What is an identity?

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I have no clue.
I don't understand any of the concepts about or relating to identity.

For example, on a recent thread they talked about the difference between Person-first vs. Identity-first language. I don't understand the difference. Since reading that little exchange, I have read a lot of stuff about identity and I don't comprehend it. Actually, the subject of identity caused me to sink into a deeper depression than I've had for about 2 years.

What is "identity"?

Could anyone explain to me what that is?


Maybe these questions too.
Do I have an identity?
What is an identity?
Why does everyone want me to have an identity?
Why should I care?

a brain configuration ....

It's what you consider yourself to be....like what you'd categorize or label yourself as, or something other people see you as that you find to be fitting....I guess it is kind of a vague concept.

I found this dictionary definition:

identity
1.the state of having unique identifying characteristics held by no other person or thing
2.the individual characteristics by which a person or thing is recognized
3.Also called numerical identity. the property of being one and the same individual: his loss of memory did not affect his identity
4.Also called qualitative identity. the state of being the same in nature, quality, etc: they were linked by the identity of their tastes
5.the state of being the same as a person or thing described or claimed: the identity of the stolen goods has not yet been established
6.identification of oneself as: moving to London destroyed his Welsh identity

I don't know whwt I would consider myself. I don't label myself.., or categorize either. Maybe people place an identity on me, but i don't inherently have one . Why do people want to label me...
The definitions seem useless, how do people recognize me? ... I'm sorry, but i still don't understand... I read the words and I know the words, but I don't grasp the concept behind then

Thanks anyway

i see it as ways of functioning and interacting shaped by experiences. it doesn't have to include labels but people will invariably find themselves with them, maybe others give them to you. they don't all have to be malicious but i understand they can be limiting.

as long as there are traits, there are terms to refer to those traits.

There are layers of identity, it's not just one thing. Nor is it a fixed thing - it is partly fluid, subject to change as we progress through life

Personal identity is made up of

familial - son/daughter/wife/cousin/sister etc
occupational - writer/retailer or whatever
identifications - democrat/christian/post graduate/member of x club
self-perceptions -kind, generous, procrastinating, musical etc
objective information - neurologically atypical; asthmatic; nationality; sexual orientation; bilingual etc
social constructs - eg class membership; normocentric or non-normocentric
others' imposed perceptions of us - young/old/clever etc

From all those components we can form a complex image of ourselves that we can recognise as "this is me".

Is that helpful?

To me...

Practically it is your name, your allocated numbers in life (social security or similar, driving licence details, passport number etc..) that enables others to determine that you are who you say you are.

Not so practically identity is the bits that make you "you".

A good Scrabble partner of mine suffered from MS. Before MS he was a maths teacher in a secondary school. He enjoyed trips to the theater and opera. He was a bit of a gardener too and enjoyed cooking.
He only ever became my Scrabble partner cause the MS made all the things he used to enjoy impossible. Walking was tiresome at the best of times so he sat at his kitchen table most of the time. And we played Scrabble. We would talk of science, literature, and language and what his life used to be like.
But his condition wore him out. He could no longer be the person that he wanted to be. Do things that he never would have giiven a second thought before the MS ravaged his muscles.
He became a shadow of his former self. Not sure what went through his mind but he moved out of town in the end and cut all conacts with everyone.



1. Yes you do
2. It's the part that makes you just that little bit different from the next person
Or the bit of you that identifies (through your identity) enough with others to relate to them and enables you to communicate with them.



1. They don't want you to have one as much as i expect they expect you to have one
2. Should you? In a way yes, not something I am very good at myself so maybe someone else will come along and elaborate for us

Identity is just a word and words are not real. They were invented as a means of communicating perceived reality.
Concrete words are easy to comprehend. An utterance used to refer to a real object.
Abstract words like identity are used to communicate an idea or concept in the mind that has no physical embodiment.
They are more difficult, You can't make a specific picture of them in your mind.
Philosophers get into arguments over the meaning of a word but it is actually an argument about what part of perceived reality that specific word should be applied to.
Identity could mean whatever you apply it to.

You know you exist and have thoughts and ideas and feelings. You are the person who is asking about the meaning of identity. That person is who you are.
At a basic level, that is your identity.

Your name is also your identity. You know you're name, so you have an identity. It is used by others to refer you. When you talk about yourself, you can use your name or I to indicate yourself.

Some people consider your drivers license, social security number, birth certificate, etc. to be your identity because to them it proves who you are.

There is also a social identity used to indicate where you fit into society or what part of the social hierarchy you are on. I think this is the meaning of identity that some autistic people have trouble with.

These are four examples of how you can apply the word identity. There may be others.

Or rather where you don't fit in society....I don't know if the identity of metalhead which I proudly refer to myself as because metal music=life has much to do with fitting into society or social hierarchy for instance.

There you go. If you don't like or can't fit into typical social identities, choose your own, create your own, or just be yourself.
This is where eccentric people come from.

I agree. The word describes a set of software/algorithms that are not real, but mental constructs. Also said, this software is in layers, specifically of algorithms that engage conditionally based on the perceived environment.

One of my interests is studying the nature of this software, as in what parts of the brain it works in and how specifically in engages with other parts of the brain, and externally with other brains.

I know that my own identity is a constructed simulation completely run within my conscious thought. From observation of others it seems many people have a far larger and more complex identity that runs in their subconscious thought.

I think the most significant evidence for this is the speed at which it engages on many complex levels, and that the individual is unable to use conscious thought to explain any of it, - rather it all comes to them intuitively.

Most of my thought processing is done separate from my constructed identity algorithms.
I only run information through my identity algorithms when I think I need to, which isn't all that often.

For most people, thinking outside or separate from their identity would seem either impossible, or extremely uncomfortable and unnatural. With a subconsciously hosted identity this would make perfect sense.

Subconsciously hosted identity:

1. The algorithm would be far more complex
2. The algorithm would run many times quicker
3. Automatic filtering of information would take place
4. Results/conclusions would manifest intuitively
5. The individual would find that describing the process in logical terms would either be impossible, or incredibly difficult.
6. It would be perceived by the individual to "just be who they are".

Compare this to the subconscious processing of riding a bicycle.

So I have testable evidence for my model, the more significant of which I listed here.

A lot of times, I don't really feel like I have an identity. I have many roles (student, girlfriend, stepmother), that I have to fulfill on a daily basis. However, the only part that really remains the same is my gender, looks, and body. Everything else changes, depending on what the person I am with, expects from me. In fact, a few years back, I met this family and the father figure took me under his wing. Unfortunately, he did not like anything about me and subtlety tried to changed everything that I was at the time. After I kicked them out of my life, I felt that I was absolutely no one and since that time I have been trying to become a person again. The phrase "Life is not about finding yourself; but rather about creating yourself" has been very true to me for the last few years. If I had had a specific sense of who I am and if it was not fluid- based upon NT's expectations, societal rules and roles, then maybe that guy would not have had such an easy time breaking me down and leaving me psychically empty.

To me this sounds like a 100% consciously created/simulated identity like what I have.
You resisted downloads from others, and perceive control about how your identity is constructed completely independent of external social pressures.

If you can talk about yourself and your perceptions, if you can think about yourself and your perceptions, then you know you are you, and that is your identity.

Other concepts of identity are superficial layers more related to where you fit or don't fit in society and these things can remain the same or change over time.

At first I identified myself by my family name and country and nationality and the things I was born with then I added my own name then added my life after that added my personality and characteristics, things I like and dislike, own strength and weakness, favorite food, places I like, things I like and so on
All of the things which describe me are me I never forget who I am
The representation of everything about my identity; my life, my personality, etc. Is my name if someone asks me what am I or who am I I'd just say my name, first and second name or first and last lol

A persona, or set of personas, that is/are necessary to interact/survive in society.

@B19: good examples. Those "layers" are what I usually think of, at least outwardly.

However (for me, at least), there is another aspect...something at my "core" that is not quite definable, that no one else can reach or see (sometimes, even I can't, unless I'm being particularly introspective ). Whatever that is, is the "real me", but it has to adjust to whatever may be expected of it at any given moment.

To use a sci-fi analogy: think about the Trill from STAR TREK (TNG and DS9). The symbiont is the "real me", the hosts are all of the "layers" mentioned earlier...the difference is, I may wear several different layers in a single lifetime.

At other times, I kind of feel like Odo--"shapeshifting" into whatever is needed.