I don’t necessarily believe in it, but I have had the thought that if it was real the reason it hasn’t been proven could very well be that it’s super duper hard to come back as a human and not as, like, a protozoa or even be on Earth. The universe is pretty damn huge; possibly infinite. The chances of coming back as the same thing in the same place are exceptionally small.
I want to believe in it because the thought of hell or oblivion fucking existentially terrifies me. I like being a human. Or at least a sentient self aware creature.
But I don’t know what to believe because I don’t know the truth. :(
In case you’re not aware having your memories completely deleted is the same as death
I’ve sort of always believed in reincarnation, though I can’t recall the first time I was introduced to the concept. I feel like the universe is very cyclical, so why not reincarnation? Although I guess I’m not sure how much of us gets “carried over” into the next life. What makes us “us”? What part of us would be passed on to the next life? I definitely feel like I’ve been here before, though it would be hard to explain why, and perhaps I’m just mistaking that feeling.
I don’t believe in it, but here’s a very popular short story that uses reincarnation in a clever way:
For the same reason as people who believe in religion, comfort against the scary reality of the fragility of life.
The physical law of the “do-over”
“Only second chance I know is the chance to make the same mistake twice.”
-Davd Mamet
what the heck law is this?!
Mulligan’s Law, does not go well on chicken sandwiches as opposed to Cole’s Law.
Correct. Also known as the Fifth Law of Thermoflynamics.
Just science, that’s all.
I don’t believe in reincarnation, but my mother did, based on childhood experiences. It sounded convincing to me as she told it.
Personally, as far as I can tell, when you’re dead you’re dead.
I recently (re-)read Robert Lanza’s “Observer” and there are some trippy ideas in there that have me rethinking what reincarnation could mean.