Validity without pretending

The least useful version of synthetic research pretends to be a cheaper replacement for talking to real people. That framing creates the wrong expectation and the wrong risk profile.

The stronger version is narrower and more honest: synthetic research is a fast way to generate scenarios, objections, language, hypotheses and failure modes that you can inspect and decide how to validate.

Validity is a workflow, not a slogan

A useful run makes the underlying assumptions visible. It separates strong signal from weak signal. It marks what came from evidence, what came from persona memory and what still needs a real-world test.

Used that way, Sonaloop is not a substitute for reality. It is a research instrument for deciding where reality is most likely to surprise you.