You Existing As You

4 Comments

1. 

   Ned

   April 25, 2013 at 6:31 am

   I’ve seen this. Though the math is good, I’m not so sure about the probability theory. However, I have seen this done with likelihood for the earth to exist at all. Pretty fun to think about.
2. 

   Tobias Becker (Post author)

   April 25, 2013 at 11:41 am

   In all honesty, I stopped paying attention to the numbers after they started getting too abstract to visualize (around the 1 in 400 quadrillion number). I agree with you about being wary of probabilities…sometimes people’s stories are bigger then numbers. However, I think the underlying issue for me is that as the odds start to align, it approaches a miracle. …and I use “miracle” not in a religious way, but in an overwhelming sense of wonder way. Maybe those two ways are the same, now that I think about it.
3. 

   Ned

   April 25, 2013 at 3:10 pm

   I would say the wonder I have when I see a photograph representing something 14 million light years across is equivalent to something religious.
4. 

   Ned

   April 25, 2013 at 6:56 pm

   Interesting to me that I ran across this today:

   Miracle
   by Seamus Heaney

   Not the one who takes up his bed and walks
   But the ones who have known him all along
   And carry him in –

   Their shoulders numb, the ache and stoop deeplocked
   In their backs, the stretcher handles
   Slippery with sweat. And no let up

   Until he’s strapped on tight, made tiltable
   and raised to the tiled roof, then lowered for healing.
   Be mindful of them as they stand and wait

   For the burn of the paid out ropes to cool,
   Their slight lightheadedness and incredulity
   To pass, those who had known him all along.