NPR

Invisibilia: Do the Patterns in Your Past Predict Your Future?

A massive computer competition works to identify the patterns that can predict where someone will end up in life. But whether this competition has a winner may depend on your viewpoint.
Source: Sara Wong for NPR

Welcome to Invisibilia Season 4! The NPR program and podcast explores the invisible forces that shape human behavior, and we here at Shots are joining in to probe the science of why we act the way we do. Here's an excerpt from Episode 4.

On paper, Shon Hopwood's life doesn't make a lot of sense, not even to him.

"I don't have a great excuse as to why I did these things. And everybody always wants that," he tells me. "It closes the circle for people. But that's not really how it happened."

To the naked eye, it looked like Shon Hopwood was born into a really good pattern. He grew up in the neighborly, low-crime community of David City, Neb., to a great Christian family that encouraged self-reliance. "My parents basically opened the door in the morning and would say, 'See you in a few hours.' It was

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