THINK YOU’RE SO SPECIAL?

More than 7 billion people live on the planet.

While our parents raise us to believe we’re each individual, and we are, technically, 99.9 percent of our genes are the same as everyone else’s.

Still, we like to think we’re special.

Human beings have existed for 250,000 years and during this time at least 90 billion individuals have lived and died.

Here’s a resolution to consider for 2015 and beyond: Do what you can to prove you are one in 7 billion before you become one of 90 billion.

[Excerpted in part from The thing about life is that one day you’ll be dead by David Shields (2008)]