RESEARCH Understanding Identity

SOURCE:https://oma.ku.edu/sites/oma.ku.edu/files/files/identity-510866_640.jpg

Understanding Identity

"Go look at a beach full of semi-naked people. Get us away from our houses and possessions, make us take our clothes off and surrender our job titles, stop us talking so that we don't fudge the issue with words, and there is not much left to tell us apart. "[1]
We are all the same species arent we ? Built on the same model.
We are both generalisations and particularities.

We have to study the outside and the inside at the same time to understand identity

Identity come from two main forms. The self and The perceived self.

The self is how you see yourself ( the inside) , The perceived self is how others see you (the outside).



The perceived self or external identity

This is made up of a combination or all of the following and is easy to define as they are visible and tangiable:

Your name
Your body   having a body rather than being a body
Your voice and sound
Your smell
Your face
A representation of your face (photograph)
A document about you ( your wallet/purse is full of them)
The digital signature you
The categorised you ,  gender , nationality, race, language, religion, residence, age, education, job title, marital status , dependants etc
The qualified you - everyone who knows you, friends, family and enemies.
The historical you, past you, your up bringing, family, genes, beliefs
Your reputation
The Virtual you 
The material you, DNA, finger print, you are a living organism, homo sapien




the self ( the inside)

There is an unbridgable gap between the intimate self and the rest of the world.The inner self is insubstantial. The outer self really has nothing to do with you at all. The important elements of identiy are inside and are out of reach. You cannot see or touch your own. You cannot prove that they are there, let alone describe how they work.
the indefinable you - "i am this sensation in here. that is all i am"
My solitude and Autonomy , you are alone, other people cannot hear or see "you"
The Hub of My Senses and Instincts , you are a receptor of sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. I expereince and interpret
The mind
Self-Consiousness - You are aware of yourself and this can lead to a sense of responsibility and conviction as you have free will. Consiousness has two meanings: to be awake and to be aware.
The Person Behind the Personality. My character seems to be part of the outside world. and a sense of control or loss of.
Self-instruction - sporadic mental chatter, monologue or dialogue. Sometimes helpful or hindering.
Purposeful thinkin - the brain monitors situations deciding whether or not to take action
Imagination: Your imagination uses your senses as its language allowing you to refect on what is not infornt of you, to go backwards and forwards in time, or to travel without moving or to create things that have never existed
The memory of you: for identity to work, you must remember who you are. You can only be what you recall
The suffering you : what you go through on a daily basis, enduring, self inflicted or through accident
self criticism, failure, regrets, loneliness
The end of you : is death the end of your life, your identity your everything.




On a daily basis we keep most identity transactions to the lowest possible level during social intercourse.


Identity crisis

Learned Identity: the one we were taught or raised
Discovered Identity: one found during the journey of life. A talent that is revealed through an opportunity
Decided Identity: result of the choices we made, a job, marriage, kids
Circumstancial Identity or Chance: such as an accident or decision taken by someone else
Declined or Anti-identity: formed from an opportunity we didnt not take
A identity crisis usually occurs during a change between these categories
,

Why is understanding identity important
You cant know anything if you dont know who you are.
To know yourself is to be free and know the differences between:

• speculation and fantasy and the real you
• the fixed elements of your identity and those that can be changed
• your conditioning and the consequences of the decisions of your free will
• the fores within your control and those beyond your control
• psycological projection on other people

[1] Nick Inman, Who on Earth are You?  Scotland:Findhorn press, 2013