Lately I have been fixated on trying to answer the question,
"What is it that makes me special?" Sure, this question is
philosophical, but I have been contemplating it nonetheless. I am sure
that everyone has heard the phrase "People are like snowflakes, no two are
alike" [If you read this like George Bailey at the end of "It's a
Wonderful Life" you'll get the full effect]. Of course, that is the
optimistic view. The pessimistic phrase is something like,
"Everybody's special, just like everyone else" [If you make your
voice sound like Eeyore you'll get the full effect for this one]. So,
what is it that makes me special? What is it that makes me different from
the 7 billion other people on Earth? I'll try to stay between the
extremes of George and Eeyore.
I sure you remember Venn diagrams from school at some point. You know, those three perfectly overlapping circles that you saw in a math class somewhere. I'm in the same boat as you, they are a nice visual aid, but aren't very exciting.
Would it be possible for me to draw enough circles of life experiences in my theoretical Venn diagram to identify myself uniquely? Probably, but that would require a number of circles.
I race in triathlons, so that puts me in the same circle as over 100,000 other people just in the U.S.
I am an actuary, but I share that job with 20,000 others just in the U.S.
I was a table games dealer for a year in Las Vegas. I don't know how many casino dealers there are in Vegas, but I'll guess 4,000 current and 40,000 former.
...
If I continue this for a while, eventually I'll have drawn enough circles so that I am the only person that fits all the criteria. Would this then make me unique? Special?
Well, yes and no. Yes to unique because I drew enough circles so that only I qualify. However, I don't think that qualifies me as special. My reasoning is that you can draw enough circles of life events and eventually you will be able to identify anybody uniquely.
So, I haven't laid out anything that qualifies as special in terms of grand life events. I don't think minor life events would work; they would suffer the same logic.
Would this apply to all physiological characteristics? We have entire fields of study devoted to finding commonalities in the physiological space. Look at any hospital, doctor's office, or medical school. Since I don't have some unique disease [as far as I know, hehe], I don’t believe this one will work either.
I'm sure the same reasoning could be applied to my physical or chemical properties as well.
Is it true that I could reduce the possible areas down to just how I think, feel, and communicate? Is it possible there is something in those areas that could make me special? The answer to that one is a definite maybe.
I just don't know what that item is or what those items are yet. I guess if I knew the answer to that one, I would be able to define my purpose. Until then, I guess I have no better answer to Douglas Adams' question of the meaning of life than his "42".
I sure you remember Venn diagrams from school at some point. You know, those three perfectly overlapping circles that you saw in a math class somewhere. I'm in the same boat as you, they are a nice visual aid, but aren't very exciting.
Would it be possible for me to draw enough circles of life experiences in my theoretical Venn diagram to identify myself uniquely? Probably, but that would require a number of circles.
I race in triathlons, so that puts me in the same circle as over 100,000 other people just in the U.S.
I am an actuary, but I share that job with 20,000 others just in the U.S.
I was a table games dealer for a year in Las Vegas. I don't know how many casino dealers there are in Vegas, but I'll guess 4,000 current and 40,000 former.
...
If I continue this for a while, eventually I'll have drawn enough circles so that I am the only person that fits all the criteria. Would this then make me unique? Special?
Well, yes and no. Yes to unique because I drew enough circles so that only I qualify. However, I don't think that qualifies me as special. My reasoning is that you can draw enough circles of life events and eventually you will be able to identify anybody uniquely.
So, I haven't laid out anything that qualifies as special in terms of grand life events. I don't think minor life events would work; they would suffer the same logic.
Would this apply to all physiological characteristics? We have entire fields of study devoted to finding commonalities in the physiological space. Look at any hospital, doctor's office, or medical school. Since I don't have some unique disease [as far as I know, hehe], I don’t believe this one will work either.
I'm sure the same reasoning could be applied to my physical or chemical properties as well.
Is it true that I could reduce the possible areas down to just how I think, feel, and communicate? Is it possible there is something in those areas that could make me special? The answer to that one is a definite maybe.
I just don't know what that item is or what those items are yet. I guess if I knew the answer to that one, I would be able to define my purpose. Until then, I guess I have no better answer to Douglas Adams' question of the meaning of life than his "42".
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