Where Were You Born in a Past Life?

By: Zoe Samuel
Estimated Completion Time
3 min
Where Were You Born in a Past Life?
Image: Jorg Greuel/Photodisc/Getty Images

About This Quiz

Human history has mostly been a story of two conflicting narratives. On the one hand, as Hobbes pointed out, people's lives have generally been "nasty, brutish, and short." People have suffered from disease, death, and war in appalling numbers. Most of human history has been all about monarchy as a political system and feudalism as an "economic" system (of sorts), meaning that prosperity was limited to a very small number of people and freedom was basically non-existent. For many people, the situation was even worse, as the law of their time barely considered them to be human, and sometimes did not consider that at all.

There is another, story, of course. Human history, especially in the last few hundred years, has been, as de Tocqueville noted in "Democracy in America," a splendid march toward increased equality and freedom. It hasn't been a simple road, but life expectancy is still rising, child and maternal mortality have plummeted in most of the word, literacy and numeracy are becoming the norm nearly everywhere, women are getting closer to equality, slavery is legal in fewer and fewer jurisdictions, and every week, 137,000 people escape extreme poverty (yep, you read that number right). So actually, things are looking up.

All this progress depends on certain ideas and historical periods either flourishing or ending - and which of them you lived in before this life will inform how you feel about which narrative has been dominant. It's time to figure out where (and when) you were!

Do you know what it's like to be part of a great power?
Not really
Sort of
No
Totally

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Do you feel strongly about religious tolerance?
Yes, please can we have more?
Yes, it's good.
Religion should not be very important.
I'm against it.

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Could you handle living in a perpetual state of war?
I guess, yeah.
No thanks!
Depends how widespread.
No, frankly

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How important is it to live near a university?
What is a unviersity?
Very - without one, your town will be full of idiots.
I don't feel strongly.
It certainly helps.

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Do you long for a Golden Age?
Sounds nice. What is it?
Yes, please.
I'll take any quiet age.
I can be golden no matter what the age.

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What sort of food does any great civilization cultivate?
Wheat
Melons
Squash
Potato

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What sort of clothing are you drawn to?
Doublet
Robe
Moccasin
Elaborate hat

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If you could bring peace to one city stuck in a war zone right now, which one would it be?
Sana'a, Yemen
Baghdad, Iraq
Damascus, Syria
Aleppo, Syria

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Do you have a deep instinct for democracy?
Not a bit
No, but I get some of the ideas.
Oh, yes
I'm actually against it.

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Do you gravitate to supranational organizations and alliances as a means to peace?
Yes, they are the only solution.
I am very suspicious of them.
They can be ideal if everyone meets as equals.
I think empire is the way to go.

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How do you feel about free trade?
God, yes - I love it!
I don't like it.
I like it.
Within small areas, it's good.

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What animal do you just love, for reasons you're not sure about?
Horse
Camel
Buffalo
Llama

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What animal simply scares the heebie-jeebies out of you?
Lion
Pig
Bald eagle
Horse

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How do you feel about property rights?
They're essential to peace.
They have their upsides and downsides.
They're actually not important.
They're a bit important.

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What, if any, is the upside of monarchy?
Some kings are better than others.
Stability
There are none.
Prosperity

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What is a good enough reason to go to war?
No reason, honestly
To protect a resource that you want
To defend your home
To conquer someone

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Are you drawn to the ocean?
Not really
I actually hate the ocean.
I like it, but I don't need it.
I love it.

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What trade route is the most essential for world prosperity?
Suez Canal
Silk Road
Transatlantic
Panama Canal

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What are the obigations of the powerful to the weak?
To ensure stability
To ensure safety
To ensure health and education
They don't have any

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Which historical empire is the most horrible?
Holy Roman
Mongol
British
Aztec

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Can a great civilization exist without horses?
Obviously not
Yes, but it is hard.
Ideally not
Sure

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What makes an empire or kingdom fall?
Religious intolerance
Decadence
Invasion
Climate change

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What sort of major structure strikes you as especially beautiful?
Castle
Temple
Longhouse
Step pyramid

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How bad a winter can you survive?
Absolutely freezing!
I can't see me surviving any winter.
Pretty darn cold!
Mild.

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How optimistic are you about the curve of history?
Not a bit
Extremely
I'm mostly positive.
I'm mostly negative.

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What's the best cultural or legal thing about modern society?
It's more secular.
People are more literate.
People are more equal.
Colonization is illegal.

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How important is literacy?
Eh, not very
It's the most important thing.
More than I used to think
Somewhat

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What's the one thing from the past that we could use more of?
Real faith
An acceptance of the advantages of cultural mixing
A sense of being all in it together
Healthy local food that isn't full of chemicals

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How do you feel about chaos?
I can deal with it!
I loathe it!
I can manage small doses.
I dislike it.

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What post-Industrial invention has done the most good for society?
Birth control pill
Internal combustion engine
Penicillin
Telecommunications

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You Got: