Eli5: Would any of the 250 million sperm I outraced into existence, have been, in any meaningful way different different than I turned out?

Question

We often hear the metaphor, “out of the millions of sperm, you won the race!” Or something along those lines. But since the sperm are caring copies of the same genetic material, wouldn’t any of them have turned out to be me?

(Excluding abiotic factors, of course)

In: Biology

Answer 1

Do you have siblings? They came from the same sperm factory you did. That said, if a different sperm won the race to your egg, it would’ve created something between you and a sibling. Basically, a person who couldn’t exist in this universe along with you, like a sibling can. But maybe in a parallel universe…