# Explain the ending "All You Zombies" Heinlein story (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 13, 2014, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-ending-all-you-zombies-heinlein-story-open-spoilers/695440 "2014-08-13T14:50:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-ending-all-you-zombies-heinlein-story-open-spoilers/695440/21 "2014-08-14T00:03:38Z")
I am more than willing to admit that Heinlen may have meant the story purely as an exercise in solipsism, but I think I find that it is a far more interesting story, thematically and narratively when viewed through the lens njtt is advocating. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-ending-all-you-zombies-heinlein-story-open-spoilers/695440/22 "2014-08-14T00:05:51Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I am more than willing to admit that Heinlen may have meant the story purely as an exercise in solipsism, but I think I find that it is a far more interesting story, thematically and narratively when viewed through the lens njtt is advocating. I wouldn’t disagree. It’s a short story, not a novel; it’s fiction, not a psychological analysis. It certainly can be tied into a larger picture of how we all see the rest of humanity. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-ending-all-you-zombies-heinlein-story-open-spoilers/695440/23 "2014-08-14T06:45:08Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > He misses everyone that he used to believe were distinct from him, since he feels no sense of companionship from people that are probably just himself. Sounds like he needs to read [this article](http://www.cgpgrey.com/blog/i-have-died-many-times). Past you is pretty much a different person. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-ending-all-you-zombies-heinlein-story-open-spoilers/695440/24 "2014-08-14T20:03:09Z")
Or alternately, [this short story](http://www.galactanet.com/oneoff/theegg_mod.html). ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-ending-all-you-zombies-heinlein-story-open-spoilers/695440/25 "2014-08-14T23:29:38Z")
Simply the best treatment of the subject is David Gerrold’s [The Man Who Folded Himself](http://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Folded-Himself/dp/1932100040/ref=la_B000AQ1PQM_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1408058746&sr=1-1). If you think Heinlein took it to the ultimate, you have several surprises in store. ---
**Author:** ![JeffSmith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/58956e/32.png) [@JeffSmith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffSmith)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-ending-all-you-zombies-heinlein-story-open-spoilers/695440/26 "2015-01-08T12:07:44Z")
I don’t fully understand everything he says at the end, but my interpretation of his question about other people is that he’s essentially saying “If this insane scramble of me meeting and making myself is how I exist, if I came from myself and of myself, where did all you other supposedly real people come from?” ---
**Author:** ![Voiceimitator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Voiceimitator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voiceimitator)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-ending-all-you-zombies-heinlein-story-open-spoilers/695440/27 "2015-04-09T08:55:49Z")
For what it’s worth ,“zombies” is a term used in philosophical circles. Wikipedia ([Philosophical zombie - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_zombie)) says: “a hypothetical being that is indistinguishable from a normal human being except in that it lacks conscious experience, qualia, or sentience”. See also [Zombies (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)](http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/zombies/). But here’s the thing – I think this usage postdates Heinlein’s story. It would be interesting to see if Heinlein’s story in fact begat the philosophical usage. However, what’s known as “the problem of other minds” ([Other Minds (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)](http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/other-minds/)) was around since Descartes was first thinking about solipsism. It kind of goes hand in hand with the idea. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-the-ending-all-you-zombies-heinlein-story-open-spoilers/695440.md?page=1)