The 1,000 Lives Thought Experiment

Published on Oct 27, 2015 (updated Jun 6, 2021), filed under philosophy. (Share this post, e.g., on Mastodon.)

Open up a text editor or grab a piece of paper, and write down what you’d do if you had another life. Or what you’d wish for in another life. Assume that anything goes. Then, write down what you’d do if you had one more life. And another. And maybe one more.

For example, “in my next life, I like to become a politician.” Okay, perhaps “I’d like to be an incredibly successful athlete.” Maybe, “I’d like to sail the Pacific.” Or something more basic, “I want to be a millionaire.” Or “I wish to have a really big family.” Whatever comes to your mind, and no matter whether that’s still something you might be able to attain in this life.

Do this 1,000 times. Do it more. Likely you’ll do it less. (Writing something a thousand times takes a surprisingly long time.)

The point of this exercise, this thought experiment, is that at some point you might wonder how it was to opt for not-so-positive, for negative experiences. Maybe you already find yourself jotting some down.

The idea is that if we assume that we live several lives, that we are here to learn (whatever that is), and, for good measure, that this reality is some form of perfect illusion exactly in order to allow us to learn, then our understanding of bad experiences and the doubt that people could possibly choose them are probably—faulty.

About Me

I’m Jens (long: Jens Oliver Meiert), and I’m an engineering lead, guerrilla philosopher, and indie publisher. I’ve worked as a technical lead and manager at various companies (e.g., Google); I’m an active web and tool developer (code optimization, digital defense), a contributor to web standards (like HTML, CSS, WCAG), and a book author (O’Reilly, dxsrc). You’ll like my work if you value principled, pragmatic problem-solving. Let’s connect.