Luck

I was born with pale skin into a a species which prized one shade of skin over another. I was born with genes which dictated my height of 6 feet 3 inches. I was born a male. I was also born a homosexual. 

I encourage anyone to make a list of lucky coincidences in his/her individual life. It can be humbling and also encouraging.

Many who are religious choose a belief system which makes the coincidental luck of their lives into some form of divine ordination. Others choose religion as a hedge against bad luck. Few who encounter severely bad luck in life remain religious at all. They may cling to a sense of spirituality, but their belief in a Divine Architect is usually shattered. This is simply common sense. What rational human being would wish to submit to the Divine Architect of cancer, famine, flood or massacre?

So much of my luck, good and bad, was determined at the inception of my life when my father's sperm penetrated my mother's egg. That was a point of no return. The process which became me was begun, whether I had made it to birth or not. 

Science is now a practical hedge against luck. Most human beings are ignoring it because they cannot access it or cannot afford it. Some who can both access and afford it are ignoring it as well. This is a choice of luck over rational action. The implications for a new life are massive and may drag on for many decades, if the genetic roulette wheel spins bad numbers. This does not seem to deeply concern most progenitors I meet. New life is too often conceived to satisfy the needs of the progenitors.

The magic of our age is not alchemy or religion. The magic of our age is biological science, supported by mathematics and engineering. By dispelling luck from crucial life moments, we are capable to choose longer lives and better life quality. At this moment in history, only those of us who have the bad luck to be diseased or genetically impaired can appreciate the wonder of this magic, based in hard science. This is unfortunate for the rest of humankind, who still harm and exploit one another over religion, power and money. This is chosen bad luck for anyone with the education to make an informed choice.