Inspired by this article about a jellyfish that doesn’t die of old age, injury or poor conditions, it just reverts back to a juvenile state and is reborn genetically identical. If you could be reborn, as you, would you want to?
Edit: Just the physical you, genetic and presumably epigenetic, no memory.
Hell no.
I dont even want to continue with this miserable life, why the fuck would I want to keep doing it over and over again.
People keep saying that. :(
If you dont keep your memory its no different than a new human being born, so I guess the only question is if I want my exact genetics to keep existing and get more chances to pass them on. I dont really care about that so its whatever for me.
I came to the same conclusion after a while. Then I thought how some people view progeny as a form of immortality. This is maybe a tad more direct.
No memory = no point in doing it.
If you don’t remember something, it might as well have never happened.
Besides, I’m already sick of this time around, and my genetics were fucked to begin with. Give me a redo with my memories and a new body, and then we might have something.
Maybe you could leave yourself hints like the memento guy.
I work with a guy who has a long Polish name that nobody can spell, and it makes me smile every time he’s referred to as John G.
Not without keeping my memory, no. I definitely wish for immortality, just from a curiosity perspective. I don’t think I necessarily deserve it, I am just so interested in seeing how things turn out in the future.
Depends on if you keep your memories or not each rebirth.
How would this change your answer? I fear the thought of carrying trauma forever.
It’s the difference between reliving the exact same life repeatedly with no knowledge of any previous lives. This could actually be happening for you right now, but you’d never know. So, what’s the point? Retaining memories lets you differentiate between the iterations with accumulated trauma, joy, loss, sense of renewal.
If this topic interests you, I recommend Replay by Ken Grimwood.
Replay is one of the best books ever written, fight me!
I think I’d fight with you on this point.
Ever read This Perfect Day by Levin? It gave me similar vibes, although the story is very different.
Thanks for the recommendation! Will check out.
Thanks for the reco!
All that time to work on your trauma? Sign me up!
Would be very bizarre to be like 15yo though, would you like get born in a new family every time? Weird af.
Yeah. You die, become a baby and get adopted (hopefully) by whoever finds you.
If you die in a remote area, do you just revert to baby…then no one finds you, you die in a remote area, revert to baby, then no one finds you, you die in a remote area, revert to baby ad infinitum?
Don’t drown…
I think so.
I don’t want to make the same mistakes for infinity, at least this way I could make new mistakes for infinity!
Like groundhog day or any of the other time loop movies. If you had the ability to accumulate knowledge over lifetimes, you could progress to incredible levels of understanding and ability.
Imagine spending a lifetime to learn an instrument, then repeat until you are a one person master band.
It has the benefit of immortality to accomplish things, without the issues of being going crazy from being 52 for a thousand years. You’ll be young again, and experience the joys of youth, the pain of heartbreak again as a teebs, your first child, etc. Or spend one life being reckless, then another being a parent, another a space explorer, etc.
All true. Every life would be lived anew but times change, so you would see the futures beyond a single human life.
Even if the new body and I are genetically identical, if it doesn’t have my memories, it is not “me”.
I wonder. You hear about twins seperated at birth that end up doing similar things.
That is a real fear. But part of trauma are the neural pathways it forms. So, that creates a problem whereas remembering a thing as having happened doesn’t have that same effect.
I had not considered the distinction. Interesting.
Why would it matter if you don’t remember?
Edit: Just the physical you, genetic and presumably epigenetic, no memory.
Without the memories, that simply wouldn’t be me though. After all, twins that share the entirety of their genetic material aren’t the same person either.
I also just wouldn’t do it, my genetics aren’t anything special that’s worth preserving.
True.
Being reborn without memory is pretty much the same as dying as you are not your body, you are your memories
Really? My memories in someone else’s body isn’t me either. There is the biological me at birth, then the conscious me of experience and memory. I think they both play a part of the older you, but being reborn as baby you is still literally the original “you” at this point.
If tomorrow I wake up in a different body, I’d still be me, I’d just look different, and I’m sure the world would feel different, but its still me
If my body would wake up with a different mind, I’m gone
If tomorrow I wake up in a different body, I’d still be me
I think you are making an artificial distinction that doesn’t exist. Bodies are not cpus that are identical and can run the same program on different hardware. Everyone’s hardware is unique, and shaped by experiences and memories.
If we could load your memories and experiences onto someone else’s hardware, you most definitely would not still be you. You would be something completely new.
This pulls in the philosophy of what makes someone “themselves” - is it memory, body, or “soul”. Technically, twins look the same so body could be ruled out that way but I do understand what you mean. I also tend to think of body as a vehicle in this life and not me, just like a car I got given in life. I didn’t choose my body, it’s just what I got given. My personality though - my morals, my believes, etc… that I do consider myself and who “I” am. An argument could be made that as you “craft” your personality or you - it is similar to working out and crafting your body into “you” but some people can’t do that with the cards they were dealt - so I’ll digress.
I just dig the philosophical conversation to be had here.
God no, I don’t even want to live this life let alone living more!
Well now I’m sad. Hope things get better soon for you.
Ahhh! Sorry to bring you down! I hope breadcat can make you smile!
It does. May the sun shine gently on you both.
aww that was a wholesome interaction
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nah humanity is one of the most painful things Ive ever read of or come into contact with . Im actually very eager to see the end of my life cause then I wont have to deal with all this genocidal , selfish, illogical bullshit from people.
Also why would I do this without keeping my memories? Absolutely not. I need to remember why I want to stay awau from other people and what other people have done to me that has led to me becomjng this sad sad state…
Edit: also let me clarify, I am certainly no saint or a messiah or anyone or anything special. Im just some dude. But Ive come to realization… that Im fatigued and jaded by the humans Ive come into contact with in my life including my parenrs who have practicallt ostracized me and the ‘friends’ who I had who ghosted me or betrayed me. And Im tired of this abyss of loneliness I always appear to be stuck in no matter what I do to just be confident and go out more and to be friendly even trying to just be more genuine- it all just never works for me…and…Im tired of it all. Im so tired of it all.
I dont mean to be a meanie to anyone who reads this comment , I wish you all well. I wish you all had better lives than I have had so far and than I will have IF I keep on living (probably wont happen but …so be it…I tried. I failed. And Im sorry. It is what it is) Just please know: Im tired. Im so tired. Im only 30 but I know for a fact Im not long for this world . Sadly. Ive been through some things I cant even type here without being banned forever…
I wish you all the best in your endeavors or if you I dont knkw choose to be reincarnated like this lol. Bye everyone. Peace 🤟🏿🫂😮💨
I see your point. We are a very short sighted species.
no
I don’t think it matters if you don’t have memory. it lacks your ego and not make any decisions based on your experiences. Its basically like saying would you be ok with a clone made of you.
Similar, but not a clone. It’s really you just rejuvenating. I agree, without memories it loses its luster, but imortality. You could be a daredevil and not die. You could try anything and everything and still come back. Though I assume you would need to retain this awareness instinctually to know.
effectively it would be a clone. you lose your memories. if your a daredevil and die you lose your memories and your current ego. I would still not want to risk death in that scenario as its effectively the same as now from my current memory perspective.
…IF it is just your body coming back and nothing or your mind that it isn’t me coming back.
There are already way too many humans on this planet now. That would just mean that this planet would have 120 Billion people on it.
Not everyone. Just you.
Sure, might as well
In a way that is temporally continuous? No way. As long as I’m always dead by around 2012? Yeah, sure.
This is the correct answer. Except for the 9/11 part and well… lots of other bad things but ideally I’d be able to stop some of that from happening somehow.
