Isnt the statement "we are all unique" or "we are all different&q

Question: Isnt the statement "we are all unique" or "we are all different" kind of contradict itself!?
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

It's the same problem with words like 'better', 'right', and 'perfect'!. All these words imply a context which is not provided!.

When a person says something like "we are all unique" they DON'T mean "we are all unique in every way"!. If they did, there would be no point in saying it - we would speak unique languages and be unable to understand each other (and misunderstand uniquely, I suppose)!.

No, instead they are thinking of some specific way that we are each unique in!. And that is how both the statements you cite can be absolutely true at the same time and yet not contradict themselves or each other in any way!. All they need to do is refer to different things!.

Of course, a person who wanted to actually be clear would specify those things!. Instead, most people tend to assume you know what they are talking about!. Which really explains a whole lot of confusion!. So it goes!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Interesting question and yes pretty much!. It's like the paradoxical saying "Be different: conform", because a person's uniqueness is probably the most common thing about him!. The combination of character traits, DNA, social and financial environments of any 2 given individuals is probably never the same!.

On the other hand, it's not because even though the fact that we are all different is something we have in common, a lot of the other things are different!. It would contradict itself if it was "no one has anything in common with anyone else", but that's not the case, so no it doesn't contradict itself!. It is paradoxical though!.

EDIT-
apparently Dr!. Y already said what I said !.!.!. I agree!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

"if we are all unique then none of us are unique because we are all the same by all being unique!."
Sorry- quoting you lol
That is a somewhat true statement!.!.But even people who are the "same" are completely different!.!.It's impossible for two or more people to be the exact same, we have differences, even if they are all very minor!.!.!.Let's take non- conformists for example!.!.well- there is no such thing as a non- conformist, because they are all conforming into a group of non- conformists!.!.Yet they are still different from eachother!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Hmmm!.!.!.yeah, you know!.!.!.I think these statements do contradict themselves!. Well, perhaps not the statements, but the sentiments behind the statements certainly do not fit the brute facts of experience!.

Sure, we are all unique and different!. I mean, no one can occupy the once-occurent, time and place of my existence!. My body occupies a space and time that is wholly my own and no other can ever occupy that space and exist my life for me!. In that sense, every person is clearly unique and different!. However, because we speak a language that is based primarily on abstraction and repeatability, anyone can say the statement: "we are all unique!." This has the effect of really taking a lot of the "kick" and insight out of the sentiment behind the statement!.

What is contradicting is thus not the statement, but the manner and way those statements fail to fit the brute facts of existence!.

More still, when people say that "we are all unique and different," it kind of hides a silent hope of pseudo-equality, that is, people usually say "we are all unique" so that they might not feel quite as guilty for not being the "best" or "better" than other people!.

This is what I mean: Hierarchy, the sense of difference within sameness, sometimes known as "rank," exists!. Some people are more attractive than others, more charming, more intelligent, some people are less attractive than others, less charming than others!. Some people have high social value because they are athletic, others because they are "smart!." In either case, a kind of difference within sameness develops naturally!.

Now, people that often say, "we are all unique" are attempting to claim a kind of equality as a form of hierarchical transcendence, they are, in essence, attempting to suggest that our uniqueness, whether that means being Michael Jordan or the last kid picked in an 8th grade gym class, is really nothing more than a similarity!. They, have, in essence, flattened the rich texture of individuality to "mere individuality!."

Here is another way to think of it: Think of a lover choosing to be with another whom she finds more attractive, she'll say, "he is not better than you, he is just different!." Or, "all my friends are different and unique!." Who would want to be loved or a friend of one who simply feels not that you are "unique in all the world," but rather, that you are simply equally different as anyone else!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

I get what you are saying!. I once read a poster that said, "You're unique!.!.!.Just like EVERYONE else!."

To understand how this IS and IS NOT a contradiction, one must be aware of metalanguage!. At the root, its content says "Everyone is different!." But adding another layer, one realizes that "If everyone has the same attribute, they are similar!." Thus, difference BECOMES similarity (since everyone has it as a trait)!.

I'd like to think we are uniquely unique, yet similar enough to not be outcasted by others!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

We're all the same in different ways!. We're the same as many people in one aspect of our personality but different from everyone with the unique combination that makes us up!. Maybe it's the combination of personality traits in different people that makes us unique but the same because there are traits that almost all people have!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I can see what you mean, I mean if we are all different, then wouldn't that make us all the same!? I can see what you mean!. I think that no matter what we are all different in different ways!. So even though we are all different, we are not all different in the same ways!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

!.!.!. its unique to be different, but its different when unique, i disagree!.!.!.such is life !.!.!.unique and utterly different at the same time!.!.!.
idu!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

It is kind of contradicting!. Even though we are all different in some ways, we are all Human, and therefore all the same in other ways!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I see why you would say that!. I mean, if we are ALL something, then we aren't really unique in the sense that we can all be described by the same adjective -- unique!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

We are all unique and part of the same web of life!. That includes the stardust we are all made of!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

no it doesn't!. it kinda means the same thing!.Www@QuestionHome@Com