SCIENTISTS ARE TESTING “UNTHINKABLE” FUTURE TECHNOLOGIES — BEFORE THEY EVEN EXIST

By The Blogging Hounds It sounds like science fiction — but it’s real. Researchers are now openly using a new method called “science fiction science” (or sci-fi-sci) to test futuristic, world-altering technologies years before they’re physically possible. The goal? To predict social, behavioral, and ethical consequences before these technologies hit society. The fear? We may…

By The Blogging Hounds

It sounds like science fiction — but it’s real. Researchers are now openly using a new method called “science fiction science” (or sci-fi-sci) to test futuristic, world-altering technologies years before they’re physically possible. The goal? To predict social, behavioral, and ethical consequences before these technologies hit society. The fear? We may be on the verge of normalizing dystopia before it arrives.

HOW IT WORKS

The “sci-fi-sci” approach, pioneered by Iyad Rahwan (Max Planck Institute), Azim Shariff (University of British Columbia), and Jean-Francois Bonnefon (Toulouse School of Economics), uses virtual simulations of speculative technologies — from autonomous vehicles and gene-edited embryos to AI-driven social credit systems — to see how people might behave when using them.

They run participants through carefully controlled VR or digital experiments, then measure reactions and interactions. The theory: foresee the dangers early, guide policy and design before these systems become entrenched.

But here’s the dark side — once these simulations “prove” a concept works socially, governments and corporations may use the results to justify rolling it out faster.

LESSONS FROM SOCIAL MEDIA

The researchers use social media as an example of what could have been tested early. Imagine if, before Facebook and Instagram took over our lives, participants had been immersed in a simulated world of constant feeds, likes, and follower counts.

We might have predicted:

The mental health crisis linked to self-image and online comparison.
Widespread addiction to digital validation.
The weaponization of online discourse.

Think Black Mirror’s “Nosedive” — where your “social score” decides your job, your friends, even where you can live.

FROM BLACK MIRROR TO REALITY

It’s not just fiction anymore.
Gage, a real-world app, already tracks employees’ “social credit” scores based on peer feedback, likes, and compliments — scores that can follow them to future jobs. Critics warn this could punish those who don’t fit into neurotypical social patterns or workplace cliques, creating a digital caste system.

The European Union is already considering banning nationwide social credit systems, fearing they could become tools of total surveillance. Yet in China, such systems are already reality — tracking everything from bill payments to online comments.

WHAT’S NEXT ON THE TEST LIST?

The speculative tech menu includes:

AI behavioral monitoring in real time
Embryo screening for “designer” traits
Ectogenesis — artificial wombs
Fully autonomous urban transport networks

Some of these echo warnings from Brave New World — mass reproduction without family, human worth reduced to state-approved traits.

THE PROPHETIC ANGLE

Scripture warns of a coming system where no one can “buy or sell” without approval from the Beast (Revelation 13:17). Systems like social credit scoring and AI behavioral tracking lay the groundwork for such global control. The ability to simulate and normalize these tools before they’re deployed could speed up the transition to total technocratic rule.

SCIENCE FICTION — OR EARLY BLUEPRINT FOR CONTROL?

While the researchers claim their goal is to steer technology away from dystopian misuse, history shows that powerful tools rarely remain in benevolent hands. Virtual “test runs” of future tech could be the perfect laboratory for perfecting the systems that will one day control us.

The question isn’t if these technologies will be used — it’s who will hold the controls when they arrive.

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