For most of history, people could begin again. You could move to a new town, change your job, your style, even your name, and become someone new. But in a future shaped by AI‑driven digital twins, starting over may no longer be possible.

These twins will be trained on everything you’ve ever written, recorded, or shared. They could drive credit systems, hiring models, and social records. They might reflect the person you once were, not the one you’ve become. And because they exist across networks and databases, you can’t fully erase them. You might have changed, but the world keeps meeting an older version of you that never updates or dies.

The conundrum:
When your digital twin outlives who you are and keeps shaping how the world sees you, can you ever truly begin again? If the past is permanent and searchable, what does redemption or reinvention even mean?

HISTORY OF SHUTDOWNS (from 2013)