I've Been Thinking...

Introspectively as usual. Actually, I have no idea where I'll go with this, but maybe it'll start with my view on "personality."

So I was having a nice chat with Brandon, a friend of mine over at William and Mary, and brought up the topic. I asked him one simple question. "Can personality be quantified?" His answer was one which I didn't expect at all. But then again, I always believe that interpretation of the question is half the answer ^_^

He went on about how people had different talents and areas of interest. One person may like soccer a lot, math somewhat, writing not at all, drawing a tiny bit, and playing frisbee a good amount. Another may like messing with computers a bunch, reading about everything, and running long distances. However, his main point centered around one fact: all of these add up to one personality. No matter what kinds aptitudes someone may have or what things he or she finds appealing, it all adds up to "1." So, in essence, all people are quantifiable in their personality, since all of their likes and talents, along with the degrees of the two, sum up to one. Wow, not at all what I was looking for, yet definitely something worth pondering about--and I have, many times before.

Now that I think about it, this was actually one of my ways for saying that "all men are created equal." (Thanks to Jeffy for that quote.) Back in the day when I sat there depressed because everybody was so much better than me at everything, I'd use this knowledge to attempt to cheer me up. I said to myself (keep in mind I was still religious back then), "God wouldn't create some people better than others. We're all the same, just add up every talent you have and it adds up to the same as someone else's. You're just not looking at it the right way." It didn't always cheer me up, but I still believe it holds some truth.

Hmmm, so speaking of depression, another thing that's popped into my mind has been my reliance on people. The best example of this would be last summer, when our little Europe group would hang out very often. That and the regular group, which was always fun. But yeah, it comes down to me hanging with people almost everyday all day long. I loved it to no ends. Really, that was the best summer I had ever had... but I digress.

I need people. Well, I would say that most of us need people, but my dependence on them has gotten pretty strong lately. I could blame summer, but that'd be kinda mean. Instead, I'll just say that I can get very attached to people, since I'm a caring person. I'm one of those who will remember the most random things people did or said and analyze all the little details. Not smart if you want to be happy, I'll say that much. But because of this, just being with people makes my life extremely enjoyable. And, you know, we tend to be with people pretty damn often. Somewhere around 90% of the time? I dunno, ask a statician or something.

Back on track: yes, I need people. My biggest fear is that all of the people I knew would just leave me alone for the rest of my life. It's a scary thing and, while it is somewhat of an unfounded fear, I really hope that it will never truly happen.

Right, now that I got that out I can give you all what I think on the quantification of personality. Brandon's idea was ridiculously interesting, but I had a more physical approach to it. I meant, could you take someone's brain--their "personality" that is--and take a sort of snapshot of it and then reconstruct a perfect replica. A replica which was, in essence, the same person. Just the right number of chemicals here and there and the right shape and the cells in the right spot. Would it be the exact same person? I believe so, but obviously there's no solid proof. And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, then you should read this.

All in all, my little personality theory stemmed from a curious thought: "Did everything have to happen the way it did?" Since everything seems to be caused by something else--cause and effect--then doesn't it seem like there really is no alternative? I dunno. I'm guessing most people would look at me and think me a freak for thinking this, still I think it's an interesting path to take. If you followed it, you may be able to disprove "free will." Hmmm, maybe more on this later.

Not a sermon, just a thought.