statistically speaking, you should not exist. . .
My daughter suggested I read Solitaire Mystery because she enjoyed it so much in her high school english class. I am happy to oblige as it will not take long and it is something we can discuss together. That is always a good thing.
The discussion in the book goes something like this:
“You have two parents, four grandparents, eight great-grandparents, sixteen great-great-grandparents, and over 4,000 greater grandparents if you go back 10 generations. If a single one of them had died, you would not be reading this. Even through times of war, plague, and natural disaster, every single one of those more than 4,000 people lived and was able to reproduce.
“The chances of one of those people not dying while growing up is one in several billion. Each time an arrow rained through the air, your chances of being born have been reduced to the minimum.
“The fact that you exist is the result of one long chain of coincidences.
“In fact, the chain goes right back to the the fist living cell, which divided in two, and from there gave birth to everything growing and sprouting on this planet today. The chance of my chain not being broken at one time or another during three or four billion years is so little it is almost inconceivable.
“In return, I appreciate how fantastically lucky I am to be able to experience this planet together with you. I realize how lucky every single little crawling insect on this planet is.”
So I ask you, in the face of these staggering odds that suggest you should not exist, how lucky do you feel to be alive at this very moment at this very time? I think this is a case for the fact that chance, alone, is not the guiding force in life. There has to be more because, statistically speaking, none of us should be here.
In love and appreciation for the fact I am able to think and to type and that you are able to read,