the tyranny of the self

you know,
i’m so annoying.
why do i have to be me?
of all the people,
what are the chances,
why must i be me?
and everyone else as well.
why are
they so annoying
and why can’t i be them
and my question, fundamentally
is why can’t they be me?

if there was one thing i would change about the human experience, it would be that umwelt swaps should be not just possible but relatively easy, such that we really could experience how it feels to be different people. specific people. why not actually see it from your wife’s point of view? or feel what it feels to be about to die. or to be a newborn baby.