Every living thing is, from the cosmic perspective, incredibly lucky simply to be alive. Most, 90 percent and more, of all the organisms that have ever lived have died without viable offspring, but not a single one of your ancestors, going back to the dawn of life on Earth, suffered that normal misfortune. You spring from an unbroken line of winners going back millions of generations, and those winners were, in every generation, the luckiest of the lucky, one out of a thousand or even a million. So however unlucky you may be on some occasion today, your presence on the planet testifies to the role luck has played in your past.

Daniel Dennett

Daniel Dennett

American philosopher

28 March 1942 —

Daniel Dennett: Freedom Evolves

Freedom Evolves

Penguin Books

Science
Philosophy

Details:

Submitted by: Kiselm

Time of publication: September 30, 2012

Length: 634 characters

Favorited by: 1 member

Accept

We use cookies to personalise ads and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our advertising and analytics partners. By using our site, you accept the use of these cookies. See details