What makes you, you?

Question

I mean is there something that you think is unique about you?

Answer 1

We are all unique because we have the ability to think differently to one another, yet we all have one thing- consciousness i.e. being able to recognise your self in a mirror. What makes me unique is being able to draw artistically, very patient and calm, a desire to help animals in distress (I'm vegetarian), a rejection of worshipping God's and I'm a perfectionist- I hate mess and and like everything to be clean and sleek.

Answer 2

There are three sorts of properties that define a thing (whether or not the thing is a person) :- qualities, quantities, and relations.

For the purposes of this question (which, btw, philosophers call the problem of personal identity) there are two sorts of qualities:

1. The set of qualities you have that make you the KIND of thing you are (that is, human). But, obviously, this set of qualities cannot identify you - all humans have the set.

2. The set of other qualities you have that make you the INDIVIDUAL person you are. But this set of qualities does not, strictly speaking, identify you, because it is possible (however unlikely) that two persons could both have the same set of individualizing qualities.

Again, there are two sorts of quantities a thing or person has:

1. The quantity of PARTS (say, atoms) that go to make up the thing or person. Obviously, this cannot identify you either.

2. The quantity of things there are of your KIND. Again, obviously this can't identify you.

There are two sorts of relations:

1. Internal relations, which means your structure - the relations of your parts with each other. Clearly it is possible for two things to have the same structure.

2. External relations, which means your relations with the other things around you. This is the best candidate for the thing that identifies you. It is logically possible for two things to have the same set of external relations - but they would have to be the only two things in the universe.

So, the best answer to your question, what makes me me, is my set of external relations (which, of course, is a set that changes all the time but remains unique to me).

Answer 3

I'd like to think that there is no singular thing that makes an individual unique. Life would be very boring if so.

What makes a person unique is a whole multitude of things.

As for me, I hope what makes me special - among other things - is my smile :-)

Answer 4

You ask a good question. I had this discussion with a lass in our office who is an identical twin.

As both her and her sister lead quite different lives, I asked if they had been named the other way around, and therefore gone into different classes at school and had different (each others)friends, would it be her or her sister sat infront of me now?

She is the younger of the two by a matter of minutes, but as they were in everyway the same, what made go one go into Customer services and the other Accountancy ?

How small a change would it have taken for them to be now living each others lives?

Answer 5

I don't know really, never thought about it before! i suppose the way i act and my attitude to life makes me unique, and the fact that no-one else in the world looks the same as me!!

Answer 6

Everything is unique about me. I'm unique.

Answer 7

My physical appearance, my personality, my flaws, and my life experiences make me who I am. Everything about me is unique because no two people are the same.

Answer 8

Hello,

What makes me ..me ..well i would say how i come across to people is very diverse, to what they actually think of me.

I have this theory about not judging people, because the truth lies within.....i do think i am different.. i also have this habit of finsihing or starting people's sentences....

it is true that when you are surronded with a type of people most people imitate that behaviour some people don't, i tend to form my own mind not relying on others....

i wouldn't say any one made me i made and i am improving my self, the way i see people, how people see me, what impact people has on other people etc.....

Answer 9

enviroment.
the envrmt. each of us had as a child. the envrmt in which we began to interact with others; formatable years. some may be victoms while others will be products of their enviroment.. our actions are what define us, but the envrmt of our individual lives will define how we act. everything can be traced back to the enviroment we were in at the time when any given variable was presented to us.
---thats what makes you, you.---------------------
as for something unique----- yes , and if you give anyone 5$ i am positive they will be happy to share it with you.[atleast thats what my inner chid is telling me.

Answer 10

I'm left-handed and I can't find a job or girlfriend. Is that unique enough?