What Makes Us Unique

Often times in a capitalist society, it is known that not everyone is equal. However, you have the ability to shape who you want to become. Often times in literature as well as in real life people struggle to find one's identity. What makes a certain person so unique? Is it solely based upon personality or is it also how other people in your society perceive you as? A little bit of both; “Jean Baudrillard argued that we are now living in a consumer society where much of our lives is defined not by our productive work but by what we consume and how we consume it. The postmodern world is in fact characterized by hyper consumption, which involves consuming more than we need, more than we really want, and more than we can afford.” (Essentials of Sociology, Ritzer, 44). This is proven in the lives of adolescent children specifically in high school. We often try to impress others as well as simply like living a glamorous life.

“Build your character thoughtfully and painstakingly upon these precepts, and by and by, when you have got it built, you will be surprised and gratified to see how nicely and sharply it resembles everybody else’s” (639). One’s character or identity determines where you fit into society. Identity is who a person or thing is, or is classified as. Most people judge their social identity by comparing themselves to others. They accomplish this by comparing what they have in common, and by what they have accomplished in their lives so far. People try to find their identity by evaluating all their different types of roles they acquire on a daily basis.

In general we differentiate between two “kinds” of identity. On the one hand there is the so called social identity, which stresses self-interpretation as a member of a certain social group and on the other hand there is the personal identity, which puts it´s emphasis on individuality and distinctiveness. This distinction is widely known as “patchwork-identity”. Both identities are only a subgroup of many different subjectively interpreted identities that everyone of us has innate.

Different personality, believes, identity and behavior makes a person unique. Identity is one's self representation in the world. Who I am, really makes up my identity. Personal traits make me appear towards the world. My worldview incorporates of different concepts and suppositions. It helps to decode my issues in my life. As I continue to evolve, my identity, status and my worldview shape me.

Since we live in this biological culture, identities appear potentially to be explicable in biological terms and increasingly in terms of the genetic makeup. The sickness of humans, which includes their personalities, capacities, passions, or the forces that mobilizes us, this is what creates our identifies.

It is one of the most common questions asked: What similarities and differences exist among us? What, as humans, makes us so incredibly different, and at the same time, unexplainably similar? Are we more diverse, or more similar? The article, “Japan and United States Come Together at Pearl Harbor Memorial”, and the essay, “Words To Sit In, Like Chairs”, shed light on this question.

Humans have made tremendous strides in learning about our early ancestors, but many questions remain about how and why we are what we are today, and there are as many theories. Chris Stringer, author of Lone Survivors, attempts to answer some of those questions. The question of “what makes us human” is a complicated one, with many different answers. Human beings evolved into what we are today not only through evolutions in genetics, brain size and body size, but also through our behaviors. So much about our behavior is unique, including a belief in a higher power, the art we create, and our stone tools, and is a major part of what makes us, us. Everything we are able to do today is, in part, because of our ability to think abstract and use symbols to carry our ideas through generations. There is not just one thing that makes us who we are, but a culmination of all sorts of behaviors and traits that we have evolved over hundreds of thousands of years.

Our identity - encompassing numerous elements of being, among which: family, profession, culture, religion, sexuality, personality and emotions - is of unimaginable complexity, such that in a metaphorical sense it may be portrayed as infinite.

Society should not be sensitive about others opinions on how they look. Everyone is unique, and ever has a different body type such as; short and thicker, tall and skinny, brown hair or black hair, blue or brown eyes, whatever the case maybe just know everyone is beautiful in their own way. The opinions of the media should not defy or bring everyone down. Imagine humans were all built the same it would be boring and repetitious. Uniqueness in physical appearance is what makes society so special as human beings. Society should not compare themselves to the person next to them. Society should be happy in their own skin and love every flaw an individual has because in all actuality no one sees those flaws except that individual. So, advice to any individual out there, love the uniqueness that they have, it will make an individual feel much better.Approximately 91 percent of women are not happy with their appearance and turn to dieting to achieve what they consider “the ideal body shape.” (Gale Cengage Reading). This study continued to show about 58 percent of college-aged girls feel they need to be a certain weight to be considered attractive. Remember these key points to an ideal body: Treat your body with respect, give it enough rest, fuel it with a variety of foods (no crazy diets), and exercise moderately (National Eating Disorder Association). Doing all those things will make individuals feel better about themselves regardless of size. Stay away from the pressure to

What makes us distinctive from everyone else? Everyone in the world has a different story. People are different colors and from different countries. We have different personalities, behave differently, but this doesn’t build who we really are. What really builds us up is our personal background, the state where we were born. Our nationality is the main key that makes every individual so distinct from one another. Many countries have their own customs, lifestyles, and culture. There are many individuals who migrate from their country and come to America. They often do is because they want a better future for themselves or for their family. It is very difficult because they have to adapt to a different lifestyle. Three people who are part of my life have migrated to the United States. My sister migrated from Central America when she was nine years old with my mother. Also, my boyfriend migrated from Central America about three years ago. During their migration, they overcame many obstacles. Our personal background is the key aspect that differs us from every other individual.

Diversity is the essence of the word unique. Diversity allows humans to acquire knowledge from fresh experiences, broadening the tendency to be narrow-minded. Diversity makes its prominent presence known in the work place, social groups/communities, and, of course, our home, Penn State. Finally, diversity brings innovation, allowing the world to progress in various aspects; however, without the division of paramount of diversity, referred to as biological diversity, life as the world knows it would cease to exist. Biodiversity is often times concealed to the naked eye. While there is an assortment of diverse organisms on the macroscopic level, biodiversity truly shines at a microscopic state. The diverse biological environment that homo sapiens thrive in can be attributed to the “little guys” or microorganisms, who have benefited humans in the past, present, and, will, in the future. Biodiversity is an essential facet to life on earth, benefitting not only myself, but all humans; therefore, it should be measured and protected from threats, for without it life would, simply, not exist.

We all have a different perspective of who we are and what we are meant to achieve in life. Some of us think that living in the moment is making the best of life, while some of us believe that we are put in earth to achieve something more and leave a mark behind. Though there has never been and without doubt will not be for some time a “right” answer for the question, which is the purpose of human life, each of us would like to think that we have it all figured out. All this variation to our perspectives is what makes us different, what makes us unique and helps us develop all of our preferences. And like every other thing, we do have preferences in our job careers and an ultimate goal that they will yield as well. Our personality dictates the kind of job that we want, the way that we would like to do the job and our perspective as to the objectives that the job will fulfill, this ultimately means that employee performance can in fact be predicted if one is to study well the personality of the employee.

What is that makes us who really we are ? There is no doubt that identity defines who we are. All over the world, all scientist and people want to understand that things affect our identity. There are two main reasons that affect us. These are our family and friends (nurture) and our genetics (nature). However some people think that there is another more complicated answer. People think about this situation because they wonder why their children become strangers. David Cohen who is a psychologist and also writer of ‘Stranger in the Nest’ he claims genetics (nature) is the most effective impact in our identity. I agree with Cohen about genetics have big influence on identity and for making children strangers to their families because of the evidence in the twin studies.

‘It is not entirely possible to answer the question what is identity?’ (Lawler, 2008). Identity as a term is quite difficult to define adequately in the sense that it is a contradictory phrase explaining both sameness and uniqueness. Many theorists such as Marcia and Erikson have attempted to answer this difficult question but rather define the process and identified the influences as there is not an exact definition for this complex process. The word itself derives from a Latin lexes item which means identical, supporting the fact that people often express who they are through common identities with others. Such as women, men even teachers. However in a contradicting sense people also achieve a sense of identity through uniqueness, relying on ‘not being something else’ (Lawler, 2008). This combination ultimately represents a ‘balance between self and others’.

Individuation is the formation of identity and personality traits in an individual. A highly debated topic in many psychology fields, individuation versus birth identity is a matter that is argued time and time again. Many people believe that everyone is born with their identity, so their character is given at birth and cannot be shaped throughout their lives. The author Larry Lehna, a student at University of Michigan-Dearborn; Dana Canedy, an author and editor for the New York Times; and Andy Hinds, a blogger for Dadcentric and the New York Times exemplify how identity is shaped through life experiences, such as stigmas and societal pressures to conform.