Comment by ryandv
2 days ago
> I’m suspicious whenever someone says, “I’m an (adjective) (noun).” Why did you need to say, “I’m a great tennis player,” “I’m a deep thinker,” or “I’m a generous person”? Instead, why not simply play tennis, regardless of how great you are? Or think as deeply as you want? Or be generous?
Which is why the whole "identification" fad is bullshit. Why bother identifying as a singer if you cannot sing?
Just a continuation of this postmodern delusion that puts the cart before the horse and elevates language and symbols about reality over reality itself.
Most of the time, you don't have to walk the walk though. With the sports example, you can drop being great at it while talking to people at a bar or dinner party or online as you can't be asked to prove it right then and there. If you claim to be a good singer, you can pretty much do that at any time so that's a bit harder.
When people talk about their own identity, they very rarely mean something like "great at singing".
I admire your confidence that reality is so easily measured and categorized though.
Personally, as I grow older, I find more and more exceptions to things I once thought of as immutable truth.
No, my point is that the concept of identity is nonsense.
Show me a proof of the existence of an "identity" and I will furnish you proof of the soul and god.
Sure, just as soon as you show me the proof of existence of "thoughts" and that you exist as something other than an illusion in my mind.
How about the existence of numbers? The proof of 1+1=2? We humans have words for lots of things that only exist as abstract concepts without a physical embodiment.
Identity is one more of those and it's trivial to understand its application to real people.
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