Most favorable zone of the world to be reborn into?
 

GabyKeepsmeWarm's thread weirdly has me thinking about a reddit conversation I came across and I figured I'd pose the question here.

Below is the world map divided into 10 different zones. Let's say you die today and you find out you'll be reincarnated tomorrow as a child somewhere in the world. You get to pick the zone on the map below, but that's all you get to choose. That means:

1. You don't know which country, city, or area of a given zone in which you'll be born. You don't get to choose, either. Your odds are based on the population and demographic statistics of the zone in which you choose. That means if you want to completely avoid any chance of the horrific fate of being born a Buffalo Bills fan, I wouldn't pick F or J (it's kind of hard to tell where the line goes)

2. You don't know if you're male or female. Or rich or poor. Or what race you are. Again, it's gonna be based on current population and demographics. It's up to you if you want to roll the dice to get your dream life amid some really unfavorable possibilities

3. It's a full reincarnation. You are completely unaware of all experiences and knowledge from your current life. That means you won't remember anything about your current life as a billionaire professional super model finger banger.

4. This is happening tomorrow. Which means if you want to be a part of the utopia that will be Tajikistan in 2060, you're going to have to find a way to stay alive for 35 years until that happens

Poll forthcoming

Oh, fun question. Here's my thought process.

Zone A - Spain and Portugal are cool, but the truth is that you'll likely be Nigerian, and no one wants to be Nigerian. Zone A is a clear no.

Zone B - You've got good odds to be born a Western European, and that's a good thing. But if you miss that, you're likely completely screwed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It's a good bet for rolling the dice, though high risk, high reward. This one's in the running.

Zone C - You could be really happy in Scandinavia, or above water in Eastern Europe. But Ethiopia and Egypt are big countries lurking down in the south. I think the odds are that you'll be a loser, but it's not a hopeless bet.

Zone D - Pretty much just kill yourself early on and try to get reincarnated. Most likely, you'll be Indian or Pakistani, and if not that, Iranian or Russian. A really lucky break would get you into Australia or perhaps herding reindeer in Lapland, but this is a wing and a prayer. Turn this one down.

Zone E - That's an unfair thing to do to Japan. Japan would be great, and there's nothing else there even remotely palatable other than maybe being born into an uncontacted tribe in the Sentinel Islands or Philippines or parts of New Guinea. I guess Taiwan and Hong Kong would be tolerable, but the odds are that this is a no.

Zone F - Oddly good. Canada would be great, of course, and you could draw Alaska or Hawaii for the win. Most of Asian Russia is pretty much autonomous, so unless Putin kidnaps you into the army you're just eking out an existence and wondering what women look like under all of those coats. Northern China's not great, and I think Mongolia is better than it seems. This one's in the running, though I worry that most of your odds are going to be in Manchuria. Tough call here, but it's not an automatic out.

Zone G - 2/3 chance of South Korea, which would be good. 1/3 chance of North Korea, which would be bad, but you probably wouldn't know it's bad since you get no outside learning. This option is nihilistically good.

Zone H - Your worst case is New Guinea, which is pretty much a failed state. That's not good. But you could also draw NE Australia or New Zealand, which would be great. However, New Guinea has just as many people as those places, so it's a 50/50 shot. You get the wild card of being born on one of those South Pacific islands, which is probably good but not as good as one imagines. It's not as good as you initially think, but it's not out of the running.

Zone I - My first thought is that this is a really good one. But I think your odds are probably a little less than 50 percent to be in the USA, and then maybe 25 percent in Mexico and 25 percent in countries further south. Mexico is probably not as bad as its reputation, though there's some risk. There aren't really a lot of pits of human misery here, and hey, you could get lucky and be born in Colorado. This is a good option, and just hope you don't draw "Peruvian slums" or anywhere in Nicaragua.

Zone J - We're talking pretty much the east coast or Brazil, with the odds tilted toward Brazil by probably 65/35 as a rough guess. You don't want big chunks of Brazil, but there are other areas that aren't bad. You don't want Baltimore, but there are worse places. It's less good than it appears, but not the bottom.

Okay, I'll post this and then rank them.

Why is the G spot so small?

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I'm completely biased, but I feel the I's have it. *internet high five*

Runners up...

- B
- C
- E
- H
- D
- F
- J
- A
- G

I regret the off-season.

Yeah, I'm going with "I". The good places to live outweigh some relatively small areas that would be a challenge.

I’m taking Zone F. I think the odds are good, has a large land mass.

Definitely I. You have most of the US and if you aren’t lucky enough to get the US you can just walk there. Problem solved.

I, but I would prefer to not be born in the US again.

I. There isn't really many disaster areas there. Sure Cuba or Nicaragua are not great but they are better than many places in Africa.

Exercises like this do have the unfortunate side effect of reminding me just how screwed up much of the world’s societies are.

I got called to dinner, so I had to take a break. Here are my rankings. Maybe I'm biased toward the USA, but that's only because we're the GREATEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD! 'MERICA, AM I RIGHT?

H - New Guinea is kind of lawless, but for the most part the world leaves you alone. And it's easy to get lucky with Australia or New Zealand.

I - Really good upside, and the downside generally isn't the worst.

J - See I above. Brazil is probably a worse bet than Argentina and Peru.

F - There's not a huge bad side here, and the good side is good. I could see this rising to the top on another day.

B - Good upside here, but the downside is really bad.

G - Brainwashing is bad, but at least you're brainwashed. And there's a good potential upside.

C - Hold your breath on this one. It's very high risk and high reward, and the odds are a bit against you.

E - A lot of significant downside, and the upside is being a soulless automaton. Not much here.

A - There's almost no way to win this game, and the downside is bad. No, thanks.

D - See Zone A above, and add in a likelihood of living in Afghanistan. Nothing good happens after midnight or in the Near East.

Mark this man down for Haiti.

Ha, my initial thought was H, then I read your first post and wasn't so sure... but, "the world leaves me alone" would perfectly describe why I'd choose that one.

A has to be the worst. Your upside is Portugal and parts of Spain. Pretty just sort of okay. But the downside, which is probably like a 90% chance, is just so bad.

When I first glanced at them, I thought H was an easy winner. Then I started thinking through it, and my confidence fell a lot. I think it's narrowly the best option, but I and J are close behind.

I was hoping the "twilight Zone " would be an option

I chose G

Theres also Kyushu and western Honshu in Japan. Vladivostock Russia and Northeastern China are also possible

S. Korea would be ideal

My thoughts, btw:

A: Complete no go. After Spain, Portugal, and SW Ireland, you get... Botswana as the next least terrible thing I guess? What little upside there is would have bad odds.

B: A lot to like. Most of Western Europe would be awesome, and there's not a bad chance of it. Rwanda has actually become the economic jewel of Africa in recent years, so that wouldn't be so bad, but there are just way too many ways to to have a sufferable life in this one. The Congo is one of the poorest places on earth, Chad and wide portions of sub-Saharan and Saharan Africa have dreadful quality of life, and Libya and Sudan get to combine poverty, horrible climate/living conditions AND civil unrest, wars, and constant violence. I wouldn't roll the dice on this one.

C: Similar problems to B, but you have an even lower percentage chance of getting a good country/locality. The Balkans aren't exactly a walk in the park, and this one also includes a large chunk of Ukraine.

D: The upside here I guess is one of the oil-rich Arab states, and that's only good if you're rich and a man. I'm quibbling here, because Australia is probably nice, but Perth is sooooo secluded from everything. You're getting Chennai in India, which wouldn't be the absolute worst if you don't mind all the monsoon floods. But yeah... Iran and Afghanistan and the possibility of getting foddered in Putin's war is a no for me.

E: Japan is the goal here, obviously. Some lovely parts of Indonesia and Vietnam are possible, and you do get Singapore, but this is pretty much the entirety of the population of China and India. You're not likely to be one of the rich ones in those countries. Bangladesh seems like a horrible existence.

F: Odds are under 50% that you score Canada or those corners of the US. And you're getting some of those polluted Russian cities like Chelyabinsk and Norilsk. Still, that's not terrible compared to some of the bottom places in these other zones.

G: See, this one ranks way lower for me. South Korea would be good if you were smart and loved working your ass off, and Manchuria is on the more peaceful side of China, but North Korea is too high of a likelihood. I'm all out on this one.

H: This is probably the most likely choice. New Guinea is poverty, but that's about it.

I: You've got decent odds to come out ahead on this one, but the absolute bottom here is pretty low.

J: Similar to I. Pretty good odds to come out ahead. Don't like Venezuela, and when you get to poor parts of Brazil, those are REEEEALLY poor parts. Also, if land distribution plays a role in these odds, you're most likely to end up in a village in the Amazon. I'd probably rather die in a war than by any of the shit that lives in that god-forsaken hell hole.

For me, I'm mostly concerned about rolling snake eyes, so I'd rank them like this:

1. H

2. F. Its worst is probably the best of them all

3-4. I and J. I think you get close to 50-50 odds of landing in America in these? Could be wrong.

Now in my opinion after these zones it becomes which hell hole nightmare do you prefer over the rest?

5. E. If you get lucky, you're doing pretty well. If you get unlucky, you're still probably in a survivable situation and can grow somewhat old.

6-7. B and C. If I strike out in one of these zones, I'm probably not going to make it to age 20 anyway, so I guess I'll take them for the reset button option.

And for the rest... yeah, Horrible options. I guess I'll go with G at 8, and A and D are tied for last place at 9-10.

Yeah, but think about posting on Central African Republic Futbol Planet. You think the offseasons are bad here? Try THOSE offseasons!

The Erogenous Zones

Butterzone.

Got to agree on that. If you're lucky you'll be born in a great country like Great Britain or Italy. But there's also the terrifying prospect of being reincarnated as a Frenchman.

End zone!

Twilight Zone

The problem with Russia is that outside of Moscow area and St. Petersburg area, Russia is really really poor. We are talking about worst of the rust belt poor with all the bad things that come with it. Pollution, lack of or broken infrastructure, corruption on all levels of government, lack of well paying jobs, lack of decent housing, crime, and rampant substance abuse.

Going for B to and hoping for Croatia, Austria, Montenegro or Czechia.

Anywhere else, I'll find i quiet mound of sand and just akbar myself.

I've traveled the world. I dont give a shit if you give me a free villa in Italy. I'm not moving.

If forced to choose, I'll take whatever Rainman choses. We can be neighbors, borrow a cup of sugar from time to time etc.

Zone I gives the greatest chance of knowing and loving the Kansas City Chiefs, which is a very very good football team. So now I'm leaning more towards that.

Austria and Italy are in B so that's mine

The G spot is small and shrinking faster than almost any other place on the planet.

I worry about about the long term stability of that place.

This is one of the dumber threads I've ever seen.

If you question the thread, you're just asking to be reborn into Zone D.

Zone F.


I assume I get Hawaii again.

There's a few alright spots in zone D that people are rating the worst. You could wind up in Moscow or St Petersburg which are world class cities and there is also Rostov and Volgograd which are probably pretty European.

E or F would probably be the worst. India, China or Siberia.

I'm going with H, though I do have am concerned that some of those smaller islands could be mostly underwater by 2060. Rolling the dice for Australia or New Zealand.

I’ll take J. 90% of it is in warm weather. I ****ing hate cold weather, and I assume that hatred will reincarnate with me. So possibly Florida, Barbados, Trinidad or many other Caribbean countries. That’s my vibe anyway! Gimme a J and I’ll spark it up!!

Gonna need a bigger prize than Moscow and St Petersburg to counterbalance some of the other crap I could be born into in that zone.

Oman and any of the oil rich Arab states wouldn’t be bad, but the population isn’t high enough to make me feel good about going up against the central Middle East, and on top of that I’d need to win another coin flip to be born as a man.