Schizophrenia

[molendijk]

Answer this:

If you are me, and I am you,
Then who is the maddest of the two?
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Arie Molendijk

[TheJoshMan]

based on your question, there isn't two... so "we're" both the maddest.

[molendijk]

Please just answer by 'me' ('I') or 'you'.
===
Arie.

[rangana]

You are.

[molendijk]

Then you are, because I am you.
===
Arie.

[djr33]

No, I am me, and you are you and also you, by which you refer to in the 2nd and 1st person due to your center of discourse (yourself). It's a confusing bit of pragmatics, but in the end you're insane and I'm not... hehe.
//just wrote a paper on grammatical person

[magicyte]

You are me ..

and I am you ..

1st: You'd be me. It was listed first. But you are still yourself, as Daniel said.

2nd: If I were you, and you are still yourself and technically NOT me, but at the same time ARE me (since there are two of you), we're both crazy, I guess.

3rd: I know I'm wrong. Daniel, could you explain more?

-- Heh, I guess I'm crazy 'cause I'm just not getting it...

-magicyte

[jscheuer1]

I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.
See how they run like pigs from a gun, see how they fly.
I'm crying.

See also:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_the_Walrus

[molendijk]

No, I am me, and you are you and also you, by which you refer to in the 2nd and 1st person due to your center of discourse (yourself). It's a confusing bit of pragmatics, but in the end you're insane and I'm not... hehe.
//just wrote a paper on grammatical person

As you say, you're insane...ha!

I would say it's not necessarily pragmatics, but confusion of reference (an aspect of meaning) and 'form'. Or better perhaps: playing with variable reference. It's the opposite of 'the Morning Star is the Evening Star' (constant reference: Venus).
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Arie.

[djr33]

pragmatics is the branch of linguistic that deals with the use of semantics (meaning) in any given situation wherein it implies or means something different due to USE, not literal meaning. That would be exactly it-- the confusion of reference. Literally it's just semantics-- but in context, it's pragmatics, of use.
"The morning star is the evening star" is two ways to refer to the same thing, with different meanings (the path to the reference).
"you" is one way to refer to any number of people, because the reference changes based on context.
Person in languages is interesting. Care to read the paper I just wrote on it? I'd email it if you want.
The most relevant portion to this deals with the idea that first and second person are different from third in that they are based on the speech, where third is just everything else. "I" is the speaker (which varies with each speech event), and "you" is the listener, which also varies. "He" does not vary. (If "He" becomes the speaker/listener, it is usually superseded by the others, but there is no grammatical error in referring to either "I" or "you" as he-- just strange because you expect the more speech-based reference.)