4 ms·

You (the child) do not get to pick the outcome. Hence it is a lottery.

tdba 4y ago
Who is the "you"? Nothing more than the result of this process... unless you believe people exist metaphysically before having a corporeal presence? In which case you essentially believe in a soul, which is not a very secular belief at all.
- scatterhead 4y ago
  Nothing about the parent's comment assumed a metaphysical identity. It's unambiguously true that no one chose their genes or their childhood environment. That statement doesn't require a metaphysical chooser who might have made the choice.
  - tdba 4y ago
    No one chooses their genes because to a very important extent you are your genes. There is no meaningful "you" that could have done the choosing.
    - scatterhead 4y ago
      The fact that it could not be otherwise doesn't make it incoherent to say that you didn't choose your genes. What's the underlying point you're trying to get across? It doesn't seem like a productive thing to go on about.
    - cuteboy19 4y ago
      That is not true. People may share genes but may not share identity
      - tdba 4y ago
        As I said, to a very important extent it is true. Identical twins have a lot more in common than any other two people, even close siblings, often even when they are separated at birth. This gets us into semantics about what "identity" is, but that is indeed the issue that I'm trying to raise anyway. > Modern twin studies have concluded that almost all traits are partly influenced by genetic differences. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_study https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_study
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
eikenberry 4y ago
The child is the outcome, not the winner/loser. The child is more akin to the reward the lottery gives out than the person getting the lottery. Closest participant to that would be the parents who are getting a "lottery" child... as they (currently) have no deliberate control over the genetic expressions.
- scatterhead 4y ago
  > The child is more akin to the reward the lottery gives out than the person getting the lottery. You seem to be missing the point that we are stuck with who we are. Our mental and physical faculties are handed down to us. We receive them, even though they define us. We experience ourselves.
  - eikenberry 4y ago
    We don't "receive them", we are them. Unless you, as another poster pointed out, believe in the Guf or similar.
    - pixl97 4y ago
      Eh, we completely receive them and as technology improves our makers will have increased options on which ones we receive, especially if we're wealthy.
      - 0ct4via 4y ago
      - eikenberry 4y ago
        So you think souls exist before people are born and so can be lucky. Got it.

tdba 4y ago

Who is the "you"? Nothing more than the result of this process... unless you believe people exist metaphysically before having a corporeal presence? In which case you essentially believe in a soul, which is not a very secular belief at all.

scatterhead 4y ago
Nothing about the parent's comment assumed a metaphysical identity. It's unambiguously true that no one chose their genes or their childhood environment. That statement doesn't require a metaphysical chooser who might have made the choice.
- tdba 4y ago
  No one chooses their genes because to a very important extent you are your genes. There is no meaningful "you" that could have done the choosing.
  - scatterhead 4y ago
    The fact that it could not be otherwise doesn't make it incoherent to say that you didn't choose your genes. What's the underlying point you're trying to get across? It doesn't seem like a productive thing to go on about.
  - cuteboy19 4y ago
    That is not true. People may share genes but may not share identity
    - tdba 4y ago
      As I said, to a very important extent it is true. Identical twins have a lot more in common than any other two people, even close siblings, often even when they are separated at birth. This gets us into semantics about what "identity" is, but that is indeed the issue that I'm trying to raise anyway. > Modern twin studies have concluded that almost all traits are partly influenced by genetic differences. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_study https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_study
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

eikenberry 4y ago

The child is the outcome, not the winner/loser. The child is more akin to the reward the lottery gives out than the person getting the lottery. Closest participant to that would be the parents who are getting a "lottery" child... as they (currently) have no deliberate control over the genetic expressions.

scatterhead 4y ago
> The child is more akin to the reward the lottery gives out than the person getting the lottery. You seem to be missing the point that we are stuck with who we are. Our mental and physical faculties are handed down to us. We receive them, even though they define us. We experience ourselves.
- eikenberry 4y ago
  We don't "receive them", we are them. Unless you, as another poster pointed out, believe in the Guf or similar.
  - pixl97 4y ago
    Eh, we completely receive them and as technology improves our makers will have increased options on which ones we receive, especially if we're wealthy.
    - 0ct4via 4y ago
    - eikenberry 4y ago
      So you think souls exist before people are born and so can be lucky. Got it.