Different

Every human being is different. This goes without saying I know, but I am saying it anyway because it intrigues me. From the moment of birth are differences are there. A baby may look similar to it’s parents and even as he/she grows that may hold true, but they will not look just like their parents, nor will they think just like them or act like them. I believe if you locked to babies in a room together and made sure they experienced and saw the exact same things you would still have two totally separate, completely independent individuals. This fascinates me to no end.

Is our differences controlled by DNA or is it a more subtle means. I don’t know and I don’t really care too much about that. Although I am sure that whatever it is, is at the root of all that I am about to say.

Two undecided people, as in a political election, are presented with both sides of an argument and they may make completely different judgements. Two different judgements with the same information. I know this goes deeper, becomes more primal. People make decision on what is important to them, but there we are back to differences. The two people will have a different measure of what is important to them.

I find this simply amazing. Today more than any other time in our history we live in the information age. Of course we also live in the misinformation age too, and that is a culprit of differences in a negative way. Almost every piece of information, every fact, every statistic is available to every individual of this country and most of the world. We have the ability to learn everything there is to know about anything we are interested in. All it takes is time and patience. The sad truth of the matter is that most people don’t even bother to look at a fraction of the information available, I myself am guilty of that on more than one occasion, but then again I rarely profess to be an expert on anything.

Our country is divided on nearly every topic. Sometime not even divided in two, but into many pieces. Some say there should be no capital punishment, some say we should use capital punishment in only the most heinous crimes, and some say we should use it in all murder crimes. Given the same information, or at least with the ability to get the same information, people have divide on everything, gay rights, prostitution, alcohol, flag-burning, we can’t even decide if Miller Lite tastes great or is less filling. Given all the information that every other citizen either has seen or has access to I have decided that I am an atheist and that there is no higher power. People all around me have decided differently some being agnostic, some being baptist, cathlotic, deitist, buddhist, hindu, and jewish. So many different groups and all with access to the same information, but all with different interpretations and conclusions from that information. That is astounding, is in not?

It is amazing this capacity for difference. The only thing that amazes me more about this is how oblivious many people are to others differences. There are many times during a week or month where someone will starting making comments or jokes to me that are racist or homophobic. They do this because of an assumption that I as a straight, white male am like them. That I share the same likes and dislikes and have come to the same conclusions about life and people that they have. People that believe in a higher power can not fathom how someone can not believe in a higher power, and atheist can not imagine how some believes there is a higher power. We understand inherently that we are different form others, but we set up limits on differences and suddenly become oblivious to those that are different from us. A lot of this probably comes about because once we recognize what makes us different we immediately begin to seek out like minds. Once we find a group of like minds we associate and become one together molding our beliefs and ideas together. Somewhere in this we forget that it is our differences that brought us here, then we begin to believe that others are wrong. We forget that they are just different from us.

I know I have presented more than a few radical ideas in the past and I am sure I will shock you with more in the future. Please just remember I am different from you and you are different from me. We don’t have to agree, and I would be flabbergasted if someone agreed with me on everything. And while I don’t understand how anyone can not come to the same conclusions I have, I do understand that is the case. And I do realize and appreciate life is so much more interesting with the differences.