How Replaceable Are You?

If someone asks you, “How replaceable are you?”, you would most likely say that you are not replaceable. Maybe something along the lines of how you are your own self, and no one can come close to replicating you or your unique personality. However, what if you were told that scientifically, you are replaceable?

Let’s start with some facts. Every human is 99.9% the same--humans have three billion genetic building blocks that make us who we are, and of those three billion base pairs, only a tiny amount are unique to us. In terms of biology, you are replaceable except for that 0.1%.

Going beyond biology, your opinions and what you say are just a small fragment of your town, the world, and the whole universe.

Contrary to your second grade teacher, who told you that everyone is a special snowflake, your opinion doesn’t matter on the scale of the whole universe. From the words of Chuck Palahniuk, “You are not special. You’re not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You’re the same decaying organic matter as everything else. We’re all part of the same compost heap. We’re all singing, all dancing crap of the world.”

Have you watched The Incredibles? If you haven’t -- go watch it! If you have, remember the quote, “If everyone's super, no one is super?” Despite being a children’s movie, this point can apply to people of all ages: if everyone thinks they are special, then no one is special.

I know this all sounds kind of counter-intuitive -- after all, if Steve Jobs didn’t create Apple, we wouldn’t be carrying radioactive Apple products in our pockets right now. All replaceable. Let us say Steve Jobs was just a random person living in the suburbs. He worked a nine-to-five as an accountant, and his only goal in life was to be a happy man. Then you might ask, what about Apple? Well, some other entrepreneur or business person would have risen up and developed something, or maybe the investment and resources that went into iPhones would have gone into something different, maybe even something better.

My point being, life goes on without you: no one is going to wait for you to catch up; that’s something you have to figure out yourselves. Like Steve Jobs, it is up to you to take the initiative to change the world -- because if you don't, someone else will for you.

Let me clear up some things. You are absolutely replaceable to the world we live in, but you are the center of your own world. Each one of us is at the absolute center of our own universe. Every thought and emotion you have involves that squishy little thing that’s in your skull. This is why we feel so important: because we are important in our own personal worlds. Remember this the next time someone tells you that you are not replaceable. This comes from their world, not yours.

Create something meaningful. Life is too short. Whatever unique skills and talents you have, your world needs them, but the world will be just fine no matter what.