You Have Arrived at Your Destination (Forward Collection, #4) opens Goodreads in a new tab

My thoughts

3.5/5stars One of the spookier ones from the Forward Collection, which has 6 short stories. They are all set in a kind of futuristic world and are mostly sci-fi. But this book is not so impossible, in fact it seems like the very thing people might do just a few years down the line. Creepy? Def. “we are looking at aggregated biographic histories to predict individual biographic outcomes. Drawing from a wide array of sources, we’ve assembled a database on three generations of Americans that includes not only their gender and ethnicity but information on the environments in which they were raised—like their parents’ religions, educations, professions, and political identifications. Then we have traced how the lives of the subjects actually unfolded. By mapping the foundational information of this large population alongside their eventual experiences, we can start to identify meaningful patterns that help us clarify how nature and nurture have combined to shape the lives they’ve led. So this book is about genetic engineering. and no not just the eyes and color of your hair but everything from your temper to what your personality will be like. One could adopt a child as per their "wants". We use the detailed profiles you’ve given us on yourselves to understand the environment in which your child will be raised. Then, by using those elements as a filter, we can identify within our proprietary database a significant cohort of people with a similar genetic makeup who were brought up in a similar environment and, based on their actual experiences, begin to anticipate—within a margin of acceptable error—the shape of the life that your child will lead. I listened to this as an audiobook and the narration is so good, it almost felt like I was there, seeing it all play out with my own eyes. Def recommend checking that out. And it's a really small book (barely 50 pages I believe?) you could finish it in one sitting!!