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TO ANOTHER . . .

 

You are different from me. Our lives define different cross-sections of Existence that we respectively forge through a common Space and Time. We confront different "samples" of Reality. But let's suppose we were clones or identical twins. Let's further suppose that in addition to the same set of genes we also managed to share an identical background and life experience. 

We'd still be different by virtue of separate identities and independent existence. For all external purposes we'd be identical and thus interchangeable. However, if one of us were to be imprisoned for a crime, determining who is to be the one would make all the difference to both you and me. 

Thus, being "different" is a twofold thing: (A) and (B) ARE DIFFERENT in that they are dissimilar, while (A) and (A') ARE DIFFERENT in that they are distinct and separate, though identical. 

Similarly, being "the same" denotes either "being continually one and the same as opposed to being anything else", or "being an exact likeness of something else". (A) is THE SAME as (A), because it is simply one (A), and (A) is THE SAME as (A'), because they are both identical, though distinct in the sense of existing independently. 

It follows from our linguistic conventions that the condition existing between two clones is at once the condition of being "the same" and that of being "different"! 

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