It may seem counterintuitive that people- when people similar to them, with similar backgrounds, surround them- people free to interact and forge bonds with whomever they’d like to- tend to gravitate towards people with differences in interest and life stories, though rarely those who vary in ethics- and that they get along so well- seemingly much better than people who are very similar to them in personality. But there is a draw, an almost imperceptible tug of attraction, a magnetic yet undeniable pull towards those who differ in idea, in presentation, in origin from yourself, that can’t be ignored. These differences don’t separate us from each other, just pull us closer out of pure intrigue, a force that can’t be explained. It is as if inherently, humans crave diversity, so much so that two people too similar can’t seem to get along. All other senses tell us to gravitate to those similar to us, but those relationships so rarely work out in the grand scheme of life. The magnet that attracts opposites to each other is also one that repels those too similar.
It might be, too –that those who are similar find competition in their everyday actions, that every moment of interaction, even in passing, feels like the sickly shudder of nails running down a chalkboard– that causes an exhausting relationship. This phenomena, against all intuition, so almost imperceptible yet unable to be ignored, is that those too close to other in personality will clash with such a force that often one cannot stand to be around the other. Over and over again, the tempter of souls draws us to certain individuals, for reasons often unknowable at first, that don’t get much clearer with time, that pull us to our opposites and away from people to like ourselves. Though the idea of befriending those like you is pleasant in theory, like magnets two beings too similar will repel each other. What we compel ourselves to believe, that we need people like us, is not what we find ourselves to know, from examining your closest relationships, that finally, we understand why this phenomenon occurs. Human beings crave enlightenment; and perchance the reason that we seek others so varied is the intrinsic desire to broaden our horizons in a consistent manner.
Writing this was quite surreal because I kind of had no idea what I was saying or where I would go while writing it because of the strict structure but it was a really fun and cool writing exercise that made me think a lot about structure.
Oliver, I really liked this paper because it was honest. I love the way you write, it is very sophisticated and just nice to read. Good job.
I love how you didn’t get too caught up with just doing the imitation essay in a literary sense. I always get so caught up on the writing that the idea I’m trying to get across gets lost and all the sentences together are really messy. I think you did an excellent job with this through and through!