Therefore, it could evaluate John’s thoughts without being emotionally involved. For example, John’s desire to start his own company was driven by emotion. There wasn’t any real need for it; John already had a good job. But was he able to calmly evaluate if it was a good idea? The double didn’t think so; it predicted a failure. But, without emotion, we would never start anything. Emotions are the driving force behind our decisions. If John were to abandon the idea of his company because the double told him so, his life would be that much poorer. He would lose all the excitement of starting something new and would also lose the eventual joy of achieving success.
“Dinner is ready.” Olivia’s call interrupted his thoughts. Then, in the kitchen, she wanted to know what he was doing upstairs in his office for such a long time.
“I was reading a book.”
“Reading a book? I didn’t think you liked reading books.”
“It is true, but this one is special,” and John told her all about this book.
“I want to see it,” she said, and after dinner she leafed through it, mostly through the second part.
“It says that starting your company isn’t a good idea,” she observed.
“It says so because it claims that I have a certain way of thinking, a certain thought pattern, but I can change it,” and John told her about the conversation with his double.
“Can you change?” Olivia wasn’t convinced. “Right now, you have a good job, and with our combined salaries, we are doing quite well. In time, they will promote you, and you can even become a CEO. Why change something which is already good?”
“I always wanted to be my own boss, and if I ever want to achieve it, now is the time. The real estate is booming, and I know the right people. There is no reason why I shouldn’t be successful.”
It was all true. The timing was right, John knew what he was doing, and his company was successful. Perhaps too successful. John had a fancy office with a young, beautiful secretary, and the money was rolling in. But this is also a dangerous time when the intoxication with success can overwhelm common sense, and this is what happened to John. He bought himself an expensive sports car, and his secretary became more than just a secretary. There were business trips which had nothing to do with business, and there was jewelry which were not meant for Olivia. But nothing lasts forever, and real estate is notorious for its boom–bust cycles. The following bust was especially hard. John lost both his office and his secretary, and the company faced bankruptcy.
“Times are hard, we have to economise,” said John one evening.
“I thought you were making a lot of money. Doesn’t your company have any savings?”
“I did make a lot of money, but there were also unexpected expenses.”
“Like this one?” Olivia presented him with his secret account, which he used to pay his fling with the secretary. “Was this the unexpected expense?”
There was nothing John could say, and Olivia continued: “I have already suspected something, and that’s why I looked into your finances. You spent all that money on her, and now you ask me to economise? Does this mean you want to live off my salary? That is not my idea of our life together. You know, John, that account of yours is a reason for a divorce. I want you out of our house. Go to your lover if she still wants you.”
Again, there was nothing John could say. He knew that his secretary was a married woman with small children, and she certainly wouldn’t destroy her family for a man who was a business failure. John and Olivia divided their properties; she paid him half of the value of their house, and he moved into a small apartment. Now the prediction of the book became a reality. In desperation, he typed again the line to invoke his double. “Why did all this happen, and how can I prevent the prediction of the rest of the book?” he asked.
“The book concluded that your way of thinking was incompatible with that of a successful businessman, and the book was right. Successful businessmen do not hire young, beautiful secretaries. They hire older, reliable women, and keep their extramarital affairs out of their business. They also know that good times don’t last, and plan for the lean years. You violated both of those rules. But you still have a lot of life ahead of you, and you can start again as somebody less egoistic and less greedy. You might even get Olivia back; she still loves you,” and his double disappeared.
And this is how my story ends. I don’t know if John followed his double’s advice; I hope he did, and I wish him good luck.