# You get to come back as someone famous: who would you pick? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 26, 2010, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-come-back-as-someone-famous-who-would-you-pick/558386 "2010-10-26T05:20:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-come-back-as-someone-famous-who-would-you-pick/558386/21 "2010-10-27T00:40:25Z")
**Leaffan** , I guess we’re going to be married to each other then. Bring on the wedding bells! ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-come-back-as-someone-famous-who-would-you-pick/558386/22 "2010-10-27T03:41:44Z")
I have this uhm, problem. Where watching the humiliation or embarassment of others causes me to be so embarrassed for them that I have to turn it off or get out of the area. This is why I can’t enjoy Steve Carrell or any other perpetrators of the humcom (humiliation comedy) genre. And also why I cannot go grocery shopping with my mother, who embarasses herself constantly by talking to strangers about the most stupid, inane shit. So I would never sign up for this, because the span from 10 to 18 is basically 8 straight years of daily embarassment for most people. Even very gorgeous and successful people. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-come-back-as-someone-famous-who-would-you-pick/558386/23 "2010-10-27T04:13:05Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > **Leaffan** , I guess we’re going to be married to each other then. Bring on the wedding bells! OK. But you better like Alice’s music. And you must like golf! Welcome to my tee-time, yeah-eah-eah-eah… ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-come-back-as-someone-famous-who-would-you-pick/558386/24 "2010-10-27T05:28:37Z")
I want to be whoever is sleeping with Adrien Brody. ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-come-back-as-someone-famous-who-would-you-pick/558386/25 "2010-10-27T05:44:32Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > You either remember your prior consciousness or you don’t. You can’t have it both ways. > > If I were somebody else without any memory of having been me, well, this question is moot since I would essentially cease to be at that point and the other person would just be re-living their life, unbeknownst to the now-nonexistent me. > > On the other hand, if I still maintained my own consciousness, I don’t see any way out of that trapped feeling. Even in your hypothetical example, the universe would feel as though it were conspiring against my every thought and action. “No, no, don’t go there… phew, ok, I’m not going there… wait, why am I there anyway?!” Think of dreams. During most dreams, you don’t know who you are IRL, you have several experiences (good or bad) and then you wake up. Once you wake up, you remember the dream and how it felt to experience it. So, consider this hypothetical similar. During the experience, you don’t know who you are IRL, but once it is over, you remember the whole thing, you remember experiencing life as X. ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-come-back-as-someone-famous-who-would-you-pick/558386/26 "2010-10-27T05:52:00Z")
FTR, one of the people I’d like to experience being is Steve Jobs. Starts out as a young charismatic guy who founds a great new company intent on changing the tech landscape, then experiences a great fall, gets fired, starts another company that doesn’t do well, and then comes back to his first company, and through a series of hit products makes it the most valuable company in the world\* This must be the comeback story of the last quarter century at least. To experience the highs of the first launch of Apple and the first Macs, then the lows of being fired and failing at Next, and then the tremendous highs of the comeback success at Apple, that would be an amazing experience. Of course, I don’t know how his personal life is, and he has been diagnosed with a life-threatening disease, so there is a risk that the whole experience will be bad, but at least his public story is an amazing one. - Almost: As of now only Exxon has a higher market cap than Apple, but this is expected to change soon. ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-come-back-as-someone-famous-who-would-you-pick/558386/27 "2010-10-27T17:45:41Z")
“There has never been an intelligent person of the age of sixty who would consent to live his life over again. His or anyone else’s.” - Mark Twain - Letters from the Earth I’m over sixty and I agree. ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-come-back-as-someone-famous-who-would-you-pick/558386/28 "2010-10-27T19:49:13Z")
> [@Turble](#): > > “There has never been an intelligent person of the age of sixty who would consent to live his life over again. His or anyone else’s.” > > - Mark Twain - Letters from the Earth > > I’m over sixty and I agree. This is getting off-topic, but some of the responses in this thread are at odds with the responses to threads started by people who advocate not having kids because, overall, life is not worth it, so we shouldn’t burden kids by bringing them into this life, since, overall it sucks. In those types of threads, people almost unanimously agree that life overall is worth it, even with its ups and downs, so yeah, go ahead and have kids. In this thread, many people are saying that life overall is not a worthwhile experience, and they wouldn’t want to experience it; neither their own or another’s This may merit its own thread, but how do you reconcile those two opinions? For a more on-topic question, to stick to the main question in the OP and not get side-tracked by questions of whether life is worth living or re-living: Assume that you are _forced_ to pick a life to re-live. In that case, which one would you pick? ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-come-back-as-someone-famous-who-would-you-pick/558386/29 "2010-10-27T20:17:26Z")
I’d likely go with a classic rock star. I could get the same level of debauchery as some wealthy ancient Roman, but I’d also get to experience grand performances in front of insanely large, adoring audiences. And the joy of creating kick-ass music. Plus, I’d get to schmooze and jam with classic rock greats. Also, I’m knowledgeable enough to enjoy myself in that era. I couldn’t appreciate ancient Rome in that same way - plus I don’t know the language, though I assume that’s a concern that’s hand-waived. How much of the other’s consciousness would I share. Am I privy to their thoughts, impulses, and emotions? Do I feel like they feel, to paraphrase Frampton? If I was in the head of a homosexual would I enjoy gay sex as much as they did? Otherwise, that would not be fun. Similarly, if I jump into the head of a woman, do I enjoy straight sex like she would? So many questions. ---
**Author:** ![luv2draw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@luv2draw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/luv2draw)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-come-back-as-someone-famous-who-would-you-pick/558386/30 "2010-10-27T20:26:08Z")
I’m torn between 2, with similar lives: 1. Georgia O’Keeffe 2. Margaret Mee, a botanical artist who traveled to the Amazon many times to document plants of that region. Both died in the 80s after living long, productive, artistic lives. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-come-back-as-someone-famous-who-would-you-pick/558386/31 "2010-10-27T20:42:35Z")
Just in case fictional characters count, The Most Interesting Man in the World from the Dos Equis ad campaign. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-come-back-as-someone-famous-who-would-you-pick/558386/32 "2010-10-27T21:46:52Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > This may merit its own thread, but how do you reconcile those two opinions? Because “living a life” means being able to make decisions, for good or for bad. Your proposal isn’t “living a life”, it’s “being trapped in a 70 hour movie that I can’t escape, make decisions, or even offer advice”. It sounds torturous. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-come-back-as-someone-famous-who-would-you-pick/558386/33 "2010-10-27T21:54:34Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Siddhārtha Gautama Can’t top this one. But if I’m not going to be enlightened, I think being Steven Speilberg would be a hoot. Or J.K. Rowling, if I wanted to come back as a woman. ---
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-come-back-as-someone-famous-who-would-you-pick/558386/34 "2010-10-27T22:06:28Z")
Kim Jong-il. C’mon, you gotta admit his life must be pretty posh. ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-come-back-as-someone-famous-who-would-you-pick/558386/35 "2010-10-27T22:38:57Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Because “living a life” means being able to make decisions, for good or for bad. Your proposal isn’t “living a life”, it’s “being trapped in a 70 hour movie that I can’t escape, make decisions, or even offer advice”. It sounds torturous. Do you find all your dreams to be torturous? In dreams we often don’t remember who we are IRL, and also in dreams our thought processes are very different than when we are awake, so it’s hard to argue that you are experiencing the dream as your IRL self, you are experiencing it as the character in your dream and making decisions like he/she does. My proposal would be very similar to that. You will be making decisions, it’s just that, like in your dreams, the decisions you will make are different than what your IRL self would have made. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-come-back-as-someone-famous-who-would-you-pick/558386/36 "2010-10-27T23:32:50Z")
Betty White. She’s had an interesting and successful life without any major drama, she’s still in good health, she’s got a wicked sense of humor and is well-loved and respected. She seems to really enjoy every moment of her life. So since Julia Child was taken,she gets my vote. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-come-back-as-someone-famous-who-would-you-pick/558386/37 "2010-10-27T23:37:07Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > In dreams we often don’t remember who we are IRL, and also in dreams our thought processes are very different than when we are awake, so it’s hard to argue that you are experiencing the dream as your IRL self, you are experiencing it as the character in your dream and making decisions like he/she does. 1. In dreams, people tend to make their own decisions. 2. Even if we don’t, we’re generally unaware of being in a dream. > [@](#): > > You will be making decisions, it’s just that, like in your dreams, the decisions you will make are different than what your IRL self would have made. No, here’s what you said: > [@](#): > > While under this experience, you make decisions on what to do, out of your own “free will”, so you don’t feel trapped, it’s just that the system alters your faculties/abilities so that you end up making the same decisions as your original target. In no way is that making your own decisions or any semblance of free will that I’m familiar with. As such, your proposal sounds pretty horrible - I opt out. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-come-back-as-someone-famous-who-would-you-pick/558386/38 "2010-12-29T20:25:13Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > Just in case fictional characters count, The Most Interesting Man in the World from the Dos Equis ad campaign. Seconded. Stay thirsty, my friends. ---
**Author:** ![zoog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7ea924/32.png) [@zoog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoog)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-come-back-as-someone-famous-who-would-you-pick/558386/39 "2010-12-29T21:23:29Z")
My first thought was some big-time rock star - Paul McCartney came to mind. But then I thought a bit more about it, and had one of those :smack: moments: Hugh Hefner. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-come-back-as-someone-famous-who-would-you-pick/558386/40 "2010-12-29T22:32:56Z")
Douglas Adams. I’d get to travel to some interesting places, hang out with some cool people, and die more or less instantly. Plus, I don’t think his face is so well-known that people would instantly recognize him by sight, which would be one of the more annoying parts of being famous. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-come-back-as-someone-famous-who-would-you-pick/558386.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-to-come-back-as-someone-famous-who-would-you-pick/558386.md?page=3)