What Makes A Person Who They Are? Since we have a new Debate Forum I thought I may as well put it to use. It's not a new question by any means but I'm interested as to what other people think, mainly due to me being undecided myself. So what is it that makes a person who they are? EDIT:The question is less about "what is a person" but more "what is it that makes a certain individual who they are." In other words, how much would need to be changed for Bob Smith to no longer be Bob Smith?
Well, first, we would have to define what we mean by "person" For example, do we consider unborn children persons? How about children under the age of three? Do they have enough different characteristics to be considered people?
A homosapien that has the ability to think and comprehend, even on the most basic level. As Dan says, define person. Which context are we using it in here?
It's a vague question to which I'll respond with an incredibly generalized, yet also specific answer. (Wow look at that, already at it.) A person can be anything you choose to define it as. It could be simply something sentient, or simply something that is personified in the appropriate manner. While it may not retain human qualities per say, it may still be considered a person due to certain unspoken qualifications. Here's where things gets a little bit complicated. Look at a wide variety of characters found throughout time, more specifically, look at a character you enjoy and follow closely, or a character of you own creation. As a person progresses through their natural life it's only obvious that they change and adapt to their environment. The same could be said for a well-made character, as they tend to usually progress themselves as their creator does in unison. While this may not necessarily be considered a person, to the one who can be credited with their creation it may seem entirely so because their creator knows everything about them: What makes them happy What makes them sad Their hopes Their fears Their dreams Everything. It sounds awfully human to me, but is it a person? Hell if I know really.
In that case, the question really becomes "Does one have to exist to be a person?" And that begs the question of how we define existence. Do fictional character exist? If yes, then can we apply all our senses to them to prove that they do so? If no, then how is it that we often react to them as if they do? I'm going to go ahead and say the former makes more sense, because we CAN experience fictional characters in all senses.
"I think therefore I am." Also, at Dan's above post. They exist within our minds. They aren't tangible, but they exist. Correct?
Much like my tulpa, Snow. Anyways, glad to see this isn't a 'corporations are people/not people' kinda thing. So I will list my definition of a person: Is conscience Is capable of free thought Is able to at least partially reason Can walk on two legs Is genetically descended from the species homo sapiens sapiens (Modern humans)
Very Dan very true. I shouldn't be starting threads the moment I wake up. Is a bit isn't it :derpe: I'll see I can narrow things down a bit, I realise this question also leads to many others, as Dan pointed out with his question about under 3s. So, for argument's sake, I'll set some limitations. Let's say where talking about Bob Smith (a hypothetical Bob Smith), he's a 40 year old male living an average western cultured lifestyle. The question is less about "what is a person" but more "what is it that makes a certain individual who they are." In other words, how much would need to be changed for Bob Smith to no longer be Bob Smith? I think I'll add to the title a bit.
To me, a person is a human. Their feelings make them a person. Everyone is different. Therefore, no person is made of the same thing. This is what my father told me when I asked him, so I passed is knowledge on.
I seem to recall having a debate on this question just a few months back with Sparky and Snow. In it's simplest terms, in my opinion anyway, was experience. This of course can be drawn out into many difference type of experience: Enjoyable Indoctrination Violent It all stems down to what the person experienced within their life that determines who they turned out to be, because the guy who's funny and has the sense of humor didn't just pick it up spontaneously. He learned it.
What happens if they were to no longer remember their experiences, say from some kind of head injury, are they still the same person. Or what if they only recall 80% of their experiences, are they only 80% of themselves?
That's still a rather vague circumstance you're providing, because much of who we are and what we do aren't actually brought up through conscious thought, it's essentially habit. You can see this in people who have severe memory loss, while they remember next to nothing about their own lives, they still retain their own personalities because that's how their brain was essentially molded to become. A more literal example would be this: Let's say you're a professional Tennis player. One day you slip into a coma and when you wake up, you have no memory of ever playing the sport. By chance one day you pick up a racket and tennis ball and begin to play. While your muscles have changed due to the lack of recent activity, the muscle memory remains intact due to the years of habitual indoctrination both the mind and body undergo.
Well what makes a person... i think to see this you have o start at 0. There is the DNA. When you are born disabeled, you will likely be different to what you would have been if you were not born disabled. Then where are you born? Asia? a Western country? And so on. Because this will change the next point your educational background. Were you lucky and had the perfect little family or did you undergo violence. And how do other people react to you. I mean we change all now and then. If we meet other people we will learn different things. And even if we hang out with the same people for years we will eventually sometimes change. And then i think there is something most people describe as a soul. Because we can be brought up nearly identically and be two complete different persons. So i think there must be a spark in every one of us leading to this differences.
A person is someone capable of empathy, human thoughts, and emotions. That is what a person is to me.
If you take someone, and then clone them (by the current technology thereof), they will be a completely different person. This is because the factors that lead to their development are significantly different. For one thing, they have a significant portion of their lifespan gone, because of the way cloning works. They probably know this. They also know they are cloned, and thus, this affects them too. Also the fact that they live in a different time, different place, etc, everything builds up. A person, really, is a bundle of everything they have experienced. Many people are incapable of empathy, merely sympathy, if at all. And yet, are they not people too? Do they not deserve to be treated as people? What is human thought? Logic and reasoning? Most household pets are capable of this. They are also capable of emotions, and in many cases, empathy. Is your cat/dog a person?
Yes. Mathematically speaking, Therefore, man, who contains a mind, which can not be directly seen, and this is a secret. However, the mind is not simple enough to be seen as one object, so we will consider it to be a small number of objects, all of which are arbitrary in size. Thus, mankind is actually secrets. We done it kids. We climned this whole mountain! We proved what man is! Now, on to cisgendered and female individuals... But seriously, though, that's more true than you think.
I will supplement this statement with the above image. It is a derivation of the formula I figured out to prove that Distance under different forces of gravity is in turn, different. None of you knew this. The fact I had made the formula at least. Thus it was a secret. Thus humanity.
