the probability of you

Have you ever thought about your odds of being here?

2 million people roll a trillion-sided die, and they all land on the same number [1]. Those are the odds.

It's absolutely mind-blowing.

The Big Bang creates the universe and matter that forms into galaxies of stars.

These stars continually explode and make MORE space stuff.

These elements happen to combine into our planet, Earth.

Earth is close enough to the Sun that optimal conditions for carbon-based life are created (temperature, availability of water, etc.).

And life begins to form.

This life becomes intelligent. We can communicate, acquire memories, and write articles like this one trying to explain it all [2].

To top it off...

This just happened.

If we put the universe's history in one year (January 1st was the Big Bang, and December 31st is today), all recorded human history was made in the last 10 seconds before midnight on New Year's Eve [3].

A single frame from the movie of the universe.

We are all space dust.

So be grateful you're here, even if it's brief in the grand scheme.

The odds were ever not in your favor.

[1] Source

[2] I'm not an expert, and this is my rough understanding of how the universe was created. For the purposes of this article, the details aren't hugely important. 😄

[3] Source