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.