who are you?

tennesse
Wed, 13 Jun 2007 11:37:12 +0000

Today when asked, “Who are you?” we usually reply with, “I am…(name).” I assume the OP means to find more than just a name, so let’s substitute “you” with “your person.”

Also we need to qualify “thoughts” and “actions.” In this case we’ll define an “action” as the mental spark that leads to doing and the actual doing itself. For example, your brain goes “move arm,” and your arm moves; this is an action (this partly coincides with hardtoimpress’ point). We’ll define “thoughts” as cognition: perception, learning, and reasoning that does not directly lead to doing. Your philosophy on life would be an example.

Now, except in rare cases of mental/physical abnormalities, we cannot separate our actions and thoughts when answering the question “who is your person?” I believe the “person” is composed of body and mind, action and cognition; however, some persons are more well know for their mind or body. A baseball player is better known for playing baseball (action) while a good philosopher is better known for thinking (cognition). Generally, though, when someone says, “who are you?” I respond with what I do and what I believe (and my name).

It’s a long way of saying both. I feel like an idiot for writing all that.