Foresight Research
Dating in a Pluralistic Society in 2040
The Futures of Dating in a Pluralistic Society
Services
YEAR
Secondary ResearcH | Stakeholder Mapping | STEEP-V | Futures Thinking Frameworks | Causal Layered Analysis (CLA) | Generic Images of the Future | Backcasting | Persona Mapping | Time Machine - Representational Artifacts | Performances or Role Play | Immersive Experiences | Dator's Four Futures |
2022
Services
YEAR
Stakeholder Mapping | STEEP-V | Futures Thinking Frameworks | Causal Layered Analysis (CLA) | Generic Images of the Future | Backcasting | Persona Mapping | Time Machine - Representational Artifacts | Performances or Role Play | Immersive Experiences | Dator's Four Futures |
2022
Services
YEAR
Secondary ResearcH | Stakeholder Mapping | STEEP-V | Futures Thinking Frameworks | Causal Layered Analysis (CLA) | Generic Images of the Future | Backcasting | Persona Mapping | Time Machine - Representational Artifacts | Performances or Role Play | Immersive Experiences | Dator's Four Futures |
2022
Exploring multiple plausible futures of dating and their implications for a pluralistic society.
In a pluralistic society, the way we date, why we date, and who we date is influenced by culture, technology, economy, and evolving worldviews. Recognizing that dating is a fundamental part of human identity, our team sought to explore what dating could look like in 2040. We wanted to understand how pluralism might shape, challenge, or transform dating and social interaction, and what societal implications might arise.
This project explores the futures of - 'Dating in 2040' and the implications of various futures in a pluralistic society. The way we date, the reason we date, and whom we date can drastically change depending on many factors such as our age, our location, our culture, our biases, and our worldview. In a pluralistic society, dating can and should co-exist in all its idiosyncratic forms, in turn creating a resilient and accepting society.
What is Pluralism? –Diversity in society is a universal fact; how societies respond to diversity is a choice. Pluralism is a positive response to diversity. Pluralism involves taking decisions and actions, as individuals and societies, that are grounded in respect for diversity.
TASK
The objective was to explore multiple plausible futures of dating and their implications for a pluralistic society. Specifically, we aimed to:
Identify the key drivers shaping dating behaviors.
Build future scenarios (growth, collapse, discipline, and transformation).
Examine the social, technological, and cultural trade-offs in these futures.
Present implications for inclusivity, access, and equality in dating practices across genders.
GOAL
The goal this project was to explore the future of dating through the lens of pluralism and provoke meaningful reflection about what lies ahead. We asked bold questions: Will the future of dating embrace diversity and become more inclusive, or will it fracture into exclusive, status-driven systems? What cultural shifts, technological breakthroughs, and global events could lead us toward these divergent futures?
Dating is far more than a pastime — it is central to how we form relationships, create families, and build communities. The choices we make today will shape how future generations connect, love, and experience belonging. By mapping plausible futures, we invite society to engage in a critical conversation: How do we design dating ecosystems that celebrate diversity, foster empathy, and create safe, equitable spaces for everyone?
How will social, technological, and cultural shifts shape the pluralism of dating in 2040, and what events or drivers could lead to more inclusive futures?
ACTION
We used a robust set of foresight tools and participatory methods to explore this challenge:
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Scanning & Research: Conducted STEEP-V analysis to collect early signals and trends about dating, socializing, and technology, identifying shifts in demographics, economic structures, and digital platforms that could shape dating in 2040.
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Sensemaking: Used Future Wheel and Causal Layered Analysis (CLA) to uncover systemic drivers and myths—such as the underlying belief that “there’s plenty of fish in the sea.” These tools allowed us to connect surface-level trends to deeper worldviews and cultural narratives.
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Scenario Building & Persona Mapping: Developed **four scenarios—Growth, Collapse, Discipline, and Transformative—**using Generic Images of the Future and backcasting to imagine plausible pathways.
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Persona Building: At each stage, we built diverse personas to humanize the scenarios, highlighting how future dating landscapes might impact people differently. Persona building added depth by revealing emotional drivers, systemic tensions, and potential inequities beyond data and trends.
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Immersive Storytelling: Developed artifacts and a theatrical “Time Machine” performance to let participants experience and emotionally engage with future dating scenarios.
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Assessed the Pluralism Lens: Evaluated how each scenario would either advance or hinder pluralistic values, such as diversity, inclusion, and equitable access to dating opportunities—helping us frame actionable insights for building more inclusive futures.
HORIZON SCANS
We began with information gathering using the STEEPV framework and conducted horizon scans to identify signals and trends in today’s evolving dating ecosystem. These insights helped us detect early indicators of how dating might evolve in the future. We then compiled and analyzed these findings, using them as the foundation for developing our future scenarios.
CAUSAL LAYERED ANALYSIS (CLA)
The CLA framework was used to layer the current trends in dating. It further allowed us to think about the systems in place holding these trends and analyze influencing systemic worldviews. We finally distilled our understanding to an underlying myth - "There's plenty of fish in the sea." While the CLA exhibited an overview of current trends in dating, generic images of the future allowed us to streamline those trends and extrapolate them onto specific scenarios. We identified influences like population, technology, economy, and culture, and allowed our creativity to inform these contextually. Moving on, as we attempted to generate our scenarios, we selected only a few influences as drivers of change, which helped us create a balanced baseline for our story. We realized that trade-offs between influencing factors will exist.
The Generic Images
of The Future
Fly Me To
The Moon
Transform Scenario
TRANSFORMATIVE
SCENARIO
This scenario explores a world where new technological developments will drive change on how people date and socialize by 2040. In this scenario dating and socializing on the moon has become the "new thing," the moon has become a symbol of status and power, but it has also triggered new social barriers and inequality.
The overarching drivers of this change are social aspiration, consumerism, and inequality. To articulate this scenario, we have escalated existing initiatives that are currently working on new ways to explore and commercially exploit the moon (SpaceX, Space Perspective, Virgin Galactic, and Blue Origin). Finally, I explored how the social and market systems in North America will react to this new trend and its implications on dating and nurturing relationships in this context.
SIGNALS & TRENDS
The accessibility of Spaceship Neptune opens up space travel, offering our Explorers the same astonishing opportunity as astronauts: to gaze out at the cosmos and down on our home, experiencing the wonder-filled expansion of human consciousness.
China is looking to spark interest in space tourism by opening its soon-to-be-completed space station to everyday citizens. Yang Liwei, who made history in 2003 by becoming China's first astronaut in space, told Chinese media earlier this month that people without formal astronaut training could soon visit the Tiangong space station.
In the future, space will be humanity's home and people will visit Earth on vacation, according to billionaire Jeff Bezos.
BUILDING THE TRANSFORMATIVE SCENARIO
In 2025, industrialist Elon Musk announced that SpaceX had successfully completed its mission to the moon, capturing global attention and sparking a media frenzy. Later that year, Musk was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, prompting widespread speculation about humanity’s next steps in space exploration. Other companies soon announced more ambitious lunar missions. Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin planned to travel to the moon and maintain a team of scientists to develop infrastructure. Driven by the lunar frenzy and the potential for geopolitical leverage, China and Russia resumed their joint plan to build the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) by 2027. This announcement triggered an immediate response from Western countries, which heavily funded public and private space initiatives. The combination of strong political will, public investment, and multibillion-dollar companies working together in a new “Space Race” accelerated the development of groundbreaking technologies. By 2031, basic lunar infrastructure was operational, and technological advances, including new materials, enabled faster and cheaper travel to the moon.
By 2032, commercial flights to the moon were launched. Despite high costs, lunar travel quickly became a global trend. In 2033, a prominent industrialist launched Moon X Dating, offering “Love Cruises” to the moon. Celebrities and industrialists eagerly booked these experiences, and by 2035, lunar dating had become widely popular. Rising demand drove competition, gradually lowering costs and making the moon the ultimate status symbol for dating.
By 2038, a successful date on the moon had become a marker of social and romantic achievement. The moon symbolized power and status, and those seeking their “perfect match” increasingly viewed lunar travel as essential. By 2040, this phenomenon had transformed dating into a largely frivolous activity, driven primarily by economic status and aspirational branding, fueled by superficial marketing campaigns.
IMPLICATIONS TO PLURAISM
In this world, dating becomes exclusive to a small minority who can afford “interplanetary” experiences. A new culture emerges around the consumption of space-related goods, with the idea “if you want me, get me the moon” deeply embedded in society. While many strive to achieve this “planetary status,” most are unable to, leaving them on Earth and relying on conventional dating methods considered old-fashioned or dull. The moon travel craze creates additional barriers to dating and socialization, widening gaps and inequality across society. By 2040, the exponential growth of lunar travel begins to undermine the well-being of those who wish to date but cannot afford these experiences.
EXPANDING THE GROWTH SCENARIO
This scenario explores a world where technology enables humans to enhance intelligence and efficiency through biohacking. Governments, healthcare institutions, and large corporations actively endorse biohacking to drive a hyper-growth economy and eliminate certain genetic conditions. The population is motivated to become high-functioning, often taking extreme measures to achieve their “perfect” selves. Meanwhile, AI-enabled dating apps complicate relationships by factoring in genetic compatibility, creating social and psychological divides for those who do not participate in this enhanced world and raising fundamental questions about what it means to be “just human.” To communicate these futures, we used “time machines”—representational artifacts, performances, and immersive experiences (Stein & Chandler, 2020)—to engage audiences’ senses and make abstract futures feel tangible. Our Growth Scenario was illustrated through a theatrical performance featuring a young woman seeking love via a dating app, highlighting a world where human desires, quirks, and personalities coexist with the drive to enhance nature through genetic technologies.
In this context, biohacking refers to manipulating the brain and body to optimize performance beyond traditional medicine. While the pursuit of human enhancement raises ethical concerns—representing a bid for mastery that risks undervaluing innate human abilities—it also offers transformative potential. Advances in genetic engineering, AI, bioengineering, and nanotechnology could redefine human evolution, eradicate diseases, extend life expectancy, and even reshape the ways we form relationships. This scenario reflects the principles of Transhumanism, envisioning a future where humans are augmented yet fundamentally human, navigating new opportunities, challenges, and social dynamics, including radically reimagined ways of dating and connecting.
RESULTS
The project produced four richly detailed scenarios that:
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Highlighted how dating could evolve—from AI-enabled genetic matchmaking to space-based status dating.
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Revealed new risks, such as inequality, social barriers, and psychological divides, in hyper-technological futures.
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Encouraged audiences to reflect on how to design dating systems that are inclusive, equitable, and resilient.
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Generated actionable insights for fostering pluralistic societies where dating remains a space for diversity, safety, and mutual enrichment.
The work sparked critical discussions about the intersection of technology, social aspiration, and human connection—helping participants imagine futures they could prepare for, influence, or resist.
The future is already here — it’s just not evenly distributed.
Designing the "Fly Me to the Moon " dating scenario revealed how technological advances and aspirational trends can create exclusive experiences, amplifying social and economic divides. As William Gibson said, “The future is already here — it’s just not evenly distributed.”
This scenario highlighted the importance of considering equity and access when imagining future experiences, showing that emerging possibilities often benefit a privileged few while leaving many behind. It reinforced for me the need to critically assess who gains, who is excluded, and how systems of power shape human connection in the futures we design.
The project showcased is a team project completed as part of SFIN-6021-001 Foresight Studio course in Winter Term 2022 at OCAD University for the Strategic Foresight & Innovation (MDes) Program.
ADVISOR - H. KERR, Z. CHandler
Images- FREEPIK, DALL·E 2 - OpenAI, UNSPLASH, DEEP AI
CREDITS - I.UdupI, J.Machado, R.Nambiar and T. Fernandes