Richard Dawkins’s line “We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones” is a philosophical reframing of mortality: being alive at all is an extraordinary contingency. It does not mean that dying is pleasant, that loss should not hurt, or that grief is mistaken.
What does Dawkins mean by “the lucky ones”?
The sentence comes from Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder, the book Maria Popova identifies as its source in her 2021 essay, “Richard Dawkins on the Luckiness of Death”.
“Lucky” describes the chance of existing and experiencing life in the first place. A particular person depends on a long, fragile chain of ancestry and history. Change details of that chain, and that person might never have been born. Dawkins’s point, as Popova frames it, is that mortality is part of the condition of having had this finite life at all—not evidence that death itself is good.
How can death make us lucky?
The argument turns on a contrast: before birth, there was no conscious person waiting to receive a life; yet against the vast range of possible people who never exist, each of us is here to experience the world. Mortality does not erase that fact. It marks the limit of a life that, in this view, was never guaranteed.
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- Read Before You Buy — No Video Output: These adapters support charging and USB 2.0 data transfer, but cannot transmit video signals. Except for standard USB webcams (which use USB data only), they are not compatible with HDMI/DisplayPort cables, video-capable USB-C hubs, or docking stations with video output.
- Convert USB-A Ports to USB-C: Designed to connect USB-C earphones, cables, flash drives, card readers, and other USB-C accessories to standard USB-A ports. Plug-and-play with no drivers or software required.
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Dawkins’s quoted comparison to “the sand grains of Arabia” gives the scale of possible nonexistence a striking image. It is rhetorical language, not a measured probability or a statistical estimate. The argument rests on contingency, not on a calculation showing how likely any individual was to be born.
What the argument can—and cannot—console
Popova’s essay holds gratitude for being alive alongside the difficulty of knowing that consciousness ends. That juxtaposition can help some readers see life as a rare opportunity rather than an entitlement. But it does not follow that death is easy to face or that bereaved people ought to feel grateful instead of grieving.
Rank #2
- 5-in-1 USB-C Hub: Experience comprehensive connectivity featuring a Power Delivery input, two USB-A 2.0 ports, a USB-A 3.0 port, and an HDMI port. (Note: The USB-C power delivery input port is only for connecting an external wall charger to power your laptop and cannot power peripheral devices.)
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John Danaher’s 2016 discussion, “Does Death Make us the Lucky Ones? Existential Luck and the Consolations of Atheism”, treats the passage as an attempted consolation and considers its limits. A reflection on the contingency of existence may offer perspective, but it need not answer the pain of a particular death, suffering during a life, or the fear of losing consciousness. Its force depends on whether the thought of having existed can console a person facing those realities.
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Best Value
- 5-in-1 Connectivity: Equipped with a 4K HDMI port, a 5 Gbps USB-C data port, two 5 Gbps USB-A ports, and a USB C 100W PD-IN port. Note: The USB C 100W PD-IN port supports only charging and does not support data transfer devices such as headphones or speakers.
- Powerful Pass-Through Charging: Supports up to 85W pass-through charging so you can power up your laptop while you use the hub. Note: Pass-through charging requires a charger (not included). Note: To achieve full power for iPad, we recommend using a 45W wall charger.
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Rank #4
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- Please Note: To reach 10Gbps speed, keep the cable under 3.3 ft. For USB A Male to USB C adapters, try flipping the USB C connector. USB C Male to USB A adapters support bidirectional 10Gbps transfer within 3.3 ft
Rank #3
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- What You Get: Anker USB-C Hub (7-in-1), welcome guide, 18-month warranty, and our friendly customer service.
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