One of the main reasons I started this Little Creatures blog was so I could ask the question, "What is a human being?"*
What are we, really? We do ask ourselves this question, sometimes. Other ways it is asked are, "Is there a God?" or "Do we stop existing after we die?" or "Are we just animals?" or "Is there such a thing as 'free will'?"
Are we more than our DNA**?
Beats me.
It's heavy shit, though. I mean, think about having children. Especially when you are intentionally having children, as we are. First, you have no children. You are just you and your partner. Perhaps you have no real plan or intention to have children in your life.
Then, one day, you change your mind.
And it stays changed.
So you and your partner -- necessarily a male and a female in this example -- decide to have children. You decide to create new human beings. To bring about people where there were no people before.
How exactly does this happen?
Sure, we all think we know -- it's sex, right? We, educated enlightened adults, know what sex is and we know how babies are made.
But what are the details? What are the steps in the creation of new human beings?
Well, if you are intentionally creating human beings where you had not been creating human beings before, you must first remove whatever barrier(s) you had in place to prevent the creation of new human beings, for making more of itself is, above all, the fundamental drive of your body. Arguably, reproduction is your body's only true drive. Much more so than longevity for its own sake, your body strives to stay alive only insofar as it enables it to make more of itself.
Ok, so you cease your efforts to prevent your body from reproducing itself -- IUD out, artificial hormones removed, latex away.
Then what?
Sex, right?
Right.
Sex.
You've been doing it for fun for years, but now is the time to do it with a mission. It's like doing it for fun, but more stressful. You have to do it at the right time of month. You have to do it to fruition (or at least the male partner does). Worrying whether or not you and your partner actually have working gametes is optional (I opted yes on that one).
Then?
You wait.
What do you mean you just wait?
You just wait.
No, no, no. This is a huge important deal. This is the creation of a new human being. Surely you should play a more involved role than just sitting around avoiding liquor and taking prenatal vitamins.
Nope. That's it. Just do basic take-care-of-yourself stuff -- eat right, exercise, get plenty of rest, laugh as often as possible. Same old health spiel.
You mean I don't have to sit around focusing on the error-free copying of DNA? I don't have to make proteins and differentiate cells and organize tissues with my mind?
Um, no. You couldn't if you tried, now could you? I mean, really, could you make even one single stem cell, even if you had all the right proteins and all the right information?
Well, no.
Before you started looking into this baby-making thing, did you have any idea that your eggs were arrested in Metaphase-II of meiosis until they are fertilized and if they are never fertilized, they never even complete meiosis??
No.
Before you started writing and researching this very blog post, did you know that human blastocysts hatch??
No.
Did you know that the zygote itself carries the information, not just for the baby, but for the placenta as well?
No. I guess I hadn't really thought about it. I figured the placenta was kinda like part of the uterus.
Nope. It's more like part of the baby.
Crazy.
Yeah. This whole thing is crazy. Crazy beyond you. And if you think about it too much, you will make yourself crazy.
So relax.
And just wait.
*Other great questions are "What is life?" and "What is love?" though only one of of those will have you bopping your head to a catchy tune.
**Note: This does not look like human DNA to me; it looks more like bacterial DNA. But I don't really know my stuff.
What are we, really? We do ask ourselves this question, sometimes. Other ways it is asked are, "Is there a God?" or "Do we stop existing after we die?" or "Are we just animals?" or "Is there such a thing as 'free will'?"
Are we more than our DNA**? Beats me.
It's heavy shit, though. I mean, think about having children. Especially when you are intentionally having children, as we are. First, you have no children. You are just you and your partner. Perhaps you have no real plan or intention to have children in your life.
Then, one day, you change your mind.
And it stays changed.
So you and your partner -- necessarily a male and a female in this example -- decide to have children. You decide to create new human beings. To bring about people where there were no people before.
How exactly does this happen?
Sure, we all think we know -- it's sex, right? We, educated enlightened adults, know what sex is and we know how babies are made.
But what are the details? What are the steps in the creation of new human beings?
Well, if you are intentionally creating human beings where you had not been creating human beings before, you must first remove whatever barrier(s) you had in place to prevent the creation of new human beings, for making more of itself is, above all, the fundamental drive of your body. Arguably, reproduction is your body's only true drive. Much more so than longevity for its own sake, your body strives to stay alive only insofar as it enables it to make more of itself.
Ok, so you cease your efforts to prevent your body from reproducing itself -- IUD out, artificial hormones removed, latex away.
Then what?Sex, right?
Right.
Sex.
You've been doing it for fun for years, but now is the time to do it with a mission. It's like doing it for fun, but more stressful. You have to do it at the right time of month. You have to do it to fruition (or at least the male partner does). Worrying whether or not you and your partner actually have working gametes is optional (I opted yes on that one).
Then?
You wait.
What do you mean you just wait?
You just wait.
No, no, no. This is a huge important deal. This is the creation of a new human being. Surely you should play a more involved role than just sitting around avoiding liquor and taking prenatal vitamins.
Nope. That's it. Just do basic take-care-of-yourself stuff -- eat right, exercise, get plenty of rest, laugh as often as possible. Same old health spiel.
You mean I don't have to sit around focusing on the error-free copying of DNA? I don't have to make proteins and differentiate cells and organize tissues with my mind?
Um, no. You couldn't if you tried, now could you? I mean, really, could you make even one single stem cell, even if you had all the right proteins and all the right information?
Well, no.
Before you started looking into this baby-making thing, did you have any idea that your eggs were arrested in Metaphase-II of meiosis until they are fertilized and if they are never fertilized, they never even complete meiosis??
No.
Before you started writing and researching this very blog post, did you know that human blastocysts hatch??
No.
Did you know that the zygote itself carries the information, not just for the baby, but for the placenta as well?
No. I guess I hadn't really thought about it. I figured the placenta was kinda like part of the uterus.
Nope. It's more like part of the baby.
Crazy.
Yeah. This whole thing is crazy. Crazy beyond you. And if you think about it too much, you will make yourself crazy.
So relax.
And just wait.
*Other great questions are "What is life?" and "What is love?" though only one of of those will have you bopping your head to a catchy tune.
**Note: This does not look like human DNA to me; it looks more like bacterial DNA. But I don't really know my stuff.
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