Personalities
Personalities come in so many varieties in this multi-hued palette that we call existence. Would we really want it any other way? This large assortment of mental textures is what truly makes life interesting. Sure... we could all be the same... Yeah... it would be very easy to understand each other then. Yet, how boring would that be? It is that quest for understanding... for a furthered sense of perception... that makes waking up every day something different. Close encounters.... gazes from afar... there would be no real reason or meaning behind actually getting to know someone if we were all the same. It would be obvious what every individual was feeling or thinking to every other individual. So, what would be the benefit for any interpersonal actions? There would be no spice... nothing to spark our interests. In fact, it is these differences in each and every one of us that pull us together.... and, yet, hold us apart. Disagreements can lead to a gained sense of knowledge regarding the world around you. However, they can also lead to arguments and war.
Would we fight with ourselves if we were all the same – in some monotone world with no person to person interest that pushes us to involve ourselves with others? My first thought was that, however boring a world like that tends to seem, we would not have a reason to fight with each other. Then, I thought about it some more. Have you ever fought with yourself? A basic psychology class teaches of the idea or theory of the Id, the Ego, and the Super Ego. Each of these elements provide a different motivating/de-motivating factor to the actions of every individual's mind... to their overall thought process. Do they conflict with each other? Of course they do. In fact, all three are in a constant battle with each other. So, if we were all the same, would we all be on the same mental clock when these battles occur? The only standard in a world where everyone was the same would be the idea of the Id. It holds our basic drives For pleasure and Against displeasure... basically, it is part of our personality's foundation from birth and sometime before. The ego and super ego are very much influenced by our environments. So, can there be a world where everyone is truly the same?
If the world was roamed by people who all had the same personality they actually wouldn't all have the exact same personality. The variable of the planet on which we live would shape these 'clones' into individuals after all. Earth is not a terrarium. Temperatures, terrains, and quantities of food differ so much from point A to point B that not even complete genetic clones could expect to have the same personalties forever. After all, life experience dictates much of who you become. The battles between the Id, Ego, and Super Ego serve to decide just how much these experiences will change you and in which direction these changes will occur. Even if you started fresh with no humans on Earth then suddenly were able to somehow repopulate the planet with 6 billion infant clones – then feed and nurture them all in the same manner until they could fend for themselves, personalities would still begin to differ not long after you left them to grow.
Changes wouldn't be extreme at first. Differentiations would be, to a large extent, only seen in between long distances. Individuals at close proximity to one another would be living in near identical environments. They would have no need early on to change their actions. However, across the planet the changes would come much faster. Continent to continent, region to region, groups of people would begin adapting the the environment around them. Just as happened with the earliest humans, groups would form... the cultures... civilizations... As generations pass, one group would teach their offspring differently than would another group. The personality differences will have finally developed a solid root base in a world which began with everyone being the same. The changes would continue to mutate with every consecutive generation.
At some point, cultures would meet... they would disagree... we can hope that the outcome would be a furthered understanding of each other... because, at the start, they were all - of course - the same... but, more than likely, disagreements would probably lead to arguments... then war. And, over the course of time... thousands of years, there would be many agreements and dis agreements... Promises will be made and broken... New life will come to formation and old life will meet its conclusion... some cultural doors will be opened and some will be closed... people will travel back and forth – exchanging their ideas no matter how different they are from those of their counter parts. Some people will learn to embrace individuality as well as everything that makes them different from everyone else. Yet, they will forget to embrace the things that make everyone else different from them. And, at the end of the day... when the last ray of sun slips behind the stage curtain we call a horizon... All off the people will have long forgotten that 'their peoples' were all the same 'people' at one point in time.
Would we fight with ourselves if we were all the same – in some monotone world with no person to person interest that pushes us to involve ourselves with others? My first thought was that, however boring a world like that tends to seem, we would not have a reason to fight with each other. Then, I thought about it some more. Have you ever fought with yourself? A basic psychology class teaches of the idea or theory of the Id, the Ego, and the Super Ego. Each of these elements provide a different motivating/de-motivating factor to the actions of every individual's mind... to their overall thought process. Do they conflict with each other? Of course they do. In fact, all three are in a constant battle with each other. So, if we were all the same, would we all be on the same mental clock when these battles occur? The only standard in a world where everyone was the same would be the idea of the Id. It holds our basic drives For pleasure and Against displeasure... basically, it is part of our personality's foundation from birth and sometime before. The ego and super ego are very much influenced by our environments. So, can there be a world where everyone is truly the same?
If the world was roamed by people who all had the same personality they actually wouldn't all have the exact same personality. The variable of the planet on which we live would shape these 'clones' into individuals after all. Earth is not a terrarium. Temperatures, terrains, and quantities of food differ so much from point A to point B that not even complete genetic clones could expect to have the same personalties forever. After all, life experience dictates much of who you become. The battles between the Id, Ego, and Super Ego serve to decide just how much these experiences will change you and in which direction these changes will occur. Even if you started fresh with no humans on Earth then suddenly were able to somehow repopulate the planet with 6 billion infant clones – then feed and nurture them all in the same manner until they could fend for themselves, personalities would still begin to differ not long after you left them to grow.
Changes wouldn't be extreme at first. Differentiations would be, to a large extent, only seen in between long distances. Individuals at close proximity to one another would be living in near identical environments. They would have no need early on to change their actions. However, across the planet the changes would come much faster. Continent to continent, region to region, groups of people would begin adapting the the environment around them. Just as happened with the earliest humans, groups would form... the cultures... civilizations... As generations pass, one group would teach their offspring differently than would another group. The personality differences will have finally developed a solid root base in a world which began with everyone being the same. The changes would continue to mutate with every consecutive generation.
At some point, cultures would meet... they would disagree... we can hope that the outcome would be a furthered understanding of each other... because, at the start, they were all - of course - the same... but, more than likely, disagreements would probably lead to arguments... then war. And, over the course of time... thousands of years, there would be many agreements and dis agreements... Promises will be made and broken... New life will come to formation and old life will meet its conclusion... some cultural doors will be opened and some will be closed... people will travel back and forth – exchanging their ideas no matter how different they are from those of their counter parts. Some people will learn to embrace individuality as well as everything that makes them different from everyone else. Yet, they will forget to embrace the things that make everyone else different from them. And, at the end of the day... when the last ray of sun slips behind the stage curtain we call a horizon... All off the people will have long forgotten that 'their peoples' were all the same 'people' at one point in time.
posted by Faded Ninja at 4:50 PM
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