13 Sep WHAT IS THE PROBABILITY OF YOU BEING BORN AND ENJOYING THIS DELIGHTFUL DAY?
Moss Jackson, PhD
Psychologist Success Coach
Just sitting on my beach deck, drinking some wine, eating cheese and Jersey Tomatoes and listening to some delightful music while looking over the Cove and its assorted sailboats, motor boats, jet skis and kayaks floating on by.
I was finishing up my daily mediation on being grateful and I wondered about a curious question: what were the odds of me or you being born to enjoy this sunny day? Well, for all of you who might also be curious, here is what I came up with:
Mel Bobbins, a funny, self-help author estimates the probability (P) of you being born at one in 400 trillion!
A Buddhist estimated it using the following scenario: imagine a single life preserver being thrown into some sea or ocean. That is ALL the seas and oceans! What is the P of a single turtle swimming underwater somewhere on the planet of sticking its head through that particular life preserver?
The answer, given the sea area and the tiny preserver is 1 in 700 trillion!
So is it one in 400 trillion or one in 700 trillion?
Well, consider the following:
The P of your parents just ever meeting is 1 in 20,000
The P of them talking is 1 in 10
The P of that boy knocking up that girl is 1 in 40,000,000
The P of one sperm impregnating the exact right egg is 1 in 400 quadrillion
The P of your reproductive clan surviving over all the years to allow that egg and spermicide to connect is 10 to the 45,000th power. That is larger than all the particles the Universe!
Given that there have been about 150,000 generations over 4 billion years the P of your reproductive lineage producing you is (4×10 17th) 150,000 = 10 to the 2,640,000th. That is a ten followed by 2,640,000 zeroes
BOTTOM LINE:
The P if you being born is 10 to the 2,685,000th
In other words, very unfucking likely!!!
So, enjoy every sunny day.
It took a lot of labor to get you and me here!
If you are interested in living as long as you can and remaining healthy, vital and reasonably good looking, you may want to pick up my new book!