To be able to make such choice implies that I already exist in some form.
And I’d probably be too afraid of non-existence to choose not being born.
Life sucks, but I also don’t want to “not-exist”. Its terrifying.
Can I just be a ghost floating around and just “chill” and observe? Perhaps in the company of other ghosts to talk to…
Non-existence isn’t scary, scary thing is losing your existence.
Yeah, I didn’t exist for billions of years and I’m fine…ish. idk what happens after though
Same thing that happened before. You were fine with not existing before hand.
This was my immediate thought also, whatever part of me that is making the decision already exists so this is the same question as “would you want to stop existing now?” the answer to which is an emphatic “no.” I’d exist indefinitely given the choice.
Yup same thoughts!
Depends. What’s the alternative?
Purgatory
What does that entail?
No alternative. You will not exist
So did I exist before? Am I effectively offing myself? There’s too many unknowns here.
Fuuuuuck no.
Hell no
just go ahead and turn me to dust again, split apart my atoms, make something useful out of it.
What is “useful”?
Use is to be used
Useful implies a user
Only life can use
No. Not even remotely. Not even if I was assured it was a simulation. No.
If I’m just being asked to be born in a randomized way in a randomized location to a randomized family in randomized situations … then no
If I had a choice of where, when and what circumstances I would like to be born in? … then yes I would like those odds better and would like to be born.
Do I get a vision of my entire life, or do I just have to choose on a whim?
Choose on a whim
Do I have knowledge of when I will be born? And am I aware of the high and lows of the era?
Yes,
Then my answer is No.
Humans have not yet reached a point in the entire history where they are deemed worthy of being part of.
If there is a point in the future where there is acceptance of all, fairness for all, and peace among all, then I would say yes.
That version of human will have the ultimate freedom.
You probably know when you were born
Same view but I also have had it pretty good. Great family and support, passed that on to my kids, and I’ve had a lot of support with great teachers through my years so now I pass that on to those less fortunate and it just does it for me. It’s a great feeling helping others.
Here’s your Christmas advice kids: care about other people, nothing else will actually fulfill you.
Yes!
Just like how we don’t know what it would feel like to be dead, and we dread dying, I suppose choosing to be born would feel like death of that self that is given this choice, so I guess the question can be rephrased as “if you could die in this moment, would you choose that?”
I guess not.
Warning: ITT, lots of nonresponse bias.
Life dissatisfaction guides people to type no;
neutrally satisfied folks will skip;
the relatively contented might type a “yes” or be offline.
With today’s historical context, there’s a bit of a skew, especially for those hanging out online o( ; ´ ﹏ `;)oAs for me, I’m excepted. I have decent dissatisfaction rather often, but arrogantly – I’d be born a million times, every time (unless you ask me at a bad moment).
Even at my worst, why do I not roll over and die? “I want to see how my story ends.”
only under certain conditions; mostly pertaining to wealth & vanity. lol
Some religions -old and new - believe we choose the lessons we come to learn. If we learn quickly, we can advance to more advanced lessons, if we refuse or aren’t capable of understanding our lessons, we repeat them, in one life or another. Just as settings, teachers and teaching styles vary, so do the subjective experiences and understanding of the lessons. Repeating them is karma. Demonstrating grasp and practical application is dharma. Choosing to incarnate to help others learn because one feels a deep empathy and compassion for everyone on the wheel of Samsara is bodhisattva.
Some of these religions believe we reincarnate until we have lived every experience from every possible perspective.
That said, back to my own cultural religious teachings, would I eat again from the tree of knowledge of good and evil? If I’m honest, on my worst days, no. On ok and best days? Yes. It’s good to experience things from various perspectives. Our imaginations have been constrained and lack ability. Physical and intellectual exercise is the remedy.
If I had the choice ahead of time? No, I wouldn’t choose to be born.
If it’s a retroactive thing though, I wouldn’t undo my birth
