Do you ever just wonder how you made it to the egg first?

[Zysoclaplem]

I mean, there were tons of little spermies, but you were the best of the best. Either you were the smartest, faster, best with directions, or maybe a little of all of those things. You managed to get in before anyone else, and 9 months later you were born.

Too bad it was well before the development of our brains and we cannot remember the trip.

 

[Jeraden]

Food for thought: If one of the other spermies made it there first, would we still be us, just with different bodies/personalities, or would we not even exist at all right now?

 

[DangerAardvark]

I'm unclear as to exactly how it works, but couldn't any of the spermies have been me? I mean it's the same batch of sperm and the same eggs under the same conditions. Assuming the sperm isn't defective, shouldn't I turn out the same?

 

[Zysoclaplem]

Originally posted by: DangerAardvark
I'm unclear as to exactly how it works, but couldn't any of the spermies have been me? I mean it's the same batch of sperm and the same eggs under the same conditions. Assuming the sperm isn't defective, shouldn't I turn out the same?

Would you?

 

[TallBill]

I wasn't the smartest, best, or fastest. I was just horny.

 

[Zysoclaplem]

Originally posted by: Jeraden
Food for thought: If one of the other spermies made it there first, would we still be us, just with different bodies/personalities, or would we not even exist at all right now?

I don't know. But I do know that my brother and my sister were both an egg and sperm from my parents. I honestly don't know.

 

[DangerAardvark]

Originally posted by: Zysoclaplem

Originally posted by: Jeraden
Food for thought: If one of the other spermies made it there first, would we still be us, just with different bodies/personalities, or would we not even exist at all right now?

I don't know. But I do know that my brother and my sister were both an egg and sperm from my parents. I honestly don't know.

Different egg though.

Ha, I love how we just speculate here, when a 30 sec Google search would answer it.

 

[Aikouka]

Sounds like an argument between nature vs nurture.

Also, sperm determine gender as they contain X or Y, but the egg always contains X. This makes sense as a female is XX and chromosomes are one of the pairs... but if females are the same (i.e. XX), then it will always be X, but males being YX means that they can have sperm with a Y or X chromosome in the 23rd spot.

EDIT:

Originally posted by: DangerAardvark
Ha, I love how we just speculate here, when a 30 sec Google search would answer it.

That's where I got all my fancy information from . I googled "gender chromosome" as I couldn't remember some of the specifics from 10th grade biology.

 

[amddude]

Originally posted by: Zysoclaplem

Originally posted by: Jeraden
Food for thought: If one of the other spermies made it there first, would we still be us, just with different bodies/personalities, or would we not even exist at all right now?

I don't know. But I do know that my brother and my sister were both an egg and sperm from my parents. I honestly don't know.

I like to think of it like there is a resevoir of unborn souls which are put into bodies, which give them their personality. So it would be "you" no matter what, but what "you" are might be different.

 

[Zysoclaplem]

So physically I would have remained the same no matter the sperm that reached the egg first? Same height, same everything? Or was timing a factor? If the sperm had reached the egg 1 second later, would it have changed me? Is it where I entered the egg that caused me to to be me? Why was I not a girl? What that something to do with exact timing?

 

[nakedfrog]

Nah, I don't wonder. It's because I'm badass.

 

[Zysoclaplem]

Originally posted by: Aikouka
Sounds like an argument between nature vs nurture.

Also, sperm determine gender as they contain X or Y, but the egg always contains X. This makes sense as a female is XX and chromosomes are one of the pairs... but if females are the same (i.e. XX), then it will always be X, but males being YX means that they can have sperm with a Y or X chromosome in the 23rd spot.

EDIT:

Originally posted by: DangerAardvark
Ha, I love how we just speculate here, when a 30 sec Google search would answer it.

That's where I got all my fancy information from . I googled "gender chromosome" as I couldn't remember some of the specifics from 10th grade biology.

So all Y's would have been me? Or would another Y spermy have been a 6 foot 1 deep voiced piano player?

 

[Zysoclaplem]

Originally posted by: amddude

Originally posted by: Zysoclaplem

Originally posted by: Jeraden
Food for thought: If one of the other spermies made it there first, would we still be us, just with different bodies/personalities, or would we not even exist at all right now?

I don't know. But I do know that my brother and my sister were both an egg and sperm from my parents. I honestly don't know.

I like to think of it like there is a resevoir of unborn souls which are put into bodies, which give them their personality. So it would be "you" no matter what, but what "you" are might be different.

Where is this reservoir?

 

[amish]

i assume that it was me that won a gladiatorial tournament against all the other tadpoles in the arena called the uterus.

 

[jjones]

Ha ha, it was no surprise. I just teamkilled my way to the egg.

 

[jdini76]

Originally posted by: Jeraden
Food for thought: If one of the other spermies made it there first, would we still be us, just with different bodies/personalities, or would we not even exist at all right now?

Our bodies and personalities are what make us up. So, I would say no we wouldn't be us.

 

[imported_quasi]

Originally posted by: Zysoclaplem

Originally posted by: DangerAardvark
I'm unclear as to exactly how it works, but couldn't any of the spermies have been me? I mean it's the same batch of sperm and the same eggs under the same conditions. Assuming the sperm isn't defective, shouldn't I turn out the same?

Would you?

Nope, all sperm are different. Gametes (egg and sperm) are created by meiosis, which introduces variation by the process of "crossing over."

Wikipedia:

Because the chromosomes of each parent undergo genetic recombination during meiosis, each gamete, and thus each zygote, will have a unique genetic blueprint encoded in its DNA. In other words, meiosis and sexual reproduction produce genetic variation.

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: Zysoclaplem
So all Y's would have been me? Or would another Y spermy have been a 6 foot 1 deep voiced piano player?

Y just makes you a boy, it doesn't do anything else. The other chromosomes define other physical features. But there's more that defines you (or anyone else) that can be defined in mere genetics. This is where the nature vs nurture debate comes in... in other words, what made you... you... nature (genetics) or nurture (your subsequent life).

 

[Zysoclaplem]

I cannot comprehend not existing. So in that lack of comprehesion, and the understanding that I could very well have not been born, I wonder where I would be had I not been born. Would I exist in some form or fashion?

 

[DivideBYZero]

So what you are saying is there are around 400 million little dudes in my nuts wondering when they'll get a chance to swim the fastest and beat all the other 11ty bn dudes to the egg and prove they are they uber badass spunk?

I don't think we should be putting personalities onto the contents of our ball bag.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: quasi

Originally posted by: Zysoclaplem

Originally posted by: DangerAardvark
I'm unclear as to exactly how it works, but couldn't any of the spermies have been me? I mean it's the same batch of sperm and the same eggs under the same conditions. Assuming the sperm isn't defective, shouldn't I turn out the same?

Would you?

Nope, all sperm are different. Gametes (egg and sperm) are created by meiosis, which introduces variation by the process of "crossing over."

Wikipedia:

Because the chromosomes of each parent undergo genetic recombination during meiosis, each gamete, and thus each zygote, will have a unique genetic blueprint encoded in its DNA. In other words, meiosis and sexual reproduction produce genetic variation.

QFT same batch does not mean they're identical. :thumbsup:

 

[Abe Froman]

I didn't, I have a conjoined twin

 

[GTaudiophile]

God gave extra special powers to just the right single sperm so that I could end up just the way He wanted me

 

[ch33zw1z]

I figure it was blind luck...if I was the strongest, I'd hate to see what else my pops had in there.

 

[Mizugori]

i guess we're all just lucky mom and dad didn't decide to do it ITB that night!