Lynn,
I've had the same feelings for years, in fact, since I was a child, and that...was some time ago!
Many times I would ponder that this isn't the first time this has happened. The whole experiment has taken place before, similar to the Matrix but the Matrix was unheard of in the late 1950's.
First, the Master Programmer (MP) sets his characters loose. They have a limited lifespan which is now quite shorter than it was back in biblical times. They screwed up then...Sodom & Gomorrah, etc., so the MP ends that experiment and starts anew, thinking perhaps if the creatures' lifespans are shorter, they'll get into less trouble. Wrong!
So after centuries, eons, of these "Individual" experiments with all their faults and failures, the program is once again erased.
A new blank universe is created with some different rules and some of the old rules were programmed into the new universe and into some of the characters as well.
The MP could see that a form of LEARNING was taking place with each progressive experiment. I'm sure there was a copious amount of notes regarding changes in the source code...behaviors, ethics, morals, standards, emotions, outcomes, judgements, etc.
MP knew that although they were gaining in knowledge, they didn't posses enough to be self maintaining. They were even so greedy and petty as to wage war over dry pieces of land, kill each other in the name of their god (another programming mistake), along with many other attrocities. Drat! Time for another rewrite!!
Bottom line is that although I can't tell you or anyone what level of reincarnation we are currently in, we are definitely not the last!
- ARTificially yours...