Each person is their own individual self. No single person is the same in how they act, think, and look. You could say that identical twins look the same; but it's impossible for people to say that they think the exact same on every topic one is approached with. People can have the same opinion on a certain subject but that doesn't mean that they think about it in the same manner. Some may not be able to catch a ball, but they can do hard math problems in their head like it's nothing. Humans are not the same but they all have the same basic components. Everyone has their own opinion, their own mind. People may think differently but they all do think.
The world is broken up into different religions. All of them are different; yet some of them agree on certain topics. There is Christianity, Hinduism, and Judaism. There are so many more and even within these three religions there are specific sects. For instance, all three of these religions believe in one main God. Although they all have the same belief that there is only one God, they do not all think it is the same one God. Even if you are in the one religion, that doesn't mean that you have to have the exact same beliefs as a fellow member of that religion. If everyone thought the same thing, life would be no fun. There would be no point of talking if whatever your opinion was was exactly the same thought of the other person.
Regions in the world differ from each other as well. There is no way that people from Los Angeles or New York are exactly like us from the Bay area. It is impossible. People are hella different. That's an example. No place, but in the Bay area, are people using the word "hella." I have friends in Los Angeles and whenever I talk with them, they make fun of me because they say I talk weird. Personally I do not think I sound weird using the word hella. In Alameda, everyone uses the word hella. I know what my L.A. friends mean though because no one they know in L.A. uses that word around them. It's kind of like the use of the word "mad" on the East coast. You don't hear very many people in the west using the word mad, just like you don't hear the word hella other places.
Having said that, "Can you picture yourself living in a totally different environment?" Like in a different state? Or country? Or continent? Imagine if you lived in Spain. I am not an expert at the lifestyle in Spain but I do know a few things about them. First, their main meal is the middle of the day. Businesses and shops along with school close down so everyone can go home for their lunch. They work and go to school later in the day since they get off for lunch. It is not uncommon for people to be out later in the evening too. Many people start their night at 10 o'clock p.m. and go out for a couple hours. Many people are out at 1 a.m. Here in Alameda, everything is shut down around 10 p.m.. Only a very few of our fast food places are still open late. It is also not uncommon for people in Europe to know many different languages. I'm not saying that everyone here in the U.S. only knows English but I'm just saying that people in Europe know many languages. My cousins that live in Italy know 4 languages: Italian, English, French, and I think German. Here it's a big deal if someone knows more than just one language. We are sure different because of our geography.
Along a similar thought process, my English teacher Mr. Sutherland wrote something that really caught my eye. He said,
"Then there are multiple intelligences within a single person, multiple personalities we display over time and even simultaneously (are you "the same person" in front of your friends, your teachers, your parents, and a cop?)."I'm not exactly sure about how I would measure up against this idea. He didn't expand on this idea very much in his post. I am going to have to agree with this idea of multiple intelligences. I think that he is saying that within one's self we each have different identities. What that means to me is that each of our personalities will change (neither for good nor bad reasons) depending on who we are talking or interacting with. I don't know what you have noticed but I realize that a lot of teens act differently from when they are in front of their teachers than when they are just hanging out with their friends. I personally tend to be more serious when I talk to my teachers. When I am with my friends, I joke around and say sarcastic things. I only sometimes act jokingly near teachers. I don't really know why but I think that a lot of students do the same. I am not exactly sure if that is what it means to have multiple intelligences. But that's how I interpreted it.
What does being a human mean? I can honestly say that at the start of writing this essay, I was freaking out. I thought that this topic was going to be the hardest prompt a teacher has given me. I mean it is such a huge idea. How could you expect a kid to have the answer for this? Then I figured out that Mr. Sutherland didn't want an exact answer. He just wanted to hear our thoughts on this question. Well, diversity is one huge topic. No human being could ever be the same. It's just impossible to think that. Don't get me wrong. Other biological species are different and show lots of variation. But I don't believe those differences to be greater than those of humans. We are one crazy species.
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