tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5980661477245033955.post5330778044903401317..comments2023-11-01T11:17:40.377-04:00Comments on True Stories, Honest Lies: IdentityLaurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06434407684834155358noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5980661477245033955.post-17361930869919590552010-01-18T15:56:52.870-05:002010-01-18T15:56:52.870-05:00This is a fascinating subject, Laura. I wonder how...This is a fascinating subject, Laura. I wonder how much the idea of 'identity' is a convenient fiction, something which the social fabric - the backdrop to collective living - demands in order that we can get anything done. <br /><br />I assume that I have a consistent continuing self but I also realise that my identity changes subtly from moment to moment and from setting to setting. I can be relaxed one moment, skimming across the surface of things, and in other contexts I can be deep with a burning focus. If I'm (painfully) honest, who I am depends on who I'm talking to. I'm certainly different now than when I was a child, or young adult. That's okay - life's like that. But it hints at an accommodation with the facts which makes me both uncomfortable and hopeful. I quite literally may not be the same person as I was at 18, and the consequences for this are too huge to grapple with sensibly for someone like me without the requisite philosophical tools.<br /><br />I admire the psychological fortitude of those great souls who can identify themselves and stay on course even in isolation or in captivity or in horribly demanding circumstances. But I can also see how a variation on these qualities produces people who can bend the will of others and manipulate the social fabric.<br /><br />It's a rich seam for writers. In November last year I tried to write <a href="http://www.skycycler.com/2009/11/skycycler/" rel="nofollow">a story</a> about the possibility of a residual self - the kernel of a human operating system - which remains intact though everything else has changed.<br /><br />~Simon.Skycyclerhttp://skycycler.comnoreply@blogger.com