"Erin is a smart cookie. She manages complex projects for a living. She maps dependencies, anticipates risks, and can predict how a small change will ripple through a system. Yet when it comes to her own life, her thinking feels fuzzy and reactive. She's brilliant at analysis, just not when the subject is herself or topics like parenting, communication with her partner, or what type of balance she wants."
"One day, a colleague mentioned digital twins. A digital twin is a virtual replica of a real-world system that mirrors its behavior. For example, a digital twin of a city could simulate how changing road layouts would affect traffic patterns. Erin began to wonder if she had a digital twin of herself, how it would help her think more systematically about her life and her choices. She realized that just considering what a digital twin could help her test or notice was valuable itself."
"Imagining the experiments you'd try first if you had a digital twin can clarify what matters most to you and where lack of data is limiting you. Erin's list looked like: Her digital twin tries five different antidepressants to find what's best. Her digital twin spends a week in Paris following five different itineraries, to see which vacation plan she'd enjoy most. Her digital twin eats five different lunches to see how they affect her afternoon energy levels."
A digital twin is a virtual replica of a real-world system that mirrors its behavior. Imagining a personal digital twin enables systematic simulation of life choices without the friction of real-world experiments. Applying formal systems-thinking skills to oneself can reveal where lack of data or unclear priorities causes reactive decisions. Simulated experiments can test medication responses, travel plans, dietary effects, or other scenarios to surface likely outcomes. Even without an actual digital twin, enumerating imagined experiments clarifies values, exposes information gaps, and produces immediately useful insights for decision-making and planning.
Read at Psychology Today
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