# Would you do it all again (sort of)? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 9, 2009, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-do-it-all-again-sort-of/520535 "2009-12-09T00:07:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-do-it-all-again-sort-of/520535/1 "2009-12-09T00:07:54Z")
If it were up to you, would you chose to be reincarnated and live another life after you die? All I can say is… Oh hell yes. There are so many things that I’d like to do, so many things I’d like to do _differently_, so many things that I’d like to experience that if I was an immortal spirit with the chance to come back to this world and live again and again and again, I could spend quite a few milleniums doing just that. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-do-it-all-again-sort-of/520535/2 "2009-12-09T00:18:05Z")
Yes! I love life and everything in it. Well, not everything, but life in general is pretty damned cool. I never want to leave, but if I could come back that would be just fine to me. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Woo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@Dr.Woo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Woo)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-do-it-all-again-sort-of/520535/3 "2009-12-09T00:20:13Z")
My first reaction to the question was also “hell yeah!” Over and over again works just fine for me. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-do-it-all-again-sort-of/520535/4 "2009-12-09T00:25:01Z")
Absolutely. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-do-it-all-again-sort-of/520535/5 "2009-12-09T00:26:41Z")
No. If I’m reincarnated but don’t remember it, it’s not really being reborn to my mind, and if I do remember it, I’m eventually going to get very tired and/or bored. I didn’t exist 28 years ago, and I’m perfectly okay with the idea of not existing again in (hopefully) another 50 or so years. ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-do-it-all-again-sort-of/520535/6 "2009-12-09T00:43:59Z")
Oh, \*hell \*no. I’m only just beginning to get the hang of \*this \*life, and you couldn’t pay me enough to go through everything I’ve already gone through again. But at the same time, I know that as a young, healthy, employed, well-educated, white American, my life is easier than the lives of almost everyone else on the planet. So the chances that I’ll wind up in an equally crappy or even crappier life next time are exceedingly high. If instead, I could just keep living this life indefinitely (without aging too drastically), and learn and experience new things until I got bored, and could then off myself at will… sure, I’m game. ---
**Author:** ![Add99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/977dab/32.png) [@Add99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Add99)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-do-it-all-again-sort-of/520535/7 "2009-12-09T00:44:05Z")
Five more, please. Wouldn’t want to be greedy. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-do-it-all-again-sort-of/520535/8 "2009-12-09T00:45:58Z")
Depends. If I get a new body but keep accumulated knowledge/wisdom, maybe. Otherwise, no. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-do-it-all-again-sort-of/520535/9 "2009-12-09T00:54:12Z")
No. It’s an awful lot of work, this surviving business. HoD reminds me that next time I could be very unlucky and have to work 10 times as hard. No thanks! Once was enough. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-do-it-all-again-sort-of/520535/10 "2009-12-09T02:00:28Z")
What I would like would be to start over at 20. Love the idea. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-do-it-all-again-sort-of/520535/11 "2009-12-09T02:21:03Z")
The idea of losing all of the hard-learned lessons of this life to have to start over again is horrifying. Unless I get to keep the knowledge and experience, forget it. Or, I guess it doesn’t matter, then, because I wouldn’t know I was reincarnated, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-do-it-all-again-sort-of/520535/12 "2009-12-09T02:26:07Z")
One trip has been enough thank you. Someone else is welcome to my frequent living miles though. ---
**Author:** ![Rala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@Rala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rala)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-do-it-all-again-sort-of/520535/13 "2009-12-09T10:12:27Z")
No thanks. I’ve always thought the idea of reincarnation sounded horrible. You lose everything you’ve learned, every strength you’ve developed, every memory, everyone you’ve ever loved - many of the most basic parts of your identity. Then you have to go back and start the whole thing over again, only to lose yourself yet again at the end of _that_ lifetime. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-do-it-all-again-sort-of/520535/14 "2009-12-09T11:35:37Z")
As it happens, earlier this year I posted a somewhat similar thread, [If reincarnation were true, would you care ?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=511458) And I still hold the opinion I expressed then: not interested. I regard reincarnation as effectively indistinguishable from plain old death. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-do-it-all-again-sort-of/520535/15 "2009-12-09T19:10:33Z")
No way. In fact, if there’s \*any \*kind of afterlife whatsoever, I’m going to be very cross. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-do-it-all-again-sort-of/520535/16 "2009-12-09T19:19:53Z")
You guys thought you won the lottery by being born US Americans - that was a 4.6% chance. Being born Canadian, that was a 0.85% chance. I can’t hope for doing better the next go round!