This thread recreates the history of chemistry. Organic/inorganic originally refered to source of a compound, living or dead. When they realized the same molecule could be made from either sort of raw material, the definitions got more technical, around the element Carbon.
Reproduction, once considered a hallmark of the living, is now a commonplace occurrence on your computer - in the form of digital viruses.
So to have meaning in life, the discussion must turn to the nature of the soul.... bringing us back to the topic.
There are so many metaphors for the child trapped in the cube, the gnostic christian soul without stains, the Hindu/Buddist soul without karmic burden, the born-again christian, capitalist trying to "think outside the box", folk songs encouraging us to find the inner child..... The child's skull is still soft so the brain can grow, the adult's skull hardens for protection and so limits growth. The snail is my favorite example, it builds its own shell for protection, then must live within its confines.
We roleplay to escape the RL shells we have built for and around us. We try alts to see what a DIFFERENT shell would feel like. In these ways, we escape our protective biases and limitations, and experience a bit of the freedom that is our birthright, is lost as we live, and we constantly strive to find again.
The only problem I see with "birthing" an alt is that it carries on the karma/history of the parent with it. It is not a clean start to try on a different shell. And so, THEORETICALLY, ought to be a less satisfying way to play, since the "escape" factor is diminished.