Expert: Charles K. MacKay - 6/21/2009

Question
Okay, well you probably have already heard this question hundreds and hundreds of times before, but recently it's really been bugging me... what are the chances of me being born? (and what are the chances of me being born ME?)
I don't really believe in pre-destiny, but my recent thoughts have got me thinking.. the chances seem one to trillions of other possibilities, and it freaks me out! I was born an only child as my parents only really wanted one, and if my mum had had another child before me I would've never existed!
How is it that I was born into this particular family, and that I live such a lucky life with so many close friends and I also have many special skills such as I can song-write and play keyboard really well.. I know this is starting to sound totally ridiculous now, but I'm also mentioning these points as I noticed you've studied abnormal psychology also? And I think part of the reason I'm so fixated on these things as part of making the chances of my existence so low is because I think I have a form of Pure O, as I often get caught up on these thoughts and expect the worse.. I start to think things like "This is wayyy too good to be true" and "Why am I so special? What is my purpose here?" and then I become paranoid if I'm not worrying about these things because I'm going against my supposed 'creator' (a manifestation of Pure O) or something similar.
I know this is starting to not make sense at all now, but I am scared by the thought I may have some pre-destined role in this world and I'm not aware of it. I have also had a number of weird coincidences happen in my life, and the one that I've been questioning the most recently is the story of when my mum was giving birth to me... in the wall of the ward where she was giving birth to me there was an analog clock broken at 6:08. When she gave birth to me the doctor came and told my parents the time.. 6:08pm. And that was the actual time, too. As if the clock predicted it. I know the chances aren't THAT low and that time is only a human construct, but still.. why did I have to be that child? Am I really special or is that just Narcissm/Pure O convincing me? It has made me go through stages of derealization and panic as I am scared of not knowing whether I am special or whether the world is unreal or not.. so I'm just writing to see if I could maybe get some reassuring answers, mainly through the question "What are the chances of being born at all?" and maybe some possible help with my obsessive thoughts and learning to think more rationally about things.

If this makes any sense, thank you very much!

Dee

Answer
You ask a whale of a lot of questions about each of which whole libraries have been written. So let me take a high-altitude pass:

Virtually any aspect of you-as-you-are-now is the result of very small, bu nonzero probabilities. (If any of the probabilities were zero, you wouldn't be here to ask the question.)The chance of the universe repeating you in every aspect is not nonzero, but so improbable that you can enjoy your uniqueness.

To get a sense of how we now understand probability in physics, see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Many-worlds_interpretation

This interpretation implies that there is an infinite number of "almost yous" with you being distinguished mainly by being in this universe rather than some other.

As for the signs of obsessive-compulsive disorder that you may think you have, consult your Primary Care Provider, a psychologist, or a psychiatrist. They can tell you whether it's a problem, just part of being human, or both.

Regards,

Charlie