Who?

[samercury]

What do people mean when they ask who you are? I mean, everything you could possibly think to describe yourself describes what you are not who you are if you think about it.
Example:
1- Who are you?
2- I'm
but that could also be the answer to the question "what's your name?"
Or
1- Who are you?
2- I'm an outgoing, loving a1 named [ina]
but, that's just a personality trait (that's probably shared by thousands around the world), so that's not really a who, but a what... see

I really admire people who seem to know who they are and would go to any length to show who they are... but I still don't get the whole who they are part and their answer to the question of who they are is always (and I really do mean [I]always) "I'm just me" and that doesn't really help much. I know I'm me, but who am I?

...Basically, what does "who are you" mean and what makes you you and not just a collection of whats?

[thescholar]

we are the summary of our experiences. for example if some says who are you, you could respond by listing chronologically everything that has happened to you, yet you still have to account for the effects of your environment. the only appropriate response to this question is "not Yuri Kovalev"

[Virgil]

Same, you reminded me of one of my favorite rock songs.


Who Are You
by The Who

Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?
Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?
Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?
Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?

I woke up in a Soho doorway
A policeman knew my name
He said "You can go sleep at home tonight
If you can get up and walk away"

I staggered back to the underground
And the breeze blew back my hair
I remember throwin' punches around
And preachin' from my chair

[chorus:]
Well, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
I really wanna know (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
Tell me, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
'Cause I really wanna know (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)

I took the tube back out of town
Back to the Rollin' Pin
I felt a little like a dying clown
With a streak of Rin Tin Tin

I stretched back and I hiccupped
And looked back on my busy day
Eleven hours in the Tin Pan
God, there's got to be another way

Who are you?
Ooh wa ooh wa ooh wa ooh wa ...

Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?
Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?
Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?
Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?

[chorus]

I know there's a place you walked
Where love falls from the trees
My heart is like a broken cup
I only feel right on my knees

I spit out like a sewer hole
Yet still recieve your kiss
How can I measure up to anyone now
After such a love as this?

[chorus]


I really admire people who seem to know who they are and would go to any length to show who they are... but I still don't get the whole who they are part and their answer to the question of who they are is always (and I really do mean always) "I'm just me" and that doesn't really help much. I know I'm me, but who am I?

...Basically, what does "who are you" mean and what makes you you and not just a collection of whats?

Now to really answer your question. It's what you envision is your identity. It's not a static thing but an evolving thing, and it could change with the circumstances. The eulogy I gave at my father's funeral I ended it by saying that when someone asks who I am, I can only respond that I'm my father's son. But at any moment in time I can thing of many identities that I might respond to the question who are you: A New Yorker, an American, an Italian, an Italian-American, an engineer, a college graduate, a lover of literture, a project manager, a joker, a son, a husband, a lover of music, and so on...

Also I think the older one is, the more one's identity becomes defined. You definitely have an identity. Just think about it.

[subterranean]

This reminds me of one of my Bell's fav excerpts from Nooma

http://youtube.com/watch?v=CdD4Z1bv4hE

[Pensive]

...Basically, what does "who are you" mean and what makes you you and not just a collection of whats?

Who the hell are you to ask me what makes me 'me'?
(here you can't replace who are you with what are you I think :p )

[kilted exile]

what makes you you and not just a collection of whats?

The problem is that it is just a collection of whats which make me me and you, you and everyone everyone.

Virtues, faults, experiences, feelings it is these whats which make us what we are

[Lily Adams]

Some Beatles fan should come in here and say "I am the Walrus".

Who am I?

...

Your worst nightmare. *hiss*

But really, that is a though question to answer, given the question's circumstance. I like kilted's answer the best.

[amanda_isabel]

"who are you?" anyone else remember that from Sophie's World? "Who are you?" "Where do you come from?"

in the mind of a philosopher, or at the very least a non-shallow, non-superficial person, there could be a million answers. but in the world of the superficial, all that you are is a speck in the universe who will be judged by the material things you wear or the documents you carry in an envelope tucked under your sweaty armpit.

[Lily Adams]

Whenever I feel like I wish I was born just a few more decades earlier, I think about how different I would have turned out. Things that have made me who I am weren't invented yet. I would have been completely different.

I was just reading Brave New World (Chirstmas present. :D) and I thought of this thread, expecially when I read chapter two. Your environment has so much to do with how you turn out.