Big Think

McCallen Campbell on January 16, 2008, 12:11 AM

i always think it akward when this is one of the first questions asked. its a pretty loaded question. you never know how deep to go.for me it depends on the person asking, i usually stick with my age, where i go to school and what for, and where i work.

Houston Tower on January 16, 2008, 12:17 AM

When people first meet one another, we do not put ourselves completely out there and reveal everything that makes us who we are good and bad.

We simply feel each other out and try to find ways to relate to one another. Some people relate to each other in much closer ways and reveal all that makes them who they are. Others do not and they only know who you are to them.

Arin Boettcher on January 16, 2008, 5:30 PM

I can say lots of things when I come into contact with some one.
I can say I am an atheist, I can say I take martial arts, I can say lots of things.
I would argue though, its not so important what I say, but how I say it.
Am I an honest person? Am I kind? Am I open minded?
Those questions cant be answered by a description of ones self, but are answered in the answering there of.
So..
I tell this to a freind very often:
Its not what you said, but the way that you said it.

Kenneth Graham on January 17, 2008, 7:15 PM

A much more important issue is what happens when people try to define themselves without reference to external things. To do otherwise is to define yourself in terms of something that is not you. It’s never a good idea to become identified with something that is not you. What happens when that thing a person identified with is gone? Then how do they define themselves? This is one of the origins of mankind’s problems.

Christine Satory on January 17, 2008, 7:27 PM

I have come to a point in my life where I don’t even try to define myself. In fact, a couple of years ago I tried to think of a new name for myself and couldn’t even do that! That’s not to say I’m wishy-washy or “lost”, I just find labels very limiting and every time in my life that I started to define myself, thinking that “aha I finally know!” something has happened to me that was a resounding “not!” I think I was born under the sign of the “universal jokester”…

A Co on January 17, 2008, 8:28 PM

To define is to limit

Iceicle Benz on January 18, 2008, 12:23 AM

Experience, reflection, and action.

I’d argue that these are the three things that define every individual, whether or not he or she likes it. What makes us each different, therefore definable and able to be categorized, is the set of these three things. When any one of us defines himself, he has a choice to depict himself as some combination of these three things above.

It comes down to:
What I’ve experienced…
What I think, believe, or want…
What I do/What I am doing…

I’d like to think that initially we are limited by our experiences. After reflection, we take action and experience new things, thus finding ourselves on differing paths depending upon our individually differing decisions/actions.

How you choose to portray your definition of yourself is simply your own action, after some reflection, to the experience of the question: “How do you ‘define yourself’?”

Douglas Whitmore on January 19, 2008, 11:34 AM

I am becoming defined by my contributions to BigThink.

Yeshua Charbonneau on January 19, 2008, 5:35 PM

Nothing… for even nothing can be somthing if you allow it to be.

Brittany D on January 19, 2008, 9:13 PM

hmmmmmmm. the point of life is to define yourself. :D