Saponification
A piece of nothing
- Jun 27, 2024
- 190
You want the world to validate you but what is "you"?
Some think they actually get to choose who they are. But you never had any control over who you are or what you think. You don't react to the world, the world reacted to you. And you adapted.
The self is illusive. "You" are just a survival machine and there's nothing special about you. Your personality and identity is just the result of a series of adaptations based on what gave you validation, one of many basic human needs. Mommy or daddy said you were a smart kid? Nowadays all you do is study obsessively to keep up with your identity and get extremely depressed when you are behind academically. Your friends always laughed when they were around you? Nowadays you're the guy who's always cracking jokes. People think they defined themselves because later in life identity simply stops shifting once you find one that's comfortable enough.
And values? You have values because they give you an identity. You like saying you're the honest guy, or the kind guy, or the hardworking guy insofar as it validates you. You have never truly been tested on your values. Humans are not virtuous creatures.
What defines "you" then?
Your face? Look up François Brunelle's "Je Ne Suis Pas Un Sosie", your face is not unique.
Personality? an adaptation.
Values? same thing.
You desperately want the world to validate "you" as if there is a "you" in the first place. "You" are a series of adaptations, "you" are part of a chain of causes and consequences. There's nothing intrinsical about "you". In and of itself, "you" are nothing.
Some think they actually get to choose who they are. But you never had any control over who you are or what you think. You don't react to the world, the world reacted to you. And you adapted.
The self is illusive. "You" are just a survival machine and there's nothing special about you. Your personality and identity is just the result of a series of adaptations based on what gave you validation, one of many basic human needs. Mommy or daddy said you were a smart kid? Nowadays all you do is study obsessively to keep up with your identity and get extremely depressed when you are behind academically. Your friends always laughed when they were around you? Nowadays you're the guy who's always cracking jokes. People think they defined themselves because later in life identity simply stops shifting once you find one that's comfortable enough.
And values? You have values because they give you an identity. You like saying you're the honest guy, or the kind guy, or the hardworking guy insofar as it validates you. You have never truly been tested on your values. Humans are not virtuous creatures.
What defines "you" then?
Your face? Look up François Brunelle's "Je Ne Suis Pas Un Sosie", your face is not unique.
Personality? an adaptation.
Values? same thing.
You desperately want the world to validate "you" as if there is a "you" in the first place. "You" are a series of adaptations, "you" are part of a chain of causes and consequences. There's nothing intrinsical about "you". In and of itself, "you" are nothing.
