What are the chances of you being born?
Discussion
Sitting there pondering the subject as someone said, "there's no point in playing the lottery, the odds are ridiculous!". Think about the chain of events that linked to your actual birth. What are the odds!? They are almost infinite!
Your parents had to meet and they had to conceive you at the right time so the right sperm cell had to meet the right egg. Both your grandparents had to also meet and conceive your parents at the same time etc etc - you can go as far back as time itself - all those millions and millions (billions?) of years ago and what odds would you have on your being born? I'm not talking about the way you look - is it possible to be born as you in a different body?
Were we always going to be born no matter what body we were in? Or is it true, we were born out of an almost infinite series of events that had to be perfect for you to be born - imagine all these millions of years pass and then your parents conceived a day before they did do - you wouldn't be born!!!
So the next time someone says the lottery odds are ridiculous - in comparison to the odds of YOU being alive on this planet, the odds are extremely good!
Your parents had to meet and they had to conceive you at the right time so the right sperm cell had to meet the right egg. Both your grandparents had to also meet and conceive your parents at the same time etc etc - you can go as far back as time itself - all those millions and millions (billions?) of years ago and what odds would you have on your being born? I'm not talking about the way you look - is it possible to be born as you in a different body?
Were we always going to be born no matter what body we were in? Or is it true, we were born out of an almost infinite series of events that had to be perfect for you to be born - imagine all these millions of years pass and then your parents conceived a day before they did do - you wouldn't be born!!!
So the next time someone says the lottery odds are ridiculous - in comparison to the odds of YOU being alive on this planet, the odds are extremely good!
ytrebil said:
Sitting there pondering the subject as someone said, "there's no point in playing the lottery, the odds are ridiculous!". Think about the chain of events that linked to your actual birth. What are the odds!? They are almost infinite!
Your parents had to meet and they had to conceive you at the right time so the right sperm cell had to meet the right egg. Both your grandparents had to also meet and conceive your parents at the same time etc etc - you can go as far back as time itself - all those millions and millions (billions?) of years ago and what odds would you have on your being born? I'm not talking about the way you look - is it possible to be born as you in a different body?
Were we always going to be born no matter what body we were in? Or is it true, we were born out of an almost infinite series of events that had to be perfect for you to be born - imagine all these millions of years pass and then your parents conceived a day before they did do - you wouldn't be born!!!
So the next time someone says the lottery odds are ridiculous - in comparison to the odds of YOU being alive on this planet, the odds are extremely good!
i wish your odds would have been slightly longer Your parents had to meet and they had to conceive you at the right time so the right sperm cell had to meet the right egg. Both your grandparents had to also meet and conceive your parents at the same time etc etc - you can go as far back as time itself - all those millions and millions (billions?) of years ago and what odds would you have on your being born? I'm not talking about the way you look - is it possible to be born as you in a different body?
Were we always going to be born no matter what body we were in? Or is it true, we were born out of an almost infinite series of events that had to be perfect for you to be born - imagine all these millions of years pass and then your parents conceived a day before they did do - you wouldn't be born!!!
So the next time someone says the lottery odds are ridiculous - in comparison to the odds of YOU being alive on this planet, the odds are extremely good!
The idea that there is an unbroken line between me and the first living thing on Earth is one of those thoughts that I think inspires me in the way bonkers people get got by religion. Same thing as when I look at the stars and ponder the size of the universe etc. Or the amount of time there has been.
DangerousMike said:
The idea that there is an unbroken line between me and the first living thing on Earth is one of those thoughts that I think inspires me in the way bonkers people get got by religion. Same thing as when I look at the stars and ponder the size of the universe etc. Or the amount of time there has been.
Exactly right - that's it - your existance is soley down to an unbroken line from when time began. The thing is, for the right people to meet each other is a feat in itself, but it's not just that, it's the time of conception etc as well. It really does baffle me. I want to know if it would have been possible to be born into a different body.Someone once told me that it's your mother you get 'you' from and your father just adds to your attributes - so if my mum was married to another man, maybe I'd still be born but I would look totally different. It really is an odd way of thinking!
ytrebil said:
I want to know if it would have been possible to be born into a different body.
You probably have.I'm sure there is a techincal name for it, probably with "fallacy" in the title that describes the pointlessness of marvelling and the odds of you being you, as only you could question it.
It's the same for life as a whole, there is no point thinking it must be a fix for life to occur as it is such a rare set of coincidences to happen, as only with those coincidences can we be here to question it.
DangerousMike said:
The idea that there is an unbroken line between me and the first living thing on Earth is one of those thoughts that I think inspires me in the way bonkers people get got by religion. Same thing as when I look at the stars and ponder the size of the universe etc. Or the amount of time there has been.
It's not the amount of time that has been that gets me. It's the amount of time that will be after I'm gone.
youre looking at it the wrong way.
The chances of you being born are actually excellent.
Boys and girls are always meeting and always conceiving and sooner or later, one of them was going to be you.
A more appropriate question would be "With all the shagging my parents and their parents and their parents before them did, what were the chances of me NOT being born!?"
Theres much less coincidence in the world than people think.
The chances of you being born are actually excellent.
Boys and girls are always meeting and always conceiving and sooner or later, one of them was going to be you.
A more appropriate question would be "With all the shagging my parents and their parents and their parents before them did, what were the chances of me NOT being born!?"
Theres much less coincidence in the world than people think.
R4PID said:
The odds of having a planet with just the right atmosphere for life to exist are pretty mind blowing. So yes, any life is also pretty unique and special.
we should bear this in mind before stepping on an ant."Is it overwhelming, to use a brain to crush a fly?"
and yes, I would love to see what is going to happen during the rest of the lifetime of the universe. This is why I plan to be immortal. (check the "Starting a Business" thread in the business foru.)
ytrebil said:
Sitting there pondering the subject as someone said, "there's no point in playing the lottery, the odds are ridiculous!". Think about the chain of events that linked to your actual birth. What are the odds!? They are almost infinite!
Your parents had to meet and they had to conceive you at the right time so the right sperm cell had to meet the right egg. Both your grandparents had to also meet and conceive your parents at the same time etc etc - you can go as far back as time itself - all those millions and millions (billions?) of years ago and what odds would you have on your being born? I'm not talking about the way you look - is it possible to be born as you in a different body?
Were we always going to be born no matter what body we were in? Or is it true, we were born out of an almost infinite series of events that had to be perfect for you to be born - imagine all these millions of years pass and then your parents conceived a day before they did do - you wouldn't be born!!!
So the next time someone says the lottery odds are ridiculous - in comparison to the odds of YOU being alive on this planet, the odds are extremely good!
The odds of you being born were 100% because we are looking at this with hindsight and of course you are here, to ask the question...Your parents had to meet and they had to conceive you at the right time so the right sperm cell had to meet the right egg. Both your grandparents had to also meet and conceive your parents at the same time etc etc - you can go as far back as time itself - all those millions and millions (billions?) of years ago and what odds would you have on your being born? I'm not talking about the way you look - is it possible to be born as you in a different body?
Were we always going to be born no matter what body we were in? Or is it true, we were born out of an almost infinite series of events that had to be perfect for you to be born - imagine all these millions of years pass and then your parents conceived a day before they did do - you wouldn't be born!!!
So the next time someone says the lottery odds are ridiculous - in comparison to the odds of YOU being alive on this planet, the odds are extremely good!
I think a more pertinent question is, what were the chances of you surviving so long, given the evidence of your daftness in your post !?
R4PID said:
The odds of having a planet with just the right atmosphere for life to exist are pretty mind blowing. So yes, any life is also pretty unique and special.
Often thought about this. The changes in temp etc from the, say Artic to the equater is huge (for us) yet it's "only" a few thousand miles away. Given that the sun is 93billion miles away, suppose we were a billion miles nearer or farer....Hang on, would it make a difference? Na, maybe it is the atmosphere etc...ok, as you were. Ah, but....suppose the planet was to tilt a little bit....ah feck it......I'm going back to BB.So, say I was adopted at a very early age. Now people say that I'm rather like my farther. Would I still have my adopted fathers traits given that I've grown up with him for 35 odd years...or would I be just like my real dad.
Darkslider said:
It's not the amount of time that has been that gets me. It's the amount of time that will be after I'm gone.
Strange, isn't it.What I like to think though is, the nearest star is 42 light years away (IIRC), that means that until you are 42 years old, light emitted from that star that you see each night, was emitted before you were born...
R4PID said:
The odds of having a planet with just the right atmosphere for life to exist are pretty mind blowing. So yes, any life is also pretty unique and special.
"Life" can exist without an atmosphere, even on earth. OP, when pondering the futility of buying lottery tickets, consider this: You're more likely to have a heart attack than pick the winning numbers that day.
HTH
Edit to make some semblance of sense
Edited by mechsympathy on Friday 30th January 08:53
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