Certain kinds of understanding can only be attained through direct experience.
Interesting and thought provoking! Good job!
Being as my gender is a part of my psyche (seeing as how it's psychological and all), I don't reckon I'd care to change it. I like being agender.
And since the way your physical sex affects your life changes a bit depending on what society you're born into, I suppose my choice would depend on how people in the society I was being reincarnated into treated each sex.
If nobody cared whether I was male, female, or intersex, well! I guess I wouldn't change a thing.
Does the question assume we'd be reincarnated as a human? Or are animals included?
Assuming human, I don't think it would really matter to me.
Being a Star Trek fan, I like how they explored this idea at least a little bit with the Trill species - Some of the Trill are joined with a 'symbiont' life form which live a very long time, and after being joined, the host carries the memories of the symbiont's past lifetimes. This was explored the most on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine with the character Jadzia Dax. In particular, the DS9 episode Facets showed the personalities of several of Dax's previous hosts. I thought it was a pretty cool episode.
I just wouldn't want to choose because it's too hard.
Unless I'm to become a seahorse or penguin (then I'd choose male)!
Always pick male. They don’t have to have menstrual cycles for 40 years or give birth.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
@FlyingToaster The question assumes you cannot choose a lower life form. Only a human or similar sentient being on another world.
In all honesty I'd give being female a go I already know how I live life as a male and I'm deeply curious if/how much my mindset would differ as a female. Would I care more what people thought of me, give a damned about my appearance, be more open emotionally?
How much would a new life change my character? No way of knowing but it's a thought provoking concept and I like that.
“Lower life form”
So many ideas. So many jokes. So many interpretations. OMGOMGOMG I can’t even
Having worked a lot with the psyches of all sorts of humans, I'd much prefer to be reincarnated as a woman if gender conditioning is the same as it is now.
Having seen how a lot of women have bee treated at the hands of men, and taking into account the gender pay gap and the discrepancies In basic human rights, and the inability for women to make choices that govern their own bodies in a lot of countries, I'd come back as a male, become powerful and influential, then flip the script and start making some changes for women everywhere.
Ohhh gender conditioning!!! What a great phrase to describe gendering. Wow @littermate
Also, I have a question for the poster of this thread. Would we remember our past life?
@BuggleBear you could also be sent to war and die.
Honestly, I feel like this is the most inconsequential thing i could get to chose. I rather chose my attractiveness, or the wealth of my parents, or my country. Also, under Buddhist/Hindu reincarnation there is no memory or your past life. So, it wouldn't even matter as a chance to experience something new. You would just see the problems of your sex (and how others expect those of your sex to behave) without the benefits of understanding the other side. If you're unhappy as a male you'll be unhappy as female.
@BotWithFeelings I would still rather deal with something that might happen, than something that does happen.
Besides, are you forgetting there are women in the military too?
@BuggleBear voluntarily. I promise you'll be making a trade not an upgrade. You live in the UK, you absolutely can become powerful and influential now. Your country has the most influential woman on the planet.
At least in the the US, males can get drafted, are more likely to commit suicide, are more likely to be homeless and, are more likely to be killed. In general, highly successful males are allowed higher heights in life (and yes this is unequal and needs to be fixed) but are not given a intrinsic value without accomplishment. It's very easy to feel absolutely worthless as a male. Even your role in starting and maintaining a family is viewed as minimal aside from monetary contribution. Not to mention feeling undesirable.
That's not to say life isn't hard as a female or that society doesn't need to change. It's saying on an individual level, life sucks for males too.
In the world as it is right now, I would still rather be male. I'm tired of feeling powerless and constantly having to worry that I could be raped or murdered because I don't smile at a man. And no, I'm not being dramatic.
I'm not saying that men don't have it hard- the world is a flaming dumpster fire in general, and it sucks for everyone, but having our bodies policed by men is bullshit. Having to think about every interaction we have with men to keep ourselves safe is bullshit. Having the police not prosecute people that hurt us because we were dressed a certain way, or because we had a drink with a man, is the biggest load of bullshit.
The things you mentioned are much rarer occurrences. Women deal with the microaggressions surrounding their gender every day.
You say men aren't given intrinsic value without accomplishment- maybe in the USA that's true. Here in the UK I don't believe it is.
@BuggleBear I did specify the US. I encourage you you look up the statistics of the things I mentioned. It's really isn't that rare. I can only speak from experience and what problems I feel are most important to me. I imagine if I spent a day in your shoes I would have different views once the novelty wore off. Logically, our lives are at least equally bad. Emotionally, well, my life is the worst I've ever experienced.
I'm not going to engage in a debate over whose life is worse....
Yin and Yang... We're made up of both polarities to one extent or the other. How we balance these polarities will determine the character which we play in this divinely orchestrated movie we humans refer to as life. This body is merely a vessel, an avatar or surrogate in which to play out a role, learn lessons, and gather experiences to build the soul.
Why can’t I just be both genders? It’s just something to ponder.
Oops... I apologize. I think there are a lot of genders. I’m very naïve to all of this however I need to stop being ignorant and go and read and learn about all the different genders. I might even find that I am a different gender than what I believe to be because I have just always thought in binary when it comes to gender. You’re either a one or zero. I don’t believe that way anymore.
@Importance You asked “ Also, I have a question for the poster of this thread. Would we remember our past life?”
Not consciously, but the past life would be an unconscious guide to help you develop understanding for that which you need to learn in this life. When your physical body dies you will have the opportunity to review the lessons of your past lives, and choose lessons of your future lives, to some extent, though time as we know it has no meaning when we are not physical.
Also, when I said “lower life form” I was referring to a life form that does not have the the capacity to experience higher consciousness. It does not mean that humans are higher value than other animals in this universe or those of other dimensions. There just would be little value to your growth if you lived another life as a frog, for example.
@BotWithFeelings Assume you would have the opportunity to choose more details about your next life. You could choose an easy life, or a hard life. The easy life - it will be nice, but not as much learning will be taking place. Think about the lessons you have already learned, did they come mostly from ease or adversity?
@Importance: Oh, there are a lot more than just two genders to be. There's even more than two sexes, believe it or not.
It's all Quantum
@Importance Option “None of the above” is for non-binary genders. The list would be extensive and incomplete if all gender expressions were attempted to be listed.
I like the intriguing thoughts you've provoked with this thread @MrPaul
@DarrenWalker I completely believe you and I am so ignorant to all of it. I must educate myself on these things. I think it is of high value for understanding myself and understanding people. I apologize for my ignorance and stupidity.
@Importance: Being as there's so much to know, we're all ignorant in a lot of areas. I think it's intelligent to expand your knowledge! Good luck to all of us in our attempts at self-education (and may we all get plenty of help when we need it). I threw a couple links into my last post. Might be a decent starting point, anyway!
@DarrenWalker I am not seeing the links. Would you be willing to direct me to them? Or even message them to me?
@Importance: They're embedded links. Each sentence, if you click it, will take you to a different web page.
@DarrenWalker Holy shit that is amazing how you had embedded links. I didn’t know that that was a thing and I’ve never experienced it. Very cool. I added both of those papers to my reading list. Thank you so much
@LovenLight Thank you. I like your statement: “This body is merely a vessel, an avatar or surrogate in which to play out a role, learn lessons, and gather experiences to build the soul.”