Would you?

[Songbird]

Would you be the same person today if you were born one day earlier or one day later?

 

[Spartan Squad]

Isn't this some version of the Butterfly Effect? If we are the sum of the choices we've made in life—the little ones and big ones—then doesn't it stand to reason that something as simple as altering your birth by 24 hours could have a profound effect? Your parents encounter different people in the hospital or different drivers on the road. Your 6th birthday lands on a Tuesday instead of a Monday so your parents want to have your party the weekend after instead of the weekend before. Maybe you connect with (or fail to connect with) someone because of your birthday and that leads you down a different road.

I swear I'm not high...

 

[Slacker]

RickStain would.

 

[CD Boogie]

Would you be the same person today if you were born one day earlier or one day later?

If moving the date made it fall on a particular day or moved you to a different sign of the zodiac, then I think it could affect how you think of yourself. I don't place much value in astrology, but a lot of people do.

I'm glad my birthday isn't near any major holiday. Christmas time birthday people get jobbed on the gifts. I've always loved where my birthday falls in late June. It was always right after school got out, so people were in good moods and optimistic about the summer. If my birthday fell on, say, Valentine's Day like my grandfather and nephew, I think it would create weirdness.

 

[TigerVols]

If I was born one day later, I would have to write my age in Roman numerals, just like the other thing born on that day: The Super Bowl.

 

[Spartan Squad]

If moving the date made it fall on a particular day or moved you to a different sign of the zodiac, then I think it could affect how you think of yourself. I don't place much value in astrology, but a lot of people do.

I'm glad my birthday isn't near any major holiday. Christmas time birthday people get jobbed on the gifts. I've always loved where my birthday falls in late June. It was always right after school got out, so people were in good moods and optimistic about the summer. If my birthday fell on, say, Valentine's Day like my grandfather and nephew, I think it would create weirdness.

My birthday will sometimes land on Labor Day which is awesome because I get a three-day weekend depending right before or right after to celebrate. Mrs. Spartan, on the other hand, has her birthday the same week as Christmas which always makes planning a celebration awkward.

 

[typefitter]

I don't think one day matters, unless you were born Dec. 31 or Jan. 1. Obviously the year of your birth changes everything.

 

[MTM]

I don't think one day matters, unless you were born Dec. 31 or Jan. 1. Obviously the year of your birth changes everything.

It could matter if you were born say Sept. 1 and the cutoff for starting school was Aug. 31. It would mean you start school a year later, have a different group of friends and be the oldest kid in the class instead of the youngest.

 

[DanOregon]

I'd be another day older and deeper in debt.

 

[ChrisLong]

I don't think one day matters, unless you were born Dec. 31 or Jan. 1. Obviously the year of your birth changes everything.

Especially if you're a horse.

 

[Webster]

 

[justgladtobehere]

I don't think one day matters, unless you were born Dec. 31 or Jan. 1. Obviously the year of your birth changes everything.

How to build a champion: Be born at the right time

In 2009, professional English youth academies (aged 16-20 years) were grossly over-represented by players with birthdates in a three month period. 57% of youngsters were born in September, November or December whilst only 14% celebrated their birthday in June, July or August.

This is not a one off. At a recent U17 European Championship, 75% of the footballers were born in a four month window. Similar results were detected in Canadian ice hockey and at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

 

[Driftwood]

It could matter if you were born say Sept. 1 and the cutoff for starting school was Aug. 31. It would mean you start school a year later, have a different group of friends and be the oldest kid in the class instead of the youngest.

This was almost me. My birthday is Sept. 27. The cutoff was Sept. 30/Oct. 1. I think starting school a year later would certainly have made a difference.
The funny thing is one of buddies missed the cutoff because his birthday is mid Oct., but he got to skip third grade and bumped up with us born the same year.

 

[justgladtobehere]

When I was a kid there were always a few kids whose parents held them back if their birthdays were in the last month before the cutoff, so the kids wouldn't be young for their grade. No direct experience, but anecdotally, I thought this practice had increased (and not just for 'redshirting').

 

[Oggiedoggie]

Because souls bubble around in a giant radomizer similar to numbered balls in a lottery drawing and are only assigned to bodies at the exact moment of birth, a delay of even a fraction of a second could change everything. I could have just as easily been a Himalayan yak herder or an insurance actuary in Tokyo or West Virginia opioid addict. I would be the same entity, but my life experience might be vastly different.

 

[typefitter]

How to build a champion: Be born at the right time

This will make me sound bad, but if my partner were about to give birth at 11:55 on Dec. 31, I would ask whether she might be amenable to clamping down for just a few more minutes.

My sons are both February babies, and the second one, the athletic one, has benefitted hugely from it. He's almost always among the biggest kids on his team. Just gets the ball more.

 

[typefitter]

Because souls bubble around in a giant radomizer similar to numbered balls in a lottery drawing and are only assigned to bodies at the exact moment of birth, a delay of even a fraction of a second could change everything. I could have just as easily been a Himalayan yak herder or an insurance actuary in Tokyo or West Virginia opioid addict. I would be the same entity, but my life experience might be vastly different.

Hey man, do you want to do drugs with me sometime?

 

[ChrisLong]

This will make me sound bad, but if my partner were about to give birth at 11:55 on Dec. 31, I would ask whether she might be amenable to clamping down for just a few more minutes.

My sons are both February babies, and the second one, the athletic one, has benefitted hugely from it. He's almost always among the biggest kids on his team. Just gets the ball more.

The other side of the story is, if she gets it done before the clock strikes 12, you get the tax benefit for the whole year in which you had a kid for a couple of minutes.

 

[swingline]

I was one of the youngest in my class, starting kindergarten before I turned 5. That meant all of my friends got their drivers license as sophomores, but I had to wait until my junior year. It wouldn’t have been a big deal if I lived in town, but I lived in the country 12 miles outside of town, marooned there during the summer.

I more than made up for it later, though.

 

[justgladtobehere]

The other side of the story is, if she gets it done before the clock strikes 12, you get the tax benefit for the whole year in which you had a kid for a couple of minutes.

Income tax deduction, what a hell of a function