Why We Don't Want To Swap Selves

It’s interesting, I think, that we each have a profound sense of self, whereby, as far as I know, no human tends to look at someone else and wish they were them in totality, even if on the surface their life seems so much better. I mean, a guy may perhaps wish he had George Clooney’s looks, or Bill Gates’ money, or my brainpower 😃, or Kylian Mbappé’s football skills, but I doubt whether anyone would actually wish to swap places with someone else and actually be them, even if they appear to have a life that looks materially and socially more desirable.

Perhaps this would be more peculiar if we were *just* evolved animals shaped solely by evolutionary mechanisms – the idea of swapping personhood might not seem quite so anathema to us. Although, naturally, there are lots of experiential sunk costs in being oneself, connections established, fear of the other, and other reasons why we might be reluctant to abandon our current proprietary narrative.

But I suspect the strongest reason people don’t tend to desire a full swap of personhood is due to some even deeper truths about our human nature; that our profound sense of self is not just about possessing a unique identity, but about the inextricable intimacy we have with our own perspective. And in an even more primary sense, I believe that the irreplaceable narrative of individual, unique selfhood is attached to the fact that we are creatures made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27) – and that the healthier and more attuned our heart and mind is to His truth and goodness, the more we cherish and value this profound gift of selfhood.