The subject popped up in a conversation with friends recently. Something was said and I am fixing that.
No doubts, normally a mother considers her child a unique personality from the day one. Still, besides that consideration behaviour of a newborn is barely human at all. After a short wile it begins to display some human like features, so, obviously, humanity comes to a child through learning. We actually know that until it comes to our own children: they are special, of course. Having mentioned that “humanity through learning” we can ask again where from comes uniqueness?
There is no obvious answer. OK, Let us try to approach the subject from other direction. Let us ask how this adult person keeps her personality unique? Say, if someone inclined just to repeat everything said by others may we call this one a unique-in-herself personality?
Oh, we never asked how to judge, how to tell unique from common! Let us try that first. I believe a personality establishes her uniqueness every time doing something unique. Seems obvious. But when we do something unique do we use something unique? No matter how far we go along that chain we cannot be unique all the way. Normally, uniqueness ends up at the first step: I do something unique with commonly known tools; I tell something unique about commonly known subject, using common language, etc. I am unique because all I have learned to this moment from other people I process in some unique way. There is no such thing in the Universe as absolute uniqueness but only “old things” organized in “new form.” And that applies to personality: a unique personality does not just repeat after others but thinks that over and is able to develop what was learned. On the other hand, “what was learned” is essential here, for development of something that was not really learned is obvious nonsense.