Would You Still Be You If You (The Sperm) Hadn't Won The Race?

Forums: Philosophy, General, Biology, Reproduction, Sentience
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Hi All,

On a purely hypothetical front.

1) Do you think it matters which sperm wins the oppurtunity to fertilise the egg?

2) Would you be here now, if you'd lost that race?

3) Do you think sperm are sentient?

And, if so, then why?

Thank you all, and have a brilliant everything!
Mark...

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@mark noble,

mark noble wrote:

Hi All,

On a purely hypothetical front.

1) Do you think it matters which sperm wins the oppurtunity to fertilise the egg?

2) Would you be here now, if you'd lost that race?

3) Do you think sperm are sentient?

And, if so, then why?

Thank you all, and have a brilliant everything!
Mark...

Well probably different. I have a friend with a huge family and pretty much all of his brothers and sisters are different and they all come from the same parents. So how much of their personality comes from genetics? The most likely time you will get similar traits is with identical twins but you can have twins that do not share the same personality or even intellect. So my vote, if it counts for anything is that it would not be you.

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@mark noble,

Hi Mark!
Very quickly...

1)As to specificly me being born, yes.

2)No.

3)I doubt it but suppose this could be so.

1 Reply

i worry sometimes that i got that drunk stork who mixes up the babies

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_2oUmI3KMEnY/SZpNHqZl61I/AAAAAAAAB3w/Gc_ed2o7T9M/s320/goo+goo+2.jpg

1 Reply

@Krumple,

Hi Krumple.

Are you suggesting that more than one sperm made it into the fertility arena, in order to create multiples of offspring?

Mark...

1 Reply

@thack45,

thack45 wrote:

3)I doubt it but suppose this could be so.

Hi Thack!

They certainly have a sense of urgency and direction, I think. Does this relate to sentience? I believe so. Doubt whether I can prove it though...

Thank you thack, have a good one.
Mark...

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@djjd62,

Hi Djj,

always a smile in your wake, my friend, always a smile.

xxx
Mark...

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@mark noble,

mark noble wrote:

Hi All,

On a purely hypothetical front.

1) Do you think it matters which sperm wins the oppurtunity to fertilise the egg?

2) Would you be here now, if you'd lost that race?

3) Do you think sperm are sentient?

And, if so, then why?

Thank you all, and have a brilliant everything!
Mark...

I think who ever I was if another sperm had got there first, it would not be.... Mrs. egg must have got on her bike and come to meet Mr. sperm... there is no other way to account for it... No slow poke like me was ever made by a fast sperm... Maybe it was down hill and he fell...

0 Replies

@mark noble,

Good question.

The normal assumption is that "self identity" depends on a particular "biological structure". But some philosophers believe that "self" is evoked via socialization. In other words, such a self is predominantly defined through its social interactions rather than its biology.
However, even if sperm were" identical", the timing of the fertilization event is significant not only for specifying different subsequent biological environmental conditions, but also different subsequent social interaction events. it therefore follows that "you" depend on a particular fertilization event, rather than a particular sperm.

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@mark noble,

mark noble wrote:

Hi Krumple.

Are you suggesting that more than one sperm made it into the fertility arena, in order to create multiples of offspring?

Mark...

In some cases it does. There are times when an egg splits and gets fertilized by two separate sperm which results in twins that are not identical and have different traits.

1 Reply

@Krumple,

Hi Krumple!

Thank you for that. I wasn't aware of the dual fertilisation thing. Would that be classed as a two-sperm - two-egg scenario?

This would suggest that their are two individual fertilisations occuring.............. So - What if the two relative sperm switched locations? Would child "A" now be born as child "B" or would child "B" + "A" simply be born from any egg?

Mark...

1 Reply

@mark noble,

mark noble wrote:

Hi Krumple!

Thank you for that. I wasn't aware of the dual fertilisation thing. Would that be classed as a two-sperm - two-egg scenario?

This would suggest that their are two individual fertilisations occuring.............. So - What if the two relative sperm switched locations? Would child "A" now be born as child "B" or would child "B" + "A" simply be born from any egg?

Mark...

Well i think the problem here is that you are trying to say that A represents an identity that is not established yet, as if there is some preexisting entity that takes up the form as A. I don't adhere to the idea that there is some identity that is "you" before "you" exist in this existence. So to answer your question. A is never A and B is never B, so swapping A or B would result in A and B.

The only thing that makes up who you are now, is just some chemical processes and memory. There is nothing more than that in my opinion. No soul, no essence no identity separate from the body or mind.

1 Reply

@Krumple,

Hi Krumple,

On the narrative, I agree! Could we say with any conviction (and this is my reason for this thread) That NO two strands of DNA are the same?

Mark...

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@mark noble,

I still believe in the Homunculus, what's all this about sperm?

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My answers would be,
different sperm, different pattern, different me.

Snow flakes and finger prints.

Nothing can be sentient or 'with soul' until it is conceived or fertilised.

I believe in the ghosts or spirits of those who have spent life or life spent them, I do not believe in the ghosts or spirits of those who have never been conceived.

Although I did once hear of a Library situated somewhere astrally of books and stories, songs and poetry, histories and prophecies that were only written and read and lived in dreams and can only be read and written and lived while dreaming.
You've written thousands of books in your dreams but they are only writeable and readable in dreams.
Do they exist not because they will never be tangible?
Makes me wonder how tangible conception really is or needs to be?

All my best

1 Reply

@mark noble,

I'd be A me.

But I doubt I'd be THIS me.

0 Replies

@sometime sun,

Hi Sun!

T Lobsang Rampa "Beyond The Tenth"

That's where to find the astral libraries. Brilliant book!!!

Shine on
xxx
Mark...

0 Replies

@fresco,

Quote:

it therefore follows that "you" depend on a particular fertilization event, rather than a particular sperm.

But isn't that particular sperm a very important part of what makes that particular fertilization event that particular fertilization event?

Just as if a person would be a different person (different genetic material to respond to different evironmental stimuli) if that same sperm that won the race fertilized a different egg (if a different egg had been released into the fallopian tube that month to receive that particular sperm).

Now that you mention it, it is interesting to think about whether or not the sperm is sentient. I guess they are active rather than passive participants in the whole thing. Are salmon sentient? It's sort of the same behavior isn't it - when they race to the spawning grounds.

Another interesting question is: are you happy your sperm won the race or do you wish another sperm had won the race?

1 Reply

@aidan,

Hi Aidan!
I can sea no reason to believe that a living thing such as a sperm is NOT sentient. It has to be intelligent to perform in the manner it does. Its existence may appear to be quite brief from our perspective, but so are we from the perspective of a giant redwood...

Yes! I am happy to have been the sperm that fertilised the egg that developed me.

Thank you for your input Aidan, have a brilliant day.
Mark...

1 Reply

@mark noble,

Thank you Mark!

I'm glad that the sperm that fertilized the egg that became me won that race too. I feel that I inherited quite a good skill set from my father (practical, logical, good math brain). And it's very complimentary to the skill set I inherited from my mother (sensitive, artistic, nurturing).

But see, I don't see the sperm (at least those which fertilize eggs and grow into humans) as being short-lived. Those sperm that do fertilize eggs I don't think of as dead or having died - I think of them as living on although having been absorbed into something bigger and more wonderful than they were- transcending previous limitations and developing to their full and miraculous potential.
(Even if they aren't exactly what anyone would call sentient).

And as a matter of fact, I am having a brilliant day - and I hope that you are too.

1 Reply

Would You Still Be You If You (The Sperm) Hadn't Won The Race?

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