# What if we could all switch bodies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 12, 2000, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-we-could-all-switch-bodies/12943 "2000-01-12T00:59:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mc\_Ph\_st\_Y\_Cheesehead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Mc\_Ph\_st\_Y\_Cheesehead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mc_Ph_st_Y_Cheesehead)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2000, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-we-could-all-switch-bodies/12943/21 "2000-01-14T06:13:00Z")
Know what’s scary? British doctors have now succesfully performed a head transplant on a monkey… …i’m actually not kidding. * * * Mc[Ph|st]Y Cheesehead “Software is like sex, it’s better when it’s free.” -Linus Torvalds on the software industry. ---
**Author:** ![BrainWeasel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@BrainWeasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainWeasel)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2000, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-we-could-all-switch-bodies/12943/22 "2000-01-14T14:39:00Z")
I think it’d be cooler if we all had Mister Potato Head-like facial features that we could trade with each other. ## Plus, I think it would feel kinda strange the first time you switched into a body of the opposite sex… -BrainWeasel Squeaks from BrainWeasel’s Cage [http://brainweasel.home.att.net](http://brainweasel.home.att.net) ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2000, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-we-could-all-switch-bodies/12943/23 "2000-01-14T15:13:00Z")
Think of whole new professions: People with lots of willpower who will excercise your body for you while you go see a movie… People who like nitrous will take your body to the dentist for you… People who would suffer through your flu for a price… * * * – Teeming Millions: [http://fathom.org/teemingmillions](http://fathom.org/teemingmillions) “Meat flaps, yellow!” - DrainBead, naked co-ed Twister chat O p a l C a t [www.opalcat.com](http://www.opalcat.com) ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-we-could-all-switch-bodies/12943/24 "2000-01-19T04:57:00Z")
As far as an individual switching bodies, Heinlein did it in I Will Fear No Evil\*. An old rich billionaire gets a brain transplant for return to youth and health, and winds up in the body of a young, beautiful woman. Oh the fun. Closer to the OP, David Gerrold explored that (at least a little) in his “War Of the Chtorr” series - I think it was A Day for Damnation. There’s a group of people who are “telepaths” through technological means. They have the ability to swap bodies for whatever reason they like. At one point a buddy of the main character shows up in some hot woman’s body and they go make monkey love. The next morning the main guy wakes up and his buddy left and he’s with the original owner, who is very unhappy at the rough treatment her body got while she was out. She’s a student who commutes once a week for class, and frequently the telepaths that swap into her body abuse it. Really frustrating. I’m sure if we suddenly developed the ability, there would be a lot of problems with people feeling their bodies were inappropriately handled. We would eventually develop some codes of behavior (as with all society), and of course there would be people who violated those codes. There are interesting questions to speculate on, like mentioned above about being able to identify if it’s the original person or somebody else. Of course it opens a whole new area for law regarding guilt and tracking criminals. All of this assumes it would be possible to somehow map our thought processes and transfer them to a different brain and have everything work. Wouldn’t you hate it if you swapped bodies so you could use a professional baskeball player’s body so you could slam dunk, only to find that trait and the skill was owned by the mind that left, so you still can’t do it? You would have to learn to do it with the new body. Then again, what if you couldn’t walk, because your legs don’t want to move right? Hmmm. I read a fantasy story once where the people could alter their appearance at will. They could look like anyone they wanted. One woman was a blacksmith by trade, and would grow muscles by day, but then to go out looking sexy she could alter her form. One of the interesting things was that everyone got tired of looking perfect. When everyone looks perfect, a little imperfection in appearance is interesting. Although it might be fun to try out those lesbian fantasies, otherwise I’m happy staying a guy. ---
**Author:** ![SterlingNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@SterlingNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SterlingNorth)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2000, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-we-could-all-switch-bodies/12943/25 "2000-01-21T08:29:00Z")
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**Author:** ![Lewis47](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e274bd/32.png) [@Lewis47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lewis47)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-we-could-all-switch-bodies/12943/26 "2014-10-28T01:49:13Z")
That sounds pretty Hot 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lewis47](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e274bd/32.png) [@Lewis47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lewis47)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-we-could-all-switch-bodies/12943/27 "2014-10-28T01:52:06Z")
> [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](#): > > Hmmm… Well, there’s this guy I work with that I have the hots for. If I could borrow his wife’s body for a night or two… > Of course, she would try to stop me from having my way with him, and her being in my body, he would think it was just a cheap ploy on my part… > > I’d have to lock my body up somewhere, to keep her from interfering with my nefarious scheme. > > * * * > > I never could get the hang of Thursdays. - Arthur Dent I think this idea is pretty Hot:) ---
**Author:** ![Lewis47](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e274bd/32.png) [@Lewis47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lewis47)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-we-could-all-switch-bodies/12943/28 "2014-10-28T02:04:53Z")
I think if we were all could switch bodies it would be cool. Being able to swap bodies with someone elses SO would be very erotic. I would love to swap bodies temporarily with a few attractive women that I know. Come on, the clothes, the shoes and experiencing sex as them would have to feel great 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lewis47](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e274bd/32.png) [@Lewis47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lewis47)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-we-could-all-switch-bodies/12943/29 "2014-10-28T02:07:11Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > As I’m (yet again) working late with very little work to do, it suddenly occurs to me - what would it be like if we all had the ability to trade bodies? I’m not talking the standard sci fi story where there’s one person who can snatch another person’s body. I’m wondering, what if it was easy and everyone could do it? > > I picture a scenario where I come into work “wearing” my SO’s body. “Oh yeah,” I say, “I have to do some heavy lifting later on, so I borrowed SO’s body for the day.” > > or it could be a commercial venture. I decide I want to do some heavy duty mountain biking while on vacation. In addition to picking up a nice rental bicycle, I also rent out some nice bike racer’s body. I can then bike all day with his body, returning it that night. In the meantime, he gets mine to stroll around in. > > Hmmm… obvious legal ramifications (what if I break his leg? What if he shoots up heroin into “my” body?) but seeing as this is a virtual impossibility, we don’t have to worry about such things. > > See what working late does to me? Luv this idea Athena 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2014, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-we-could-all-switch-bodies/12943/30 "2014-10-28T02:24:34Z")
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