Surely its something to do with my mother's number of eggs, how many times my bio-parents made love and the number of sperm my father downloaded (uploaded??) to my mother. Any estimates on the odds.
Also what happened to all those luckless combinations that didn't make it.
Statistical, Philosophical or humorous answers welcome
2007-07-10 23:37:53 · 14 answers · asked by ? 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
Well, one technically, as it has already happened but what is that "one" out of? Millions? Billions?
If you think of all the sperm a male produces (7 hundred million a day), the eggs a female produces in her lifetime (1 to 2 million although only about 400 actually mature enough to be fertilised), and the chances of one to meet the other to create you amid all those reproductive encounters, then we are bordering on numbers too great to contemplate - especially considering that your mother and father met each other out of over 6 billion people living on this planet.
Add to that figure your history, or rather that of your ancestors - consider that your parents, their parents, and their parents etc, etc, right back to the very first humans, also had the same odds in producing somebody, and all had to meet the right partner to produce offspring that will eventually lead to you...
Quite massive odds if you think about it.
In short, the fact you are here now asking this question could be seen as a miracle as so many billion-to-one-chances actually happened for you to exist now. I suggest you read Bill Bryson's book A Short History of Nearly Everything. It describes this phenomenon in greater detail.
Now, pat yourself on the back for surviving those odds...
2007-07-11 00:29:24 · answer #1 · answered by This is my username 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nil!
You will have to be content with what you have this time round as the next time you open your eyes you will be a different entity with this existence just another person, the likes of which you meet in their hundreds everyday.
You will have to make the best of what you have got now, and rest assured that your parents did all they could, the best, to bring you into this world. Statistics are for banks and accountants, not for you right now ... for you is the need for a respectful acceptance of life of the fact the you did not come into being just by chance, that you happened absolutely uniquely and peculiarly, and that there is some purpose to all this. Even if you had no purpose before, you have now as you are born into one. Your parents wished for you, they expected you, and then they took good care of you to bring you up … what does that mean? Did they realise some purpose into their life? What are your thoughts for yourself?
2007-07-11 01:57:57 · answer #2 · answered by Shahid 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First,you are not born with consciousness. It is like a memory chip in a computer. They are all born alike, but none are programmed alike.
Even if your mother and father produced an exact copy of you, not likely. Even if that happened, the child would have a different birth order and different environment to grow-up in.
2007-07-11 00:06:41 · answer #3 · answered by Owl Eye 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ZERO--------
Even if you clone yourself.. you won't be you.
Becoz the nurture you had and the surroundings you lived in and all those childhood memories shapes your personality or consiousness. Even a small things that might have occured when you were just a baby shapes your later life. Every tiny details in your life has a part for making what you are now. Thats why every human being on Earth is unique.
2007-07-10 23:58:32 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Zero chance because every cell has a distinct characteristics. Remember that among the thousands of spermatozids your father emits during copulation with your mother only one will triumph, the rest are losers. So be proud that you were the lone survivor during that sexual encounter.
2007-07-11 00:27:31 · answer #5 · answered by Third P 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is better we begin with an agreed definition or perception of what is meant by consciousness.Assuming it is the common driving force in allof us, then the plus and minus ,acquired during lifetime with that driving force and balance of it will get along in your next birth. If chosen to give up both the plus and minus consciously and decide to get along with a blank slate it should also be possible.
2007-07-11 00:01:39 · answer #6 · answered by PMN Krish 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Odd's similar to winning a national lottery today, crossing the border, then winning another national lottery tomorrow.
2007-07-11 01:15:37 · answer #7 · answered by Jack P 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Nope I guess you just drew the short straw !
2007-07-11 10:27:32 · answer #8 · answered by chezliz 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Jesus you make it out like its a method carried out by computers...
It has nothing to do with how many times your parents or their parents had sex, it has more to do with your genes.
2007-07-10 23:53:18 · answer #9 · answered by tpv 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Great question. Unfortunately, I'm confused.
http://www.linkgrand.com/?r=26500
2007-07-10 23:48:40 · answer #10 · answered by tedfeliciano 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋