The Oxford Pilot stories (S1-S131) were collected between Spring 2024 and Spring 2025. The King’s Phase stories (S132+) were collected between Autumn 2025 to Autumn 2026. As of early October 2026, the Complete Story Archive contains 240+ valid story-completion submissions from a global sample of study participants.
How each story begins
Each story-completion submission begins with the same opening:
32 unread messages. [NAME] put down the phone, frustrated. How would _____ get through the next few days? Looking for answers, or distraction, _____ picked up the phone and started watching videos. One video caught _____’s eye. A remarkable individual, talking about something religious or spiritual. _____ couldn’t quite make it out, but _____ was interested and found something impressive, maybe admirable, about the person. So, _____ continued watching and . . . .
Participants then complete the story using their own imagination and no Generative AI.
Click on the excerpts below to access the participants’ full stories.
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“The man in the video was speaking about hope” (S243)
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“and slowly forgot about the messages” (S242)
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“he felt some changes taking place in him without his knowledge” (S241)
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“The person on the screen was an elderly priest sitting in a quiet room” (S240)
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“A Catholic priest who was prominent figure in the social media” (S239)
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“slowly felt a strange sense of peace” (S238)
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“he was scrolling on Facebook and suddenly saw a video of a priest” (S237)
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“Patrick can’t move his eyes and ears from the phone” (S236)
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“he felt something different” (S235)
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“he could drive his mind towards a day which really happend” (S234)
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“A few years ago, I spent a lot of time on social media” (S233)
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“Suddenly, Dinuk saw another video on his page about the persecution” (S232)
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“Akash stared at the glowing screen” (S231)
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“The person was not trying to give perfect answers” (S230)
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“and found it really important” (S229)
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“Pomodya kept scrolling without really paying attention” (S228)
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“started to watch more videos of him” (S227)
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“Death is not the greatest lost in the life” (S226)
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“the person in the video was speaking about kindness, forgiveness” (S225)
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“suddenly he realized his entire algorithm was now pushing videos on religion” (S224)
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“It is a video uploaded by a lay man” (S223)
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“The video was about how the prayers does affect to our brain and body scientifically” (S222)
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“because Shehan was in a deep emotional damage” (S221)
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“slowly became more curious about this person” (S220)
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“a famous Buddhist monk preaching about the ‘Wisdom of Letting go’” (S219)
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“Bob looked at the couple standing facing him” (S218)
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“He found the story of him inside the video” (S217)
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“At first, he watched the influencer’s videos just because he found them interesting” (S216)
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“The video was about a young little girl named Anna” (S215)
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“and started thinking” (S214)
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“discovering more about what comes to his mind” (S213)
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“Bishop Barron started talking” (S212)
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“he just went through the feedbacks of the viewers” (S211)
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“The woman, Sara, talked” (S210)
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“slowly became more interested in the message” (S209)
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“let the frantic pace of her obligations melt away” (S208)
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“One video led to another” (S207)
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“Was even more interested in video” (S131)
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“watching, finding himself entraced” (S130)
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“Watching, her eyes got glued to her phone” (S129)
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“reading the comments.” (S128)
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“was utterly transfixed by what she witnessed” (S127)
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“became intrigued by the seemingly complex” (S126)
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“the individual revealed in her video” (S125)
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“found himself engrossed.” (S124)
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“Jesse sat in the place” (S123)
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“soon time was nothing but a word” (S122)
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“gave it a keen attention” (S121)
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“it was the video of an African, Nigerian Pentecostal Minister” (S120)
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“then thought:” (S119)
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“and wondered if this is really possible…” (S118)
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“and he decided to check out the comments.” (S117)
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“Soon, he reconnected the description” (S116)
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“and began to examine this individual closely” (S115)
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“discovers that there is a rabbit hole” (S114)
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“And she was amazed” (S113)
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“Wondering what exactly he was talking about.” (S112)
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“Wondering what exactly he was talking about.” (S112)
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“saw a Christian preacher” (S111)
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“quickly fell into a rabbit hole of Catholic teaching” (S110)
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“Something began to stir in his spirit.” (S109)
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“Trying to understand the explanation” (S108)
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“and feeling so inspired” (S107)
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“and listening to the person” (S106)
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“…found themselves cheered up” (S105)
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“. . . . agreed with everything the speaker was saying” (S104)
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“…felt her eyes widen.” (S103)
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“…staring transfixed at his screen” (S102)
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“… honestly, she had to admit that she had trouble” (S101)
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“The man in the video was a mongolian warlord” (S206)
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“was intrigued by the things the person talked about” (S205)
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“He was deeply inspired” (S204)
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“the more she watched, the more she got sucked into the world of this girl” (S203)
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“eagerly lapped up what the man on the screen was saying” (S202)
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“search any content related to this person, especially his academic works” (S201)
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“was fascinated by the new world she has stumbled across” (S200)
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“Scrolled through this person’s feed.” (S199)
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“and tried to decipher what the person was saying.” (S198)
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“Barry realised the man he was watching reminded him of his grandfather” (S197)
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“and felt like the video had been made for her” (S196)
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“Nyasha couldn’t help but keep watching this video” (S195)
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“Flicker kept watching the video” (S194)
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“and started to sense she was feeling something like envy” (S193)
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“and found herself wrapped up in the inspiring narrative of this persons spiritual journey.” (S192)
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“So, Luis continued watching and decided to click into the influencer’s profile.” (S191)
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“clicking on the instagram page attached to this video.” (S190)
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“and was hooked” (S189)
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“she scrolled. Onto another video, punchier than the last” (S188)
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“the video came to an end, a wave of shame washed over Nathan” (S187)
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“found herself drawn to the peaceful ambiance created by the video” (S186)
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“was soon doing a deep dive of the individual’s instagram page” (S185)
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“Rishabh spoke about the Bhagavad Gita” (S184)
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“The woman in the video held a calm that seemed [to] demand attention” (S183)
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“realized that this individual was part of a Christian church unlike any she had grown up with” (S182)
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“decided to do a bit of deeper research” (S181)
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“The page had its own secret language; homesteading, beef tallow, seed oils, unschooling” (S180)
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“Noticed that a lot what he said really made sense” (S179)
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“learnt about tarot cards” (S178)
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“pressure from all the corners was bombarding her” (S177)
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“allowed herself to go down the rabbit hole” (S176)