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

[howardtayler.livejournal.com]

The difference between how you see yourself and how you are seen by others (taken as individuals, not as an entity) is like the difference between the acid and the base in a battery. Bridge it, and you get current. Energy. POWER. This is why personal contact and real communication between individuals is so wonderful.

But to say that "identity" cannot exist without The Other is misleading. Certainly if you're completely alone your self-image will be different than if you have someone to talk to besides rocks and trees, but that's just the difference between the socialized and the unsocialized you.

At your core you have an identity that is yours and no-one else's. Perhaps identity is the wrong word. Or maybe, given that English is hell-bent on redefining and overburdening existing words, we don't have a RIGHT word. Certainly in the context of "online banking" and "going to the DMV" there is a concept of identity that is fairly rigid. If your DMV identity can change depending on who is behind the camera, it's not reciprocal fluxion. It's fraud.

Ultimately I believe what Hogarth told the Iron Giant. "You are who you choose to be. YOU choose."

[sylo-tode.livejournal.com]

Identity is how you define yourself, but you only define yourself in relation to others.

[atdt1991.livejournal.com]

However, as far as identity goes, I do identify with "There is nothing absolute about this identity of mine". I do believe that I choose my identity, in small and large ways, each day, and that every day I have the choice to change my identity by my behavior and my thinking.

That change is just as authentic as any subconscious change, IMO. I think the idea that we are one thing from birth to death is a concept we've struggled with since long before written language, and continue to struggle with to this day, and I just do not believe that it is necessarily so.

[sraun]

Something that has, IMAO, some bearing on the question. I'm quoting Aral Vorkosigan, talking to Miles, A Civil Campaign, Chapter 15:

Reputation is what other people know about you. Honor is what you know about yourself.

I think there may be a similar distinction to be drawn for identity - you have the portions of your identity that are internally you, and the portions that are related to your interactions with the outside world. Unfortunately, I'm not certain what to call the two facets. Public identity and private identity don't quite work.

[childe.livejournal.com]

This hits a chord pretty deep within me. Resonates.