Who are you? You are who?

[Black_Bird]

Concentrate on one thing that defines you. I am a male This thing that defines who you are, is it the only thing that defines you? No. Then why do you let it define you at all? Because it is what I've always been. No. Think back. When did you first realize that you were a male? I don't know; I must have been too young to remember. How would you have learned that you were male? I guess, my parents would have told me. And where you a male before that time? Yes. But did it define you? Yes. By who's standards? Them; they; everyone else. Then they define who you are? No. It defines what I am, not who I am

Then what defines who you are? My preferences. What are your preferences? I like licorice and funny little mediating statues. I prefer a warm rain over a sunny day. I prefer cats over dogs. Does any one preference define who you are completely? No, but they are peices of who I am. So all the peices when put together, make who you are? Yes. So if we made a list of all your preferences, we would know exactly who you were? No. Then your preferences do not define who you are. No, I guess not.

What defines who you are? My experiences. My history. Are you the same person you were five years ago? No. What defines you? My attitudes and actions. Have you ever come to regret an action? Do you realy want those actions to define who you are? No, No. You're attitudes? Do they change? If you're pissed off one moment, does it define you as being angry? Does it define who you are? No, no, no. Then WHAT defines who you are?

Don't you have an answer? Don't you have even the slightest idea? WHO ARE YOU?

I don't know.

 

[AzureAngel]

You're just getting at the search for an "essential self," which I personally don't think exists. I wouldn't want to find a static "me"... what a hell that would be. Unable to improve your situation or get really anywhere. "This is how you are, too bad, sucks to be you."

Maybe it's just that I don't care for the idea of being limited.

 

[MorgaineLaFay]

Weird. I was thinking about this very thing today when I was driving. Asking myself WHO I was. I tried over & over to work it out in my head...and all I came up with is that I am a very complex person. Most don't see this, because I don't let them.

Also..I never let being female or say..that I am married define who I am. Being a wife, a widow, girlfriend whatever...doesn't tell you shit about me.

My brain is in knots now....

 

[Black_Bird]

You're just getting at the search for an "essential self," which I personally don't think exists. I wouldn't want to find a static "me"... what a hell that would be. Unable to improve your situation or get really anywhere. "This is how you are, too bad, sucks to be you."

Actually, I disagree; I think we are really all the same person. We, I, Eye, are all one person.

Maybe it's just that I don't care for the idea of being limited.

Niether do we.

 

[AzureAngel]

Actually, I disagree; I think we are really all the same person. We, I, Eye, are all one person.

Just how it sounded from your post. Heh. I didn't sleep last night. Give me a break.

 

[Black_Bird]

Just how it sounded from your post. Heh. I didn't sleep last night. Give me a break.

No! Your opinion is just as valid as ours.

 

[Guest]

The answer does not matter - it is irrelevant, since that which we define as "the self" is something that is continuously changing, unable to be truly defined. Kinda like the weather. But it's fun to ponder....

"I am the TICK!!!"

 

[Black_Bird]

The answer does not matter - it is irrelevant, since that which we define as "the self" is something that is continuously changing, unable to be truly defined. Kinda like the weather. But it's fun to ponder....

Is it continuously changing? How do you know if you've never went to the depths and back to find out?

 

[Guest]

Well, how could you put a definition of when it might change? Every 5 years? 1 year? 6 months? 1 month? 1 week? 1 hour? You get the idea. We are constantly changing based on our daily experiences. On 9/11 everyone changed the minute we got the news - that is a pretty clear example. A death of someone can also be an example of an instant change.

But as far as your depths question, if a loved one died and you thought you'd reached the depths, but the next day is 9/11, you may then have a new definition of the depths based on your most recent experiences.

I know those are extreme examples, but lesser ones might inclure an epipheny (sp) or some type of learning that can change you. Childbirth. Etc.

 

[aussie-Couple]

I am Sam -- Yes I am!

 

[Black_Bird]

... a new definition of the depths based on your most recent experiences.

... so close, yet so far away.

 

[heterotic]

I am that I am...?

Without taking the easy way out and claiming an eternal soul or spirit, all I can say is that I'm the sum of my genetic potential, environment up to this time, and random quantum fluctuations.

 

[Black_Bird]

I am that I am...?

Without taking the easy way out and claiming an eternal soul or spirit, all I can say is that I'm the sum of my genetic potential, environment up to this time, and random quantum fluctuations.

*chuckles* Are you?

 

[Guest]

Interesting topic.....

I am.

I am, therefore I have the right to be.

We have been trying to define ourselves since the beginning of time itself.

This is not the question, but the quest.

IMHO.

Moon

 

[scylis]

if you ask me "what do you want" next, i smack you.

 

[Black_Bird]

This is not the question, but the quest.

Yes, but if you don't continue moving on that quest, you yourself grow stagnant, just as you would if you thought you knew the answer. A quest doesn't wait for long.

 

[Black_Bird]

if you ask me "what do you want" next, i smack you.

Homosexual S&M?

 

[scylis]

nope. bad experience with a pair of the First Ones. (anchient races of the galaxy, for those who don't know)

 

[GreenEyedGirl]

I may not be able to tell you exactly who I am, because that person is in a constant state of flux and change, but I can tell you that I am not anyone else. As far as I know anyway!

 

[riff]

I stepped into the underground and the breeze blew back my hair
I remember throwin' punches around and preechin from my chair...
well who are you......
cuz I really wanna know
come on, tell me, who are you.....
aw, who the fuck are you.......
tell me.....

(instrumental....)

 

[heterotic]

Am I Brahma? Am I part of the cosmic collective from Childhood's End?


No, I think I'm Mr. Rogers.
No, GySgt Hartmann from Full Metal Jacket.

Er... Perhaps an ant crawling along a single-sided figure in an M.C. Escher drawing?

 

[concrete]

...i think therefore i am

...my cement head hurts now..

 

[Guest]

Yes, but if you don't continue moving on that quest, you yourself grow stagnant, just as you would if you thought you knew the answer. A quest doesn't wait for long.

Exactly!!

And, a quest never truly ends...unless you argue that it is an end in itself...

 

[JazzManJim]

I decided for myself a long time ago two things.

First, that I am whoever I choose to be when I wake up in the morning.

Second, that I may be what I wish, when I wish. That might be very difficult in some cases, but it is, short of breaking the laws of physics and biology as we know them, not impossible. We are always bounded by natural laws. Outside of those, everything's game.

If I wish to be a woman, then I will make myself so. If I wish to be black, then that's doable, too. If I want to be President of the United States, or a Mullah in Iran, then I can be. These things may take incredible amounts of work, money, and determination, but almost nothing is out of the realm of possibility.

 

[SlowHand89]

.......but I can tell you that I am not anyone else. As far as I know anyway!

Are you sure? Have you ever done something you weren't proud of and then wondered what the hell you did it for? Maybe it was something as simple as agreeing with someone's opinion when in fact you are very oppsosed to it, just to keep the peace or... for whatever reason. When you go against your better judgement, are you being 'you'? You may not be someone else, but are you "you'?

Deviation is not the same as growth. I find whenever I deviate from the path I think I should take, I end up needing other people to help make my decisions. And then I get more lossed and I don't trust my own instincts.

For example, a friend of mine told me to check out the BB on Lit. I always used to read the stories. I finally did it to shut him up and now..... I can't get out. I mean I came in, started eavesdropping on people's conversations, attempted to start up a few myself and then when I felt like leaving I couldn't find the door. Can't find anyone who works here to show me the way out. And I'm starting to think my friend ditched me! hell. It's been....... four months. FUCK.