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Hypothetical to trans people and cis people

Discussion in 'Chit Chat' started by Benway, Nov 20, 2019.

  1. Benway

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    I was sitting alone at McDonald's, eating a double cheeseburger when this hypothetical popped into my brain.

    If you had a small device with a button that when you pressed it, it changed your gender to the opposite sex of whatever you are now or to your desired gender, would you do it? The decision is irreversible, once you press the button you cannot go back. Nothing fundamentally changes about you, you still have the same personality you always did and to sweeten the deal, it puts you in your prime, making your age around 21. If that wasn't enough, pressing the button also deposits one billion non-taxable dollars into your bank account. But wait, before you press it, the button also erases everyone's memory of your previous gender. So if you're a guy and you press it and you become a girl, people remember you as a girl because their memories have been altered.

    The device doesn't transition you the way a surgery or series of surgeries does, it builds you an entirely new body with completely functional organs of your desired gender. But once you press that button, the decision is irreversible and cannot be undone and even though you now have a billion dollars, no one remembers your previous gender and has had their memories altered to the point where they actually remember you being your new gender for as long as they've known you. The very fabric of reality is altered.

    A surprising number of people I've posed this question to have said they would not press the button, not even for the financial security that comes with it. I would press the button, however. What would you do?
     
    #1 Benway, Nov 20, 2019
    Last edited: Nov 20, 2019
  2. Mihael

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    You probably wouldn’t be the same person then? So egoistically speaking, no. Idk, to me, it’s science fiction and not the problem I used to face or the line of thinking I followed. Maybe I’m not the most representative trans person, though. I have never been severely dysphoric or distressed about the body and I did perceive myself as being male for a long time, but that it is hidden from others, obscured by expression forced by society. Probably many trans individuals would respond like you did - that yes.
     
  3. Benway

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    No, no, you'd still be the same person. Like I said, nothing about your fundamental personality changes-- your consciousness is just transferred into this new body that the device creates for you.
     
  4. Chizu

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    As I am now, probably not. I definitely would love turning back aging, getting a billion dollars, and erasing myself from people's memories, but it's too hard to contemplate getting a female body.
    There are lots of things I don't like about being a male in society - I don't like how many other men think it's okay to attack me because if I'm weak and pacifistic, it must mean I'm a pussy who deserves it; I don't like how some women feel it's okay to attack me, slap me, or whatever, because they think its okay just because they are presumably weaker than me; I don't like how I have to project an image of strength, and conceal my emotions, especially when I'm crying on the inside; but I probably wouldn't like the societal burden that can come with being a female, either. Of course, a billion dollars would probably help erase most of those problems. When you're poor and weird, you're called a freak, but when you're rich and weird, you're called eccentric and interesting. Still, I think it might be hard to find true love as a rich woman. Assuming I'd still be attracted to men, most guys would probably be too intimidated by my immense wealth, leaving me to date rich dudes if I don't want to put up with gold digging.
    Societal problems aside, I mainly prefer having a male body. The only thing I don't like about mine that isn't common in females is my body hair and my balding gene, but body hair can be waxed and balding can be reversed with hair transplants. There's just something about having a male body, being a guy, and being perceived as a guy by others that I have a hard time letting go of.
    Now, if I was on my death bed, maybe. If I'm going to die anyway, why not start over again in a fresh new body? But I definitely would rather be my own gender. If it comes down to that, I'd probably just see it as a calling to do something good for the world after cheating death. I'd probably use my billion dollars to start some sort of non-profit that does good in the world. Since I'd have to be a different gender, then I'd make my non-profit for trans people. Having my gender swapped would help me understand trans people more, and I would spend my new youth and money helping them.
     
  5. Benway

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    What you have to keep in mind is that it doesn't erase people's memories of you, it erases their memory of your previous gender. So if you press the button and become a girl but were a boy before you pressed the button, people's memories are altered so that they remember you as always having been a girl. You basically wake up one morning with all your regular memories intact but in a new body. You're the only one who remembers your original gender if you choose to press the button. Everything else stays the same, though-- your friends, your family, they're all the same, but they all remember you having been your new gender instead of the gender you were before you pressed the button.
     
  6. Ryu

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  7. gravechild

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    For a binary trans person, the answer would be obvious. I think at this point, it would present more obstacles, as I was socialized one way. Things might go well at first, until the novelty wore off and I ran into the same issues that many transmasculine folk face. Far better if I had the option to press buttons as many times as I wished, and not limited to "male" or "female"
     
  8. Mihael

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    I still think that the experience of being perceived as one or the other gender shapes us to a degree. For example, it shapes which people befriend us or what interests we are pushed to pursue.

    And even if it wasn’t the case, I don’t care if I’m cisgender or transgender. I’m alright as I am. Getting loads of monay would be cool, but I’m not a huge risk taker generally speaking and I like my life, I wouldn’t want to lose it. But idk, most people I know now didn’t know me when I was girly, and it’s been a few years since I came out, so maybe the past is not a problem I face.
     
  9. Benway

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    Wow, I'm pretty surprised by your answers so far. A surprising number of the people I asked elsewhere also said they wouldn't press the button. I would absolutely press the button, though.
     
  10. Austin

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    For a billion dollars, yes.
     
  11. Dreamsexul

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    Push the button and live a very odd, but super fun, life afterwards! :slight_smile:
     
  12. Dreamsexul

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    Also, given as you phrased it 'or desired gender' you could just stay the same and keep the billion, or choose (as I would) some cool androgynous form and swap my gender expression on the daily as a gorgeous 21 year old!
     
  13. Benway

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    Yes, as I have stated, the device in question changes you into your desired gender, whatever that may be. But remember, it's irreversible and it changes people's memories of you. While inside you'll still be you with all your memories intact, outside you will be a new person and people will only ever have remembered you as that new person.
     
  14. Dreamsexul

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    Even better, because I don't like myself or my history. :slight_smile:. And now I'm a gorgeous, young, androgynous billionaire! Awesome :slight_smile: