Individuality

[Crookedfoot]

Is there such a thing as individuality?

You look at yourself in the mirror.. unless you have two heads, or you have a symbiot growing out of your ear you are one person, but are you an individual?

In most religions they speak of you having the spirit within you, as in a spirit that is not yours, or in some circumstances being possessed, in either effect you have a companion within you.

In our minds we talk to ourselves as if we are two people.

Some of even hear voices other than your own, but that may be a different issue all together.

When we are driven by an impulse we often hear a voice telling us we shouldn't do that, or that we should..... NOW!!

We speak of our subconscience as if it is a seperate part of us running things behind the scenes so we can keep our attention on other things more important.


Are we an individual, or are we a walking tour bus?
How exactly do we define individualism, other than what the dictionary says?
Do you meet these definitions?

Ask yourself this and let me know how you answered yourself......

 

[Jason]

The way I look at it, is when you talk to yourself, whether it be out loud or not..you are ultimately just hearing your own thoughts.

Still just YOU, only you hear them and can think of them as something else.

If you look at society today, nobody is an individual anymore..

You have the conformists and then you have the non-conformists, who ultimately whether they like it or not are just conforming to the other non-conformists, thus defeating the purpose.

Now a days, it's almost utterly impossible to be an individual.

 

[Crookedfoot]

I never realy thought of this from a political point of view.

Am I right in that your saying that as our individualism becomes nonconforming, we conform to what is considered to be say "normal" thus turning a society as a whole into a single mass individual?
Or maybe copies of what is considered to be the most acceptable form of being?

If it's the case of copies, aren't copies individuals?
Or would the copies merely be extensions of the one individual?

 

[jd-inflames]

A better way to put what Jason said is: There is no such thing as individuality because everything, and I mean EVERYTHING has been done before. There is no such thing as surprises in this day and age.

 

[Jason]

Ya, pretty much..

There is no one thing you can say or do that hasn't been done at least once somewhere else in the world..

 

[OMGLOLWTFPWN]

Individuality isn't defined by one thing that you may do. It is made up of everything about you, how you respond to different situations, the way you look, think, talk, and the way you act towards other people. A lot of people seem to think that dressing up weird or listening to different music will make them an individual but they try to hard, everyone is already unique.

 

[amrtin77]

ive thought of it... i thought that maybe this body is just run off of instinct and "I" am just along for the ride... feeling what this body feels, knowing what runs through its mind... but as far as im concerned i can control myself... maybe i cant, maybe control is an illusion and we are purely instinct and past experience, but i think what i do is my own doing.. and im content to live with that.

there has been no scientific evidence of souls or anything... most logical to assume my thoughts are just a byproduct of this brain interacting with the body it controls..

 

[CelestialBadger]

Originally posted by TreeFrog123
Individuality isn't defined by one thing that you may do. It is made up of everything about you, how you respond to different situations, the way you look, think, talk, and the way you act towards other people. A lot of people seem to think that dressing up weird or listening to different music will make them an individual but they try to hard, everyone is already unique.

Right. Trying to define your entire individuality by one aspect of yourself (say...a person decides to become a "skater" so they wear all the "skater" clothes, talk all the "skater" talk, perform "skater" actions) really cheapens the idea of indivuality. Most people who try to be non-conformists or try to make clear the extent at which they don't conform to society are, in my experience, complete tools.

I'd have to say then that Jason's post is unbased. We can't define the entire spectrum of a person's personality based on one aspect of them.

 

[Arkillo]

Nobody ever was, and nobody ever will have individuality, in the sence that there is no style/look/attitude/belief that hasnt already been done/achieved and such. Unless you're one of mankinds last survivors, you'll always be part of the system.

 

[TrongaMonga]

Yes, everything you have done has been done already. However, how you combine the various things that may make you slightly different from the others.

 

[DB]

Dark makeup, and a silly pink afro. Hot pink leather pants, and a tight purple shirt, with high tops. Utter individuality.

 

[jd-inflames]

Nah...nothing original about that, just ignorant. Individual, ignorance...sounds close, both start with an "I" but are completely different, trust me.

 

[Arkillo]

DB, while that may be different, you'll be in the group that wants to be individuals...See where I'm going with this?

You can't define something that doesn't exist.

 

[DB]

Originally posted by Jake Jeckel
DB, while that may be different, you'll be in the group that wants to be individuals...See where I'm going with this?

You can't define something that doesn't exist.

Then what if you act like a giraffe? And try not to express your individuality rather, your poor taste in fashion.

 

[VegetaClam]

Take a look at our DNA there are billions of millions of combo's. So We are each all different.
We can look at Identical twins but we'd all agree that they can be different people. Different but maybe still the same as every one else.
So what is it that sets us apart from on another? It's that little voice in your head that only you can hear. No one else can hear your Little voice and you can never know if any one else has that voice too.

Every man and woman in the end is an Island.

-VC

 

[CelestialBadger]

You people don't take to reason very well...

Jake are you saying that we can't define the word "individuality" because it doesn't exist? This argument is utter bullshit. Of course the word "individuality" exists. Or are you a more knowledgable source then...oh...every dictionary in the world? Individuality is defined by Webster as: "total character peculiar to and distinguishing an individual from others". Notice the phrase "total character" which again denotes that you cannot define a person's personality based on one particular aspect of them. Or would it be a reasonable assessment that your entire personality, Jake, is defined by the fact that you like a particular type of music?

 

[cxoli]

Individuality is a concept, like wealth or emotions. It's just something we use to describe ourselves, so there's obviously no way to prove it. Still, I think it exists beyond a genetic level. It's like what TreeFrog123 said:

Individuality isn't defined by one thing that you may do. It is made up of everything about you, how you respond to different situations, the way you look, think, talk, and the way you act towards other people.

There are so many possible combinations of all these aspects of existance that it's virtually impossible for two people to be exactly alike. So I think on some level, yes, individuality does exist.

 

[Arkillo]

Originally posted by CelestialBadger
You people don't take to reason very well...

Jake are you saying that we can't define the word "individuality" because it doesn't exist? This argument is utter bullshit. Of course the word "individuality" exists. Or are you a more knowledgable source then...oh...every dictionary in the world? Individuality is defined by Webster as: "total character peculiar to and distinguishing an individual from others". Notice the phrase "total character" which again denotes that you cannot define a person's personality based on one particular aspect of them. Or would it be a reasonable assessment that your entire personality, Jake, is defined by the fact that you like a particular type of music?

No shit the word exists, I ment you can't define something that doesn't exist. It makes sence to me, just think outside the book. You can define just about anything with a dictionary, but that doesn't mean that it exists. What I'm saying is that one will never be a complete individual in life, because it is physically and mentally impossible. Yeah, the DNA holds up for some truth, but what about our personalities? Individuality as a human can't exist, because it would mean you're personality would have to be 100% origional, which is more than likely, not going to happen, because everyone picks up on other peoples personalities and forms it into theres, right?

 

[CelestialBadger]

It's inherently obvious that individuality exists. Otherwise our culture wouldn't have developed a word for it.

 

[amrtin77]

its not the fact that your not the only person in the world thats grumpy in the morning, or that your the only person who skates, its how you combine all these traits that makes you. no one else can think exactly like you, or look ecactly like you (unless your identicle twins i guess... but what if one gets a cut or something?)

everyone is an individual as a whole. very few have one trait different from everyone else. like 20 feet long toenails... or something.