How Unique Are You?

[DarkNights]

Hello Everyone! I'm a lurker who's been around for a little while but I'm a second time poster I guess.

So I was just wondering how anyone deals with this question of Individuality. If there are currently around 7 billion people alive on Earth and however more that were alive just how unique can you be? And if you believe that there likely is life on other planets in our universe, then we are just one sentient species on one planet in one galaxy among tons more. Does it even bother you that you might not be all that different when compared to how many other people there are? Or am I just being too insecure in this aspect of life?

Anyway I'm just interested to see what other people's opinion on this subject is.

 

[redbaron]

Does it even bother you that you might not be all that different when compared to how many other people there are?

I think that the answer to this question is going to directly correlate with people's perception of their own self-worth.

I think that I'm a critical thinker, and I often despair at the seemingly meager distribution of other critical thinkers in the world. So the thought that maybe there's more people like me than I originally thought is a positive one.

I don't really care about being unique. I am who I am...

Spoiler

Batman.

 

[Jennywocky]

I don't really care about being unique. I am who I am...

Spoiler

Batman.

Spoiler

Better you than Ben Affleck.

 

[Jennywocky]

Hello Everyone! I'm a lurker who's been around for a little while but I'm a second time poster I guess.

So I was just wondering how anyone deals with this question of Individuality. If there are currently around 7 billion people alive on Earth and however more that were alive just how unique can you be? And if you believe that there likely is life on other planets in our universe, then we are just one sentient species on one planet in one galaxy among tons more. Does it even bother you that you might not be all that different when compared to how many other people there are? Or am I just being too insecure in this aspect of life?

Anyway I'm just interested to see what other people's opinion on this subject is.

Considering there are so many people that I'll never meet these "doubles" anyway, it's likely this question won't have any relevant impact on my life. Besides, there's still only one person who inhabits the exact same timeline and location line, and that is me... so even if there are similar people, everyone is still unique.

 

[SpaceYeti]

Nobody's unique.

 

[Cognisant]

Who else here has a goatee?

At least half of you are completely out of the running, another 20% are too young or Asian, so there may still be another 30% with goatees, however how many of them have been stroked by Proxy?

Even amongst the INTP community I am rare.

 

[Perfectly Normal Beast]

I often wonder at the odds that there is someone (almost) exactly like me in the world (or on another world). Finding such would in no way diminish my self-worth and would possibly reduce feelings of alienation from humanity.
Slightly off topic, i also wonder whether someone else is doing/thinking exactly the the same thing as me at any given moment (i don't mean really everyday things like sleeping etc obviously). Surely it's quite likely given that there are so many of us.

 

[Brontosaurie]

you forgot to link the test

 

[Perfectly Normal Beast]

you forgot to link the test

http://www.quotev.com/quiz/971901/How-Unique-Are-You/

I am freaky, as i suspected.

(nb this test sucks/is nonsense, i just googled it to see if there was one)

 

[Hawkeye]

I'd say that we are all individually unique as Jenny said, in the sense that we are technically all one of a kind, i.e., no two humans are exactly the same (including clones).

We literally see and interact with the the world differently. For clones, the differences are from perspectives.

However, in terms of social uniqueness we're all very similar.

 

[Cherry Cola]

I think I fulfill most of the criteria for being an eccentric:

• Nonconforming attitude
• Idealistic
• Intense curiosity
• Happy obsession with a hobby or hobbies
• Knew very early in their childhood that they were different from others
• Highly intelligent
• Opinionated and outspoken
• Unusual living or eating habits
• Sometimes not interested in the opinions or company of others
• Strong moral obligations (against infidelity, strong family values, ultrareligious)
• Mischievous sense of humor

Which I suspect that many if not most of us here do. Thus we are all unique, but not in the context of this forum where everyone is just another shade of the same color.

 

[DarkNights]

I didn't even know there was a test lol.

This is just one of those things that I took a little too seriously I guess. It's not relevant and it's not really the source of the issue either it's just how you feel about yourself.

 

[just george]

Unique is an absolute. You cannot be partially unique. You either are, or aren't. And imo each of us is.

 

[TimeAsylums]

I think I fulfill most of the criteria for being an eccentric:

• Strong moral obligations (against infidelity, strong family values, ultra religious)

Interesting criterion under being "eccentric," (unconventional/slightly strange)

Suggests that the average/mean person doesn't have strong moral obligations and that to have strong moral obligations is unconventional.

I doubt this, unless your surrounding culture finds strong moral obligations unconventional.

 

[Cherry Cola]

Yeah thought that one was odd as well : S

 

[Lot]

There very well may be someone out there exactly like me. Like Perfectly Normal Beast said. It would probably make me feel better about myself if I did meet a person exactly like me.

We all have our own particular life experiences that shape the person we are. Humans seem to have a small range of basic reactions to particular stimulus. But there are so many factors that play into a person and what makes them up. Beyond that, there seems to be a basic essence of who we are. I was always driven to be different. This wasn't a choice I made, so much as it was who I was. I would go as far as to say that it is statistically impossible to find someone exactly like you. But to find someone similar isn't as rare.

As far as other people go. Most people think that time spent with me is unique. I've often been told by people I have a unique energy, or they never met a person like me before. There are also times people say I remind them of someone else, but usually they have no rational basis for their comparison.

If there is someone exactly like me, I hope they have done more with their talents than I have.

 

[Jennywocky]

Who else here has a goatee?

...Even amongst the INTP community I am rare.

Out of respect for your unique individuality, I ended up opting for the Fu Manchu.

I know it is unique because little children run from me in the grocery. They call me, "Mamá con Bigotes de Miedo."

 

[Abe]

I'm very unique!!!! Just like everyone else.

 

[Hadoblado]

Uniqueness isn't intrinsically valuable. As others have said, I would be quite pleased to meet someone like myself.

 

[Abe]

Uniqueness isn't intrinsically valuable. As others have said, I would be quite pleased to meet someone like myself.

Agreed!

 

[ZenRaiden]

Well obviously. I am the choosen one.

 

[kvothe27]

I don't want to call myself unique because it would create a standard by which I'd judge my actions. Much better to forget all that and exist in awareness.

 

[walfin]

I used to imagine a graph with everyone on the world on it, where would the giant clusters be, where would the solitary spots be, and where would be the great big void?

Who else here has a goatee?

At least half of you are completely out of the running, another 20% are too young or Asian, so there may still be another 30% with goatees, however how many of them have been stroked by Proxy?

Even amongst the INTP community I am rare.

I am Asian and I recently decided to start keeping a mini goatee.

Though I guess there's no way I can contest the "stroked by Proxy" point.

 

[Soulreaper]

I would enjoy conversing with the other me for a time. But I would kill him because world domination plans don't have two mes in it.

 

[Jennywocky]

I would enjoy conversing with the other me for a time. But I would kill him because world domination plans don't have two mes in it.

You should use him (like a Sith Lord would) until he gets too dangerous.

Then off him.

 

[Cavallier]

I am female and an INTP. Isn't that enough? Actually, I don't really feel unique.

Also, I thought all men had goatees. Isn't it a male right of passage to try to grow one at some point?

In conclusion: If I want to be stroked by Proxy I'll just rub a frozen ice cube tray over my face.

 

[TheScornedReflex]

I am unique because I licked Proxy and Gopher IRL! That and I am just awesome.

 

[Montresor]

I am constantly trying to identify people who are 'just like me' only every time I do I am just dissatisfied/let down ... or I see how much of a danger they are and stay away completely.

Go with kvothe ... Just exist and call it good enough.

 

[BigApplePi]

Unique:

adjective: unique
1. being the only one of its kind; unlike anything else.

That's what one dictionary says. I say some of us are more uniquerer than others.

 

[Reluctantly]

I wouldn't mind meeting people that were like me. Unfortunately, part of being me means hiding a lot of stuff about me, making it near impossible to even know if I meet someone like me...lol.

 

[Soulreaper]

You should use him (like a Sith Lord would) until he gets too dangerous.

Then off him.

well you see if it was me I would expect something like that so it would come down to who's zipgun is most acurit

 

[DarkNights]

If I met someone who was exactly like me we'd freak out cause we're obsessed with being different. It'd be very unfortunate.

Anyway thanks for everyone who responded. I'm starting to think my own thoughts on this were probably . . . Skewed. It's too bad that my first real activity in this forum probably came off as an irrational question, as well as the fact that I was using the word unique in a wrong way.

 

[Septapus]

Your uniqueness will become apart of our own. Resistance if futile.
But seriously.
True originality is just another branch of the fractal and so part of a whole. I realize this and still cant order the same thing as someone else when eating out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Polaris]

Not at all. Whoever sees me in the street probably thinks I'm just whatever face in the crowd. And I prefer that; to blend in. In my mind I may dwell in some sort of unique realm, which is enough for me.

 

[Architect]

People always tell me I'm unique, but that's just because they're Sensors and all alike.

 

[PmjPmj]

Captain Obvious states that genetically speaking, we're all unique. When it comes to personality, sure - there will be similarities with other members of the great unclean. That's all I'd expect to find, though - similarities. Even if we were to visit ourselves in a parallel dimension, it's highly likely that we've taken different paths to our alternate selves, thus meaning that we'd developed differing traits, strengths / weaknesses, etc.

Unfortunately, as an INFJ I haven't come across a great many people on the same wavelength as myself; I share a shockingly similar sense of humour with my INTJ colleague, and an xNTP guy I know occasionally meets with me for a burger / beer and we chat endlessly about all kinds of intuitive gubbins. My ENFJ fiancee is similar to me, yet different enough to keep things fresh.

I've formed an extremely small circle of like-minded individuals, though I'd happily welcome more. For the most part, I certainly do identify with the 'feeling alien' evaluation slapped to my type.

 

[pixieness]

How superficial do you want my answer to be? I have a few different answers:
1) Yes, my genes make me astoundingly unique but similar to others at the same time.
2) I happen to not conform in many things so I suppose that I may be uniquer than some other people of my social circle, but of course this is a factor of my being not so satisfyed with almost everything, which then makes me feel like I don't appreciate anything and makes me hate myself. <- See what I mean? Over-analysing. You probably hate me already.
My point is that uniqueness is not necessarily a good thing.
3) Yes. I can lick my nose.

 

[Architect]

How superficial do you want my answer to be? I have a few different answers:
1) Yes, my genes make me astoundingly unique but similar to others at the same time.

Your genes are astonishingly similar to a chimpanzees, never mind another human. What makes you somewhat unique is your genetic expression.

 

[Ex-User (8886)]

You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. You're the same decaying organic matter as everything else.

x

 

[paradoxparadigm7]

Of course I'm unique and so is everyone else. The fact that I'm writing on this forum, the impact I've had on others, the impact others have had on me, my life experiences and interplays with significant people all contribute to a subtle 'flavor' (no, that doesn't mean you have to lick me )

 

[juansk]

the point is what you do about it

 

[Imaginary Numb3r]

I was about to write how people can develop themselves if they got enough self awareness... but actually you cannot compare "uniqueness". Yes, we are all unique (even though I hate to admit that). Not only genetically (not to mention epigenetic!) but also our personality as it simply consists of too many compounds, similar to DNA.

Theoretically, there is a chance that there are persons who have the same personality, but that would demand him/her having the exact same knowledge, level of intelligence, experiences, social influences and other stuff. Also, the personality is always (slightly) changing, not to mention emotions and mood...

Anyway what you should consider is that the meaning of a word and the use of a word can differ (as I mentioned in the "what is evil" thread too), so what most people are talking about is differentness, rather than being truely unique.

This is similar to arts. When you got two brilliant paintings, you can compare how one picture differs from another, but you simply can't say which one is more unique. You can say the left one has more blue whereas you can't say the right one is more beautiful. That would be merely a subjective preference.

So we have to think about what makes us more different from others. Or let's put it this way:

ALL HUMANS ARE DIFFERENT
BUT SOME HUMANS ARE MORE DIFFERENT THAN OTHERS.

Hope you got the reference

In my opinion, we decide who we are, but from what I've seen most people don't have the self awareness to do so. They feel comfortable within their roles of society and simply justify their actions with what they identify with (or other people identifies them with), rather than thinking about their own behavior.

So, it is not who you are but what you do. And another opinion of mine is, if you say that everybody is unique, it's basically the same as saying that everybody is the same.

Cheers!

 

[pixieness]

Your genes are astonishingly similar to a chimpanzees, never mind another human. What makes you somewhat unique is your genetic expression.

You're wrong.

 

[Ex-User (9086)]

What makes you unique. (Genotype+Phenotype)\\Accumulated memory.
There is very little chance that there is a being in the world that has experienced and reacted to the same things you have.

And if indeed there is a being like this, you are even more unique as a whole.
There are 7+ billion humans, true, but there are roughly "googly" 7*10^27 atoms in your body and each has unique place in the spacetime and almost unique state configuration.

If you don't feel unique, why bother? Not conforming to being unique might be unique too. And you don't get better by being unique.

 

[BigApplePi]

Since everyone is unique molecule-wise, one might look for identity ... finding out who they are and their place in society. In a kingdom, there is one king, one queen, the closest heir to the kingdom, one king's fool, one captain of the guards, one chief carpenter, one medicine man, one main concubine. Each has their place and that gets them to feel comfortable. Isn't that what we want?