"Individuals"

Have you noticed how many times, when we're talking about people, we refer to them as individuals? On the news, in church, in writing, all the time, even when a person's individuality is irrelevant to the topic. Even when we refer to groups we'll say how many "individuals" there were - when the point of the statement is to understand them as a group! It's as if we think the defining characteristic of a person is their individuality. Do we really think we need to keep reminding ourselves of our individual-ness? Is it that sacred to us? Why don't we just call them "people"?