Having an identity is embarrassing

Consistent, truthful and “correct” thinking is regarded highly. Yet, the attitude that we hold towards identity and personhood is idiotic. It is safe to assume, that most people identify with their identity, and in some regard see this a some “fundamental” thing, that, through principle, defines their character, person or being. After all, what else than identity and character traits would we use to distinguish between each other. Although these are effective identifiers, this does not justify the cause to hold identity as some respectable fundamental principle.

Now, it might be a decent idea to consider, if identity is even held as a “fundamental thing” in any sense. Fundamental principles are indeed difficult for the truly socialised reader to grasp, as a paradoxical idea about an existence of “relative truth” is held by a lot of people. This post wont try to convince the reader about the nature of truth, though I see it as reasonable, to argue, that identity is seen as “having” some grain of truth in it for the person, that is, the subject. Truly, something is either true or not, and with this in mind, it can be stated, with decent confidence, that a modern person subjectively sees their identity as true. With a little thought we realise, that this simply means, that when a subject identifies with their identity, this is felt as correct and as a truthful and honest action.

It is natural to respect fundamental principles, and hence we see a great deal of respect given to identity, a perceived principle. There exsist a slight tension in the current attitude towards principled living. We in a sense regard identites as truly existing non negotiable truths. This is apparent in the embarassing idea that everyone should “embrace their true self”, be it related to simple hobbies, career, attitudes, personality or sexuality. These things are regarded as fundamental for the person and their dismissal is regarded as a irrational. Altough these things are not in any sense fundamental as they are objectively in flux and temporal.

The respect anyone has for identity is crushed the instant they realise, that identity is the outcome of identifying with something. This means, that the subject is responsible, or at least can affect which objects they choose to identify with. This argument is at the same time horrifying and liberating. It screams of personal responsibility -which people dread- and affirms the potential for change in the person.