Well, Aren't You Special!

Miraculous You

If you are ever discouraged by failure or the disadvantages you face in life, consider what the odds were against you ever existing:

Scientists calculated the probability of your existing as you, today, at about one in 400 trillion . . . Some factors taken to reach this figure include the chances of your biological parents meeting and mating, probability of fertilization, and the survival rate of a fertilized egg.

Your mere existence is in some sense miraculous, and the fact that you are alive today and able to read this is testimony to your ability to overcome enormous odds. You are a survivor, and all your ancesters were survivors, too, or otherwise you wouldn’t even be alive today. Not only do you exist, but you are literate and have access to the amazing technology of the Internet, which empowers you in ways that your ancestors never could have imagined.

As a scientist, I knew this instinctively, a function of the power of large numbers and combinations, but having a little background in biology, I would urge you not the let it go to your head. Nature doesn't really care about you or yours, and your existence is tentative and subject to random cancellation, as well as revocation due to stupid, or even just unfortuitous acts.

If we're all special, nobody is special.