A quote by Carl Sagan that always had me wonder on the nature of identity. What is my identity? Who am I? What is this “I” I speak of? When I say “me”, what am I actually talking about? Should I be considered a single identity or a collective? Why should I care?
What would it feel like to identify as a collective? What would it feel like for me to be called “them”? What if there was no “me”? Only “we”. To think and talk in plural. How would it impact this entity? Would it increase our empathy?
I've decided to try identifying as a collective, a true multitude, not just on the cellular level, but on a psychological level. I will try and replace some of my vocabulary such as “me” and “I” with “us” and “we”. It will take some time to get used to it, but we’d like to try it out. Here are some ground rules;
Replace all singular pronouns with plurals. (added on 2014.09.27)
We've only come up with one ground rule for now, we’ll try to add more in the future if necessary.
There’s something else we’d like to add to this post. After having researched a little bit of non-monogamous relationship for a school project we got interested. We were never really interested in relationships. Monogamous relationships for life certainly didn't seem interesting. Too boring.
However, we thought, hmm, as long as the relationships weren't blockading our development perhaps being in one couldn't be too bad. Perhaps it could even be a good thing. So we've decided to take the plunge, with a slight twist. We will try out a non-monogamous relationship within our own collective. We will love our own members of this collective, trust them, learn with them, experience with them, forgive them when they make a mistake, help them in times of need. A self polygamous relationship? How brain frying. We love things like this.
I've
always been fascinated with the idea of self, and those big questions we ask
ourselves once in a while. Who am I? What am I? What makes me different from
all the other fellow humans? And I would try to define myself, you know, I
thought that would help. All those attempts at trying to define “me”. No doubt it
was a mind boggling question, a question that seemed to beg for an answer, yet
a question that was ever receding, over the hills, far far away…
Then
after I graduated high-school I had much more time and energy to look into
things. The internet was a great help. Thanks, internet, you deserve it. I started uncovering all kinds of new ideas like the
ship of Theseus, swampman, technological singularity, etc. More questions
arose. The more questions I had, the more hungry I got, the more energetic and
optimistic about life I became.
There’s
a wonderful dialogue from the Ghost in
the Shell(1995) between Major and the Puppet Master.
Major: You talk about redefining my identity. I want a guarantee that I can still be myself.
Puppet Master: There isn't one. Why would you wish to? All things change in a dynamic environment. Your effort to remain what you are is what limits you.
There’s
another quote I’d like to share by David Zindell from his book The Broken God(1992).
What is a human being then?
A seed.
A...seed?
An acorn that is unafraid to destroy itself in growing into a tree.
The
dialogue between Major and the Puppet Master was one of the most thought
provoking words I have ever heard from a movie character.
Your
effort to remain what you are is what limits you.
Ah, how bold is that, eh? I
love it.
Many Versions, Many Iterations
Looking at the Android
Version History we've gone through, let’s see, Android 1.0, Android 1.1,
Android 1.5, Android 1.6 – now we've just passed Android 4.2, Android 4.2.1,
Android 4.2.2, Android 4.3 and now finally Android 4.4. Each android different
from its predecessor, perhaps better, more stable, faster, more efficient. Our
smartphones carry numbers behind them, perhaps to signify how much they have
changed, to show the world how better they have become.
Should I put numbers behind
my name? You know, to emphasize the fact that I am clearly a different person
than when I was born? When I was younger? I’m 20 year’s old now. I’m pretty
sure I am vastly different from who I was 5 years ago, let alone 20. And yet, everyone that I
know of insists on calling me by the name I was given 20 years ago. Don’t you
understand people? He doesn't exist! He’s been replaced… by me.
Have I killed him? Oh, dear.
I… I don’t know. Did I? I certainly don’t remember me physically killing him.
But he is no longer, and I am.
Perhaps I could say that I’ve overwritten him. Yes, that sounds better. I didn't kill him, I just overwrote him.
Transcendence(2014) Trailer
There’s a scene in the trailer
for the movie Transcendence(2014)
starring Johnny Depp where Max(Paul Bettany’s character) says (at the 1:18 mark)
:
“Assuming
that this works, if we missed anything, a thought, a childhood memory, how will
you know who you’re dealing with?”
Well, Max. You forgot your
own childhood memories, at least most of them or some of them, decades ago.
Does this mean we should no longer consider you… you? (On second thoughts, that’s
a great idea. We should consider you a different being. Everyone should call
you Max 2.0 now. Or maybe Max 2.01.7) We do this every single day, Max. We
forget things here and there, we go to sleep, we wake up, we only remember a
couple of things from the day before, does that mean your significant other
wakes up next to you and screams that you’re no longer Max?
Change is Everything
Change. That’s all there is
to it. Really. I think. And I feel liberated. Liberated I am indeed. I feel no
need to strictly define myself. I am not a static hunk of unchanging meat. I am
in constant motion. Perpetual change. Numerous iterations. Many versions. So
don’t be afraid to nod your head when someone comes up and says you've changed.
Nod your head. Bang your head in agreement. Yes! I have changed! Isn't it
awesome!? Embrace the change. Welcome it. And you shall be... liberated.
