The odds of me existing are infinitesimally small.
By
Jonathan Schofield
on September 11, 2007
All of my ancestors (and yours) survived long enough to procreate against considerable odds – in a long, long line going back to a single cell organism. And, of course, each of my ancestors (and yours) which produced millions of sperm or hundreds or thousands of eggs were the focal point of a genetic jackpot in themselves.
Remarkable.
4
12
25.0% 75.0%
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Discussion (3)
At this point, odds are just shy of 1 that I'll exist in any given moment for the next little while at least.
It's times like this I wish I knew my Bayes.
D'A
I've also realised another error in my claim, even allowing for the fact that I was referring to my own conception rather than my continuing existence…
Namely, that a tiny probability equals very large odds.
Doh!
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The probability that I was conceived is infinitesimally small.