(06-14-2015, 04:44 PM)Hotpocket Wrote: Could you not say that about everything in existence then? There is not a single human being alive that is 100% like nor unlike somebody else. The same goes for countries and cultures. One could say that America and Canada are similar, but each one is unique. It depends on how deeply you wish to look into each tribe. On a larger scale, they're all just tribes from the same general area. No uniqueness there. On a smaller scale, you begin to notice the differences between tribes and see that each one is unique.
My objection to the word choice is based off the literal definition of "unique", that is, something that is completely one-of-a-kind in every facet. I don't particularly like the usage of the word because you're absolutely right: there is practically nothing in human culture--and by extension, human fiction--that is unique by its purely technical definition, which is exactly what I avoid that word, and instead would rather use the word "distinctive" or describe something by its characteristics rather than saying it's unique. Something that says that "This is the ways in which it differs from others", without saying "This is totally unlike anything else".
It really is just a nitpick about the word choice, but that's my reasoning behind it.
I'd like to reiterate that the concept itself is pretty much bedrock, but I am anally retentive and have an excessive eye for detail, the ultimate combination of traits to nitpick. A bit of very minor revision would help make the presentation of your idea as smooth as the idea itself.
