this post was submitted on 05 Aug 2026
47 points (96.1% liked)

Ask Lemmy

40799 readers
1177 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, toxicity and dog-whistling are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !uspolitics@lemmy.world


7) No Hit-and-Run questions.
Please don't delete your post for no apparent reason. If you plan on deleting a question later, say so in the post, or if you feel that you have a good reason to remove it, message a mod beforehand. It's not fair to the ones who took their time to answer, and it's not in the spirit of the community.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Inspired by this article about a jellyfish that doesn't die of old age, injury or poor conditions, it just reverts back to a juvenile state and is reborn genetically identical. If you could be reborn, as you, would you want to?

Edit: Just the physical you, genetic and presumably epigenetic, no memory.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 7 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Being reborn without memory is pretty much the same as dying as you are not your body, you are your memories

[–] CapuccinoCoretto@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Really? My memories in someone else's body isn't me either. There is the biological me at birth, then the conscious me of experience and memory. I think they both play a part of the older you, but being reborn as baby you is still literally the original "you" at this point.

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

If tomorrow I wake up in a different body, I'd still be me, I'd just look different, and I'm sure the world would feel different, but its still me

If my body would wake up with a different mind, I'm gone

[–] CapuccinoCoretto@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

If tomorrow I wake up in a different body, I'd still be me

I think you are making an artificial distinction that doesn't exist. Bodies are not cpus that are identical and can run the same program on different hardware. Everyone's hardware is unique, and shaped by experiences and memories.

If we could load your memories and experiences onto someone else's hardware, you most definitely would not still be you. You would be something completely new.

[–] Identikit@leminal.space 2 points 3 days ago

This pulls in the philosophy of what makes someone “themselves” - is it memory, body, or “soul”. Technically, twins look the same so body could be ruled out that way but I do understand what you mean. I also tend to think of body as a vehicle in this life and not me, just like a car I got given in life. I didn’t choose my body, it’s just what I got given. My personality though - my morals, my believes, etc… that I do consider myself and who “I” am. An argument could be made that as you “craft” your personality or you - it is similar to working out and crafting your body into “you” but some people can’t do that with the cards they were dealt - so I’ll digress.

I just dig the philosophical conversation to be had here.