Musing on identity

[netmouse]

From Master and Commander, by Mr. O'Brian,

   'Identity?' said Jack, comfortably pouring out more coffee. 'Is not identity something you are born with?'
   'The identity I am thinking of is something that hovers between a man and the rest of the world: a mid-point between his view of himself and theirs of him - for each, of course, affects the other continually. A reciprocal fluxion, sir. There is nothing absolute about this identity of mine.'

This seems rather sympathetic to my own experience.
Your thoughts?

Comments

[rbradakis.livejournal.com]

I think I agree. Identity is not _who_ you are - that would better be termed your 'me'.

How you express that to other people is your persona, not your identity. But your persona is sourced from your identity, filtered through your choices for that environment. (e.g., My work persona only shows a small window into who I am, but my closest friends have a nearly unfiltered view of me.)

Proving your identity has nothing to do with persona or your 'me', and has only to do with proving that you are the being that you say you are - the meat that carries around your 'me' and presents your persona.

But you choose who you appear to be, and more importantly, what you become. You don't just make your persona, you make yourself every day. If you choose to become the being that other people see you as, it's still your own choice to select their influence.

But to answer the question using my own (or Neal Stephenson's?) words - Yes, you are born with an identity, but develop your own 'me' that is who you are, and create one or more persona's to show the world.

(You'd think being numb in the mouth would only affect speaking, apparently dental work messes with my proofreading, too.)