I was just watching the Simpsons. I forget what episode it was now… oh right, the one where Homer bowls a perfect game. Anyway, there was one small slice of the show that kind of got me thinking.

Maggie is watching tv on the couch by herself, that show with the elves or whatever. The one she’s always watching. There are three elves on the screen, and they say something to the effect of:

“You’re special. There is nobody else like you in the world. You are unique.”

Having been raised in a culture based on this sort of thinking, I’d always just assumed it was a positive thing. But maybe it’s not… or at least not entirely.

Just think about it for a second, “There’s nobody else like you.” What an alienating message that is to be inundated with constantly. It’s really just a hop skip and a jump from saying: “You’re all alone in this world. Nobody can ever quite understand you. And you can never quite reach somebody else. There’s too big a difference between people. You’ll never be able to share essential elements of yourself with someone else. Don’t try to overcome it, just accept it.”

Now, maybe some of you pessimists reading this will be like “Well, that’s exactly right Tim. You never CAN completely share anything with anybody else. And you always WILL be truly alone…” And to all you naysayers out there (and you know who you are), I believe that’s poppycock. I think we’re all fundamentally the same. I believe we’re all capable of full communication, and full sharing of ourselves with others.

I just remembered that part in Fight Club, where he says “You are not a unique and beautiful snowflake.” Actually, the full quote is:

You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You are the same decaying organic matter as everyone else, and we are all part of the same compost pile.

I think that’s sort of the via negativa phrasing of what I’m saying above. But it’s really the only other place I can think of, offhand, in pop culture which tries to explode this idea of individual uniqueness. Anybody know of any other good ones?

Also, before you get your panties all in a bunch, I’m specifically NOT trying to devalue individual human worth or anything like that. So put your brakes on, chief…