What makes up a person? As far as I can tell, a person can be broken up into two basic things. The first is their physical being. It is quite obvious what makes this up; arms, legs, eyes, ears, things like that. The second ingredient in the human recipe is far more vague. This thing, I can only define as their "experiences". The other stuff, the stuff that can't directly observed.
Imagine humans like a used automobile. When you look at a used automobile, you first thing you see and the first thing you think about is the model type of the car. The thing that rolled off the assembly line however many years ago. This is like a person's physical being. It's the first thing people see, but really is unimportant. What is more important when looking at a used car is the details. The good and the bad things that have happened to the vehicle since the day it was created. Maybe there's a dent in the fender, maybe a crack in the windshield. Maybe it's got a little rust around the doors, maybe the engine smokes a little. But maybe, the car has a fresh coat of wax on it. Maybe somebody put in a sweet stereo in it, or maybe a set of chrome rims. This can be compared to to the "experiences" of a human being. It's what has happened since it was created. These dents, chips, scratches in the car can be compared to the hurt that a human has experienced. They're just negative things that have happened during their time here on Earth. The fresh coat of wax, the stereo, these can be compared to the good things that have happened to somebody. When looking at a used car, the type of car, the brand, these things don't really matter. What you have to look at is what has happened to the car, what made it what it is today. The exact same thing is true for human beings.
In this class, we are studying place and identity. I think that the biggest thing that makes up a person's identity is the experiences they have had. All a person's fears, all their insecurities, all their faults, can be traced to events in their past. All of these things are direct results of things that have happened to them earlier in their life. The same is true about good qualities. Let's say a person is very honest. This might be because their mother or father really stressed the virtue of honesty when they were growing up. Or perhaps, at some point in their past, they were punished for being dishonest. Either way, these experiences shaped the way this person is now.
In this class, I hope to study origins. I hope to pull apart something that somebody has created, be it a book or a song or something, and see what I can find out about that author's experiences. I want to find out what events in their past led to them writing how they do. By doing this, I want to learn more about their place and identity.
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