What is identity? Do you know yours? If so, tell me, where did it come from? Were you born with it? Is it something you adopted or acquired? If so do you remember how or when this was? Was it all at once or a slow progression? If you were born with it, how and when did you confirm its presence? Is the identity you possess now different from your prior one. If so when and where did you change it? If you never asked yourself the question, why would you assume to have an answer?
We live in strange days indeed. We are at a time when answers are found before the question is asked. A lot goes into creating a question. One must take the time to fully explore what is presently apparent before attaining the stage of why. The "why" for generations until now usually came after "what"? What is presently at hand and how did we get here. To determine our present time takes constant re-visioning of the past. Comparing the past to the present is how we locate our path forward. In a cerebral world, deliberation is fundamental to the realization of one's self as well as our collective identity. It takes layers of time to build what one perceives as his or her identity. In this process a slowly evolving society is preferable. One that evolves in symbiosis with the individuals with whom the society is formed. This has been the case for ages in fact, until now.
What becomes of us when the time we have to deliberate the present dissipates into a time of constant change. How will we then determine our present location in time. How can one then build a sense of identity within a constantly changing time or reality? Will we vanish off into the sunset, leaving the new dawn to a foreign consciousness? Or will we learn to be timeless. For this I fear too many of us will fall into pre-packaged identities. When man runs out of time to know himself, a contrived identity becomes a luxury. These packaged identities that have enjoyed a strong foothold on humanity for ages, can be mass distributed easily. They act as system indoctrination mechanisms. "If you don't have the time or effort to build your own identity, join a system". There are many to choose from. They span from religious to academic. Explaining for your minds consumption, the INS' and outs' of who you are and why you are. They will even give you a degree or even priesthood to validate the indoctrination. These systemized identities are ready at hand for a one stop, one step identity fix. The identity they offer up is based on the system they derive from. Any true sociological system is built up through generations, accumulating the same depth of experience as a well lived self identity.
On the other hand it is a product of a collective effort which often comes from compromise and not passion. Yet they present man with an easy solution to his problem of identity. It provides him with purpose, which is to serve the system efficiently. The function of identity is to provide the individual with a wilful purpose to his life. The identity, which is a build up of experiences, creates a sense of perspective for the individual to use as his tool for deciding on a direction. Also a system derived identity allows an individual to mindfully progress along with society. For the system itself is derived from the society it functions in. Thus closing the loop of societal system functionality. In this case, the price of the individuals' indoctrination, is his reduction from possible self evolution, to a piece of software on a hard disk he calls society. A mindful but non-instinctual part of a system. Thus the identity one adopts from society will only bring his evolution as a person, as far as his society is able to collectively evolve.
In this we can say that a socialized identity serves the self with limitations. A product of compromise formed out of the corrupted interest of appealing to the masses, rather than logical deliberation. It is in fact this mass appeal which allows cultural identities their dominance over the individual. It lures us in with the comfortable validation of the self through our illusion of togetherness. Once in this trap, the self identity is transformed into an inconvenient dream or desire, which the cultural identity can further transform or mutate into diluted wants, fetishes and taboos. We allow this compromise of the self, to satisfy our want to see ourselves through others. To satisfy our need to belong. This need to belong is programmed into us, in order to insure a consistency to the continuity of humanities evolutionary process. We can call this particular program "the Shepherd", for it successfully keeps us sheep within the herd.
Yet it is but a program, and as such it can be hacked or deleted by one who is familiar with the code. First it is important to realize that all life form on earth is encoded into existence. The planet consists of many different codes, languages and equations set from their primordial existence to run their course through time. Every birth into life within the known universe spawns from a code. It is also true whether one observes this from a micro or macro perspective. So then does humanity as an entity possess its rules of functionality.
We as a species function within this coded logic as factors within an equation. The scale or sum of our individual contribution may also have a predetermined outcome factored into the equation. Within every living species lays a system. The structure of which is coded by the ecology it spawns from. As this structured system evolves, its own evolution will affect the ecology around it. Then the ecological evolution will cause an adaptation in the species system. This creates the bind or yoga between species and nature. This yoga creates a perceptible reality for the species and its ecological field. With this concept at play humanity functions, within its own perceived existence, as factors and equations running code. Any concept of identity then must first start with the identity and functionality of the whole species, before an examination of the self becomes even possible. If the self is not seen within the function of the whole, its' perception of identity will be limited to shallow realities. True identity only reveals itself when one moves from "I AM" to "I AM A PART OF".
I will point out that the "obscurity" of this type of knowledge within humanity, also serves as function to the programming of humanity. Within most species there exist primordial programs, some of which give species a predisposed aptitude for recognizing hierarchy. Such as lions within a pride or wolves in a pack, who without any known logic, instinctively submit to the stronger alpha male in an attempt to insure order and then survival. This contest for leadership is set at play within the ecology the species must survive in. The focus is then set on the efficiency one has in dominating the surrounding ecology. For instance how well does one lion fare to the other, in hunting food for the tribe or defending it against predators.
This focus on the surrounding ecology may then bring the species to a first awareness of being a part of a "something greater" than itself.
It is then the challenges imposed on the species by its ecology, which set the boundaries for only a select few to cross. Insuring a proper leader to follower's ratio. Within simple nature these ecological challenges are mostly other species within the ecology. Our challenges seem to be somewhat different, in that we can call our ecology "society." Meaning we have long replaced our ecological reality for sociological ones. In this we are the only species detached from a purely natural reality. Yet despite our evolution into sociological awareness, society as a hole possesses the same functionality as any ecology. Our focus seems to be set towards the efficiency of dominating knowledge. In this we can say that thoughts are part of our social-ecology. They are the foliage or photosynthesis of society, using information or "the light" to turn into energy. Certain thoughts like trees in a forest rise higher than others and position themselves to absorb more light. We as entities responsible for these thoughts, benefit from the absorption of ideas derived by our sociological photosynthesis. In this case the predator or challenge of this social-ecology can be identified as the ego. It like a natural predator attacks those who are "week" in this case, of knowledge. The egos weapon consists of oneís need for validation through others or "cultural acceptance". This need to belong serves as insurance that most will follow rather than lead. Showing us that there are certain truths or realities which are inescapable. We just encounter the same reality at deferent stages in our evolution. This is the only reason why reality seems different from one time to the next. Their essentially lies within the fabric of space and time one reality for all. It is our reaction to it which determines our perceived reality. Our identity but a functional tool of existence within this perception of being. As our perceptions change so then does our reality. What then is the constant and reliable cause to this change in perception? Time and consciousness. As in our level of observation and the time it takes to ascend through the various layers or levels of consciousness.
Consciousness in this case serves as the constant reference point. The true north star in the horizon of being. From whatever level of observation we might be observing from, what we are observing is consciousness. The same one as before excepting for the fact that it is viewed or revealed to us from a different angle in time and location. It is then the angle from which we observe consciousness from that causes our reality, not consciousness itself. One sees or feels but ones perspective of consciousness. It is up to the individual to negotiate ones ecology to gain a strong geographical vantage point. The ecology in this case being the collective consciousness of the species, and the geography being our geopolitical society. The free will of humanity lies within this reality. We are free, in that we are free to observe, from wherever time and location sets our observatory. Our look out into the horizon of a future time. This vantage point of time and space then acts us into being. We simply react to what we choose to see from the vantage point time has given us. This act then serves as the cause and affect which with time creates ones identity.
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