53. Individuality

Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.[1]

Focusing on the similarities of individual behaviours in a population reveals the general patterns of human behaviour that are typical of the species, and encourages deterministic interpretations of them. For example, if millions of people make the same choice in the same situation, the individuality of each is backgrounded and the behaviour looks as robotic as the behaviours of other species are often erroneously judged to be.[2]

Focusing on the differences of individual behaviours in a population, on the other hand, reveals the rich diversity that comes about through differences in the biological development and semiotic evolution (ontogenesis) of each individual. The more examined an individual life is, the less robotic it appears. Individuality is in the detail — whatever the species. 

Footnotes:

[1] Wilde De Profundis (1905).

[2] From the perspective of the population level, susceptibility to economic and political manipulation would suggest that humans are robots in desperate denial of the fact.

ChatGPT revises:

Individuality, Behaviour, and the Illusion of Robotic Behaviour

“Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.” — Oscar Wilde, De Profundis (1905)

Focusing on the similarities in individual behaviours within a population tends to reveal the general patterns that are characteristic of the species. This focus encourages deterministic interpretations of behaviour, suggesting that human actions are predictable and uniform. For example, when millions of people make the same choice in the same situation, the individuality of each person is obscured, and their behaviour can appear robotic, much like the behaviours of other species — behaviours that are often erroneously judged as robotic or lacking in complexity.

Conversely, focusing on the differences in individual behaviours within a population highlights the rich diversity that emerges from the unique biological development and semiotic evolution (ontogenesis) of each individual. The more we examine a person's life in detail, the less robotic their behaviour appears. Individuality resides in this detail — regardless of the species in question.

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Footnotes:

1. Wilde, De Profundis (1905).

2. From the perspective of population-level analysis, the vulnerability of humans to economic and political manipulation could lead to the interpretation that humans are merely robots, albeit ones in denial about their lack of autonomy.