What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedThe Terminal Experiment
Robert J. Sawyer · Book · 1995
If you loved The Terminal Experiment, start with The Thirteenth Floor (1999) — a film on the same thread. Below: 4 films, 3 series and 2 podcasts, each matched to The Terminal Experiment across media.
You were hooked by The Terminal Experiment’s examination of how digital copies of the human consciousness can trigger existential murder mysteries.
Films on the same thread
The Thirteenth Floor
Film · 1999
Shares 2 threads with The Terminal Experiment: Techno-thriller, Philosophical Sci-Fi.
Like The Terminal Experiment, this story challenges the reality of your own existence by blurring the lines between simulated digital personas and the fragile, vulnerable humans who create them.
Ghost in the Shell
Mamoru Oshii · Film · 1995
Shares a thread with The Terminal Experiment: Techno-Thriller.
This film mirrors the technological dread of The Terminal Experiment by exploring how digitizing the human mind creates profound questions about identity, soulfulness, and the vulnerability of consciousness.
Ex Machina
Alex Garland · Film · 2015
Shares a thread with The Terminal Experiment: Techno-Thriller.
This tense psychological study echoes The Terminal Experiment by forcing you to confront the ethical consequences of playing god through the creation of autonomous, thinking artificial intelligences.
Soulm8te
Kate Dolan · Film · 2026
Shares a thread with The Terminal Experiment: techno-thriller.
If you enjoyed the chilling premise of The Terminal Experiment, you will appreciate how this narrative explores the violent, unpredictable outcomes when simulated consciousness develops its own human needs.
Series on the same thread
Serial Experiments Lain
Series · 1998
Shares a thread with The Terminal Experiment: Identity Crisis.
Much like the identity crisis found in The Terminal Experiment, this series explores the dissolution of the self within a digital landscape where memories and consciousness become dangerously malleable.
Westworld
Jonathan Nolan · Series · 2016
Explores: Artificial Intelligence, Existentialism, Free Will vs. Determinism.
This series expands on the philosophical questions posed in The Terminal Experiment, specifically examining how the emergence of artificial consciousness inevitably leads to moral decay and existential conflict.
Altered Carbon
Laeta Kalogridis · Series · 2018
Explores: Artificial Intelligence, Immortality, Corporate Conspiracy.
This narrative mirrors the core investigation of The Terminal Experiment by using a murder mystery to explore the dark implications of digitizing human consciousness and achieving technological immortality.
Podcasts on the same thread
Huberman Lab
Scicomm Media · Podcast · 2026
Explores: self-optimization, evidence-based living, cognitive health.
If The Terminal Experiment hit, Huberman Lab shares the thread.
Making Sense with Sam Harris
Podcast
Explores: neuroscience, ethics, secularism.
If The Terminal Experiment hit, Making Sense with Sam Harris shares the thread.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is The Terminal Experiment about the existence of the soul?
Yes, The Terminal Experiment centers on Dr. Peter Hobson, who invents a machine to detect a brain pattern leaving the body after death. Many characters in the story believe this specific pattern is evidence of a soul, leading to experiments on immortality.
How does The Terminal Experiment test theories on immortality?
In The Terminal Experiment, Dr. Peter Hobson and his friend Sarkar Muhammed create three electronic simulations of Hobson's own personality. These digital copies are used to test scientific theories regarding immortality and life after death within the context of the novel.
Does The Terminal Experiment involve a murder mystery?
The Terminal Experiment features a conflict where people Dr. Peter Hobson holds a grudge against begin to die. Hobson and his colleague, Sarkar Muhammed, must investigate these deaths to determine which of the three electronic personality simulations is responsible for the killings.
Who are the primary characters in The Terminal Experiment?
The primary characters driving the plot of The Terminal Experiment are Dr. Peter Hobson, the inventor of the soul-detecting machine, and his friend Sarkar Muhammed. Together, they navigate the consequences of creating electronic simulations of Hobson's personality to study the afterlife.