Are people really all that different?, Daily ponderings Options

[Witless]

I been thinking lately.. that rare and seldom thing I do.

Are people really so different from each other.. I mean any two people you'll ever find, are we really that different from one another at all.

If aliens came down to earth and saw what we'd consider two opposite personalities.. from their point of view would they think we're daft for considering such subtle differences huge?

I started on this line of thinking after hearing from a black catholic guy talking about his eastern europeon muslim wife. People always ask him if he found it hard being in a marriage with someone so different from himself. I can't quote exactly what he said (because it was spoken.. and I can't remember word for word). But basically he said that, He and his wife, both wanted to be happy, both wanted to eat regularly, wanted to be sucessful in the world, both had dreams, both had ambitions, both believed in something bigger than themselves, both liked physical contact with each other, and both even liked marmite. The fact that the little minor details of those things differed between them was no different than having different favorite colours.
He also went on to point out that people that claim they are opposite to someone else are just trying too hard to focus on the subtle things that make us different, and ignoring all the major things that make us the same.

I been mulling over what he said, and it's seems so true. Consider how similar people essentially are. Yet sense of pride and desire to feel unique means way too many reject that in favour of pointing out how their subtle small differences are so great. I'm well aware every person is different, but.. not THAT different.
Would it really hurt people's pride once and a while to feel how similar we all are to one another? I certainly know it wouldn't hurt to once and a while feel part of the big human race club.

National pride, racial pride, class pride, they all come from this desire to seperate ourselves from feeling on a level with anyone a special few. But seriously I don't really think people are that different, not in any major way.

Genetically every human is actually so similar, there is less genetic diversity amonst the whole human race, than your average group of 50 chimpanzees that are all within the same troop. Socially we're only different due to different cultures and family traditions.. so any person will just adapt to where they are.

What do you guys think? Are we all that different? Are our differences just subtle things that people focus on?
Or are we all quite very different from each other? Would an alien come down from another planet and see us as differently from one another as we often do ourselves?

[EvilSpork]

We claim to meet extremely unique people. We do, in the small details, but even if there are other people exactly like them we don't know them.

There are 6 billion people in the world, and counting, but we'll never know them all. Nobody is truely unique or special, but in an individuals life they are and that's what matters. We're never going to know these 6 billion other people, so they don't matter to us, they aren't unique to our lives, and that's the way it is.

[gothictheysay]

People in general have many large similarities; I think people are more alike than they are different.

But every single person, when you get down to specifics, is different from another. There aren't any exact copies of people.

[Astarael]

I'm going to make my usual cheap analogy for this topic and say that people are like snowflakes. At first glance many of them look the same, they can all be destroyed the same way, and lots of them can do more than one alone. However, each one is very different when you look closely and each one will fall in a different path and land in a different place.
I'm not sure how clear that was, but I do belive that we sometimes focus too much on our differences and ignore the things that link all humans together.

[Calantyr]

There are many simularities between people, there are also many differences.

The simularities enable us to have such things a societies. Cities. Also a mutual recognition of humanity. Our differences mark us as individuals.

Anyone can find common ground with others if they bother to open their eyes. They can also find themselves on completely opposite sides of the fence on many issues.

But anyone who likes marmite is beyond redemption.

[Witless]

I think people blow their differences all out of proportions.
For example some birds can recognise their partners call amonst thousands, although from our point of view we can't distinguish one bird from another.

From a human's biased perspective we're as different from one another as you can get. But if you let your mind try and take a step back from yourself for a moment. It's hard to do, but you can do it. What we call differences between people are so minor.
Is differing on what political parties we agree with, what music tastes we like, and what types of jokes we find funny, really make us so different from each other.
I am sometimes astonished by people claiming they are opposite from each other on the basis of, one like romantic films and one like actions. That's all it takes for people to be opposites? I find that entirely weird. Of all the similarities you can find with any person you can meet, people will make that much effort to focus in on their favorite film choice. The fact that they are both film fans escapes them.. but the fact that they like different types of films is all important... hum..

[Saratina]

It really depends on what sort of differences you're looking for. If you're referring to very universal things, such as the desire to survive and be happy, obviously you're not going to find a lot of variety. If you focus on more subtle variations like life goals--one person's goal is to fall in love, another's is to leave a lasting mark on the world--or ways of approaching life--one may take the "go with the flow" approach, while another is determined to change things--people really are as diverse as they claim to be.

Although the word "diversity" is sorely abused as of late, but that's a different rant for a different thread.

[Calantyr]

*stuff*

Indeed, many people seem to focuss on 'differences' that are completely superficial. So you both like reading different genres of books, do you? One likes fantasy, the other likes romance? Well guess what! At least both of you enjoy reading, full stop!

Perhaps one person enjoys drinking stout, the other prefers alco-pops? So what? At least you can still enjoy a night out getting wasted together.

However things can get more difficult when it comes to heartfelt issues such as religion.

One persons harmless pastime is anothers most perverse sin. And if one will truly believe that those who indulge in it will go straight to hell, that they are sub-human... well there you have it. In some cases it is impossible to recognise that certain aspects of a person are acceptable simply because it would then shatter their world-view.

People do not like having everything they hold dear being derrided and put to the question. It does not matter that it seems trivial to you or I, to some it defines who they are.

This can be applied (to a greater or lesser extent) to the whole range of human experience. Think of the ongoing war between chavs and the rest of humanity (yeah ). We may like many of the same things. We both lead a life in search of happiness, pleasure, stability. We like alcohol, films, perhaps sport. However I still think that there are many things that set these different groups apart. There is common ground, but also diversity.

Maybe they are not glaringly distinct, but you can still see the edges.