Where do we come from? Mom, dad or something else?
From mom, surely, and dad, probably. Yes.
Were we meant to be born?
Do not read any more of this post if you're getting easily nauseous.
The answer is : Not at all. The chances of You, the
specific You, being born are the same as the chances of a cockroach in the Alps being stepped on by a foot soldier of Hannibal. Imagine a roulette wheel that has more slots than the atoms in the universe, and someone placing a bet that You will be born. That was the bet and ..you won. Although, "looking back" at the bet, you kinda feel dizzy.
Do we come from a unique sperm?
Generally, yes.
Would we still have been born no matter what sperm made it in the egg by the same two parents?
No, someone else would. In that specific act of
coitus that brought You into this world, a race was run between You and some 30-40,000,000 other runners (sperms).
Guess what? You won.
Now enjoy. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]
(And yes, you technically "killed" some 39,999,999 of your "brothers" and "sisters" to get here. Congratulations.)
Would we still have been born but look different if one of our parents were someone else? If a different guys sperm went into the egg would we still have been born but look different?
As already stated,
You would NOT have been born, if Your unique sperm had not won that race.
But the other person could very well have been born looking exactly like you do now! Human physiognomy runs in a wide variety (we are the only member of the fauna whose facial features are so distinguishable) but it
is a finite variety. Two persons looking exactly alike happens.
If dad's sperm went into another woman would we be born from that other woman? If the exact unique sperm that made us went into another woman, and she got pregnant from it would we have been born?
No. The genetic constitution is different for every sperm/egg combination. A different and unique
conscience is thus created.
Could I have been born a female instead of male?
Biologically speaking, the difference between males and females is so small as to be laughable. A few steps over a very thin line, is all it takes. In light of the findings of Biology, our efforts to severely distinguish the two sexes (facial hair, clothing, walk, language, etc) are shown to be purely social/artificial human constructions.
Monod
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