Who am I?
At first this seems an easy enough question. Usually, we answer by giving our name – “I’m John Smith” and in many circumstances we might add what we do and where we’re from: “A student from Forthill School”.

But if we take it further than this, the answer starts to become more complex. We might talk about our qualities, our skills, experiences, our likes and dislikes, what we have and what we do, what we eat and what we think. We might even talk about our ancestors, what they did in the past and how “who we are” is a part of this. Our friends might influence who we are. A step further, and we might be talking about our looks, feelings and memories. Are we our thoughts? Can you imagine being asked the question “Who are you?” and not being able to answer at all, like the man found wandering on a beach in Kent, who claimed to know nothing about who he was, except that he could play the piano well and draw pictures of a piano. So he was called the Piano Man, because that’s all people knew about him, until they did some worldwide detective work. Then he became what he had been again.

Can we really change who we are? We talk about people having personality changes, of disguising themselves, of changing their behaviour. Does that make them a different person? Maybe, but maybe not. Can we change our personality? Is there something deep within us that keeps us who we are?

There is another angle to this question of who we are, and that is what other people think we are. Their answers about you might be quite different from your own answer.
And what about identity theft? People can become you by stealing your passport, your driving licence, your address details, your household bills and credit cards.

What are you?
This an equally interesting question which can lead us in all sorts of directions:

Personality: Extrovert, silly, intelligent, artistic, dreamy, shy, bold, etc
Physical: Tall, short, old, young, man, woman, healthy, etc
Belief: your religion, your superstitions, your politics, your views on things
Biological: vertebrates, mammals, homo sapiens - where are we in evolution
Forensic: DNA, fingerprints, ears, irises, dental records.
Things: toys, cars, electronic gadgets, clothes.
The question of what we are quite clearly relates to who we are, but it starts to take us deeply into the world of science, technology, psychology and measurement.