# Reincarnation: Recall of Past Life-Yes or No? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 15, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reincarnation-recall-of-past-life-yes-or-no/525123 "2010-01-15T21:22:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reincarnation-recall-of-past-life-yes-or-no/525123/1 "2010-01-15T21:22:44Z")
K, I posted thisin the wrong forum. My question: assuming you are reincarnated, why is the recall of your past life so rare? There have been cases reported (mainly from India) where people have been able to recall their past lives, in great detail. Why is this so rare? ---
**Author:** ![pan1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@pan1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pan1)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reincarnation-recall-of-past-life-yes-or-no/525123/2 "2010-01-15T21:23:43Z")
Some people lack a good strong imagination? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reincarnation-recall-of-past-life-yes-or-no/525123/3 "2010-01-15T21:26:31Z")
There is no such thing as reincarnation. People who claim to remember their past lives are either crazy, making it up, or have been misled. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reincarnation-recall-of-past-life-yes-or-no/525123/4 "2010-01-15T21:26:54Z")
It’s my understanding that the whole “remembering your past life” is mostly limited to New Agey types who’ve borrowed the bits of reincarnation they like, turning into a fun thing as opposed to a cycle of suffering. To phrase your question differently: Assuming this world was constructed by robots five minutes ago, why is there so little scaffolding around? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reincarnation-recall-of-past-life-yes-or-no/525123/5 "2010-01-15T21:35:55Z")
Like **Shot From Guns** said, most religions that believe in reincarnation believe that the reincarnated person lacks the knowledge and personalities of his or her past lives. There are some exceptions to this, but that’s generally considered to be the case. And the robots took the scaffolding down once they were done constructing the world. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reincarnation-recall-of-past-life-yes-or-no/525123/6 "2010-01-15T21:40:21Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Like **Shot From Guns** said, most religions that believe in reincarnation believe that the reincarnated person lacks the knowledge and personalities of his or her past lives. In what sense can it be considered the same person, if there is no continuity of body, memory or personality? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reincarnation-recall-of-past-life-yes-or-no/525123/7 "2010-01-15T21:56:24Z")
**Ralph124c** , you started a [similar thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=547256)in GQ only a few days ago. I closed it and told you to re-open another one in an appropriate forum. Now, rather than do that, you have opened basically the same thread in what you acknowledge is the wrong forum. You frequently open threads in GQ that are not appropriate for this forum. You’re a long-time poster, and should be more aware of what forums a given kind of question go in. To encourage you to think more about where you place your threads, I’m going to close them rather than move them if they are in the wrong place. In particular, do not open yet another thread on this subject in GQ or you may receive a warning. Colibri General Questions Moderator