Tex

..had waited 5 more minutes to have sex...would I still be the same person? What if they had waited just one more minute? 30 seconds? 10 seconds? 5 seconds? Would I still be the same person? Does it not make sense that if they had waited, all the conditions that allowed me to reach the egg first would be totally thrown out of wack, thus rendering my existence now futile? (because I would've never reached the egg and thus never been born.)

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"All I know is that I know nothing..."

WarWagon

I'd say not the exact person, but as the DNA carried is still that of your parents regardless of which sperm reaches the egg, you'd likely have a lot of the same traits or characteristics.

llama8

Welcome to chaos.

So remember to never travel back in time and stop your parents. You would not be born then. The ultimate paradox I think!

If you have brothers or sisters I think they may possibly disagree being similar to you!

MSD

Different sperm, different person. Out of that many, you made it. Aren't you glad you did?

MageB420666

It's kinda weird when you think about it, I your parents had waited even one second longer that would have introduced thousands of more sperm into the race, one of which could have reached the egg before your sperm did. I do think that it's kinda weired that you refer to yourself as the sperm, like the other half of your genes that came from your mother don't matter.
And this also brings into play the question of the soul. would you still have the same soul(if the soul exists, and for the sake of this argument lets just assume that it does)? Does the genetics you recieve determine who you actually are? what if you had turned out to be the opposite gender?

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Apathy: The best outlook this side of I don't give a damn.

llama8

It's the interaction between the 2 sets of chromosones that determine what is expressed. So even if you have the same egg and a different sperm made it the expression of genes may be totally different to if another made it.

I guess a scientist would probably argue that your genes and your environment decide who you "are". As identical twins are not the exact same person. Then again I suppose this is a whole new topic on the idea of consciouness and what it is.

:::OshnSoul:::

Wow. Now that's an incredibly wonderful question. How true is it that you could be a totally different person if "you" were to arrive at a different time.

Slavakion

I've thought about this before, too. Would I have never existed, or would I be someone else? Perhaps an Australian Aborigine? And here I'm describing "I" as... er... I dunno. It's me, but not exactly the same. I can't quite articulate what I want to say.

Menoman

Its too bad someone didnt walk in on hitlers mom and pop just before he blew into her

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MageB420666

While I hate to say it, especially since I am Jewish, If WWII had not happened we would not have the space program, jet engines, nuclear power, or much of the medical knowledge that we have today. All major revolutions in history are bloody ordeals. This one just happened to be really, really bad.

And just think, if he had won you would probably be heiling and praising him as Jesus reborn. So thank god he's dead.

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Apathy: The best outlook this side of I don't give a damn.

CSflim

Ok. Here's a tougher question.
If your parents had waited just one more minute to change your diaper than they actually did, would you still be you?

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llama8

Quite possibly not.

That's chaos for you.

The flapping of the wings of a butterfly in Africa has the power to cause a deadly hurricane in mainland America.

macmanmike6100

butterfly effect says no, no you would not. I believe it, because then think that everything else that your parents did following conception were delayed by that amount. who knows what would've happened then.

Slavakion

Not exactly the same, because you are the sum of your experiences. But something as small as the diaper change woul probably not have a profound impact on your life (unless it caused a rash or something which may lead to something else... :P).

roadkill

I think that you would be displaced, not quite the same person that you are now but probably faily close.... perhaps small details different (hair colour, eye colour) but probably the same person that asked the same question.

who else would be asking this question at the time you did? Your life made you ask/post it when you did.... free will?

SparklingDot

I think that if your parents had waited, it wouldn't matter. Actual conception doesn't take place immediately, but sometimes days after intercourse. Odds are you wouldn't be you, but that's only because the odds are so small anyways.

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17 seconds is all you really need
- Smashing Pumpkins

door

let me just reply to the person saying that something is wrong with himself refering to himself as a Sperm, disregarding the egg.

- This seems to be because the egg is a constant in the question he has. No matter what, because of the time frame, the chromosomes of the egg would stay constant. So in all possible universes, in this paradigm, it is only the SPERM that matters since it is only the sperm that will decide traits different than his currently. This isn't some attack on women or beguiling of the mother, but it is interesting that you would see that first instead of using logic to find what he might have been meaning. It was assumed that he was chauvanistic or patriarchical then?

Or perhaps it was simply a misinterpretation in which case I apoligize for MY assumptions. Im just covering all bases here.

door

of course there is the theory of compatability, that only a sperm with a specific set of chromosomes will ever succeed in fertilization, as the conditions of the womans body at the time would only allow THAT particular sperm to "win". Of course this doesn't matter since a womans chemical makeup as well as other things in the "nether-region" never stay constant, and so even 5 seconds COULD (theoretically) change who wins.

in the state of the debate, no difference in time of intercourse would even be needed since you were actually ADOPTED! Sorry to tell you that.

But since I don't believe in time, and therefore that anything COULD have been different (notice, though, I am not a determinist), it doesn't really matter cause you COULDN"T have been different.

Before I'm nailed on the "i don't believe in time" thing- let me explain. I believe time is simply the minds way of spacing out memories, just like space is the minds way of spacing out objects.

but that is all. SO time travel would be impossible.