What defines our identity?

For most, this seems like an easy question to answer. You are defined by what you studied and what you do for a living. If you file taxes, then you are an accountant. If you talk to computers everyday, then you’re probably a software developer. After telling one your name, you immodestly reveal and associate yourself to your interlocutor about what you do every day. Some other people use their roles in daily life such as “father” or “care-taker” because their so easy to choose and even easier to understand.

I was the same for most of my life. I did software engineering at university and spent 10 years of my life as a software consultant. I associated myself with computers and technology defining it as my identity. However, many years later, I became a part-time Uber driver as well, so have I become a driver instead of an engineer? My career took u-turn into technical writing. I still was in IT doing computer stuff but I wrote about it rather than writing for them. I write this blog, does that mean that I’m a blogger? So what am I?

Wikipedia has hundreds of articles about notable people. Their titles such as say ‘philosopher’ or ‘artist’ were described in a way to give the impression that it is all they did in their lives. They are essentially a personification of what they did and basically what they will be remembered for. It seems like a really shallow viewpoint to me to box someone like that but perhaps there’s no conspiracy behind it and it’s just true.

I naively entered university thinking that it will be a direction where I will have an intimate connection with computers. This was my dream since I was child. However, as an obsession, I learned much on my own and found myself not learning anything new at school. I pushed through thinking that this piece of paper would be the catalyst to my career and it wasn’t. I found my way into my career before even graduating.

Eventually, I started realizing that university was not teaching me to think or learn. Although many will title this as a conspiracy of some sort, I feel like the education system is designed to just teach us how to follow instructions and be obedient and submissive. Something that we will be doing at our future jobs worshipping our leads. Critical thinking and informing ourselves was totally out of the syllabus.

However, I saw some of my peers still studying after their basic degree. It seemed obvious that this path in university wasn’t designed to make you smarter but rather turn you into a specialist.

This was my nightmare because I didn’t want to be stuck in a tiny world where all I knew was what I researched. Instead, I want to learn about many subjects from technology and philosophy and everything in between. I wanted to become good at many things and have my life coloured with variety.

So technically, I’m a ‘generalist’ but I feel like it’s a condescending title that gives the impression that I was mediocre at everything. However, I believe that I have mastered some arts of all sorts. However, even that title wasn’t one that I didn’t want to have.

At the end, I realized that it was my job to build an identity. I could pick from some many and use a different one at each introduction when meeting people. However, that was far from my nature and what I always aspired to be. Someone creative and well-rounded. But, this couldn’t have a title because that was simplistic and benign.

One of my managers give me a compliment that I still hang on to. That I’m “always in learning mode”. It’s true, I’m constantly searching for meanings that I don’t know yet or prying electronics apart so I can see how they made it work. Not knowing something makes me feel so uncomfortable. Am I a ‘learner’ now? Maybe, but again that’s not really an appropriate title.

I’m still struggling to build an identity for myself and always wondered what I’ll be called when I pass away. I’m neither everything or nothing. I’m pulled into many directions but that’s more important and fun then being boxed to a single title that will limit me to just one thing.

Many of us are tantalized by many things so I believe it’s fruitless to keep our identity binary. As a result, I don’t think it’s necessary to have an identity of any kind and rather just enjoy what we do for both a living and in our free-time.

So what defines our identity? Nothing really. We are free to choose it. It’s a waste of time to think about. You are way more than what you do in your life.

Ironically, “Calling Out” by “Penguin Prison” is playing on Spotify. “I can’t be good at everything, so do me a favour and just take what you want!”.

Staying Comfortable in our own (Social Media) Bubble...

It’s pretty discomforting how much various websites keep track of every move as a way to sell that information and make you the product. I have worked on analytics systems myself and it’s jarring how much information is being recorded about you. While some are benevolent such as gathering data to enhance UX and optimize the application for the user, others have ulterior motives. I’m guilty of having extensive analytics on my website as well though I don’t sell it to anyone and it’s only for personal use: keeping track of my traffic. That doesn’t make it a good thing though.

The Bubble

Social media has been using this goldmine to have you more engaged with the content and hopefully click on ads. While when you sign up for the first time, the content is more varied, soon, without realizing it, the content you get is based on your political views and beliefs. If you’re liberal, most of the content you’ll see is posts about liberal politics while if you’re a conspiracy theorist, you’ll find articles that fit your views.

Your hobbies and interests are also taken into account and suddenly the ads will match your automotive passions with ads for selling car parts. It’s scary how websites know what search queries to suggest because of a conversation you had on the platform.

The bubble keeps us comfortable and protects us from content that we find bothersome or even offensive. You’ll constantly see things that match your views isolated from everything else. It’s not a coincidence that social media websites use subtle cues to discover your preferences. Every website has its own metrics and techniques but I’ll keep this outside of the scope of this discussion for simplicity.

Escaping the Bubble

This is the tricky part, you need to start viewing things that you don’t agree with. Visit websites from people with views opposite to yours and follow those with whom you disagree.

I’ll keep my political views aside for now but I noticed that content that seemed ridiculous to me is what others believe in. I used to judge these people but I’m starting to realize that those with opposing viewpoints are actually windows to other people’s minds. The truth is, they are just as confident as I am in what they read. The production quality of popular mediums about any opinion is excellent. So it’s tempting for all of us.

In addition, reading opposing news has made me realize that I could be wrong about something, and maybe, what other people are saying is actually true. It opened my eyes quite a bit and now my opponents sound less crazy.

This kind of behaviour is what prepares you for good conversation and finesses your debating skills. You’ll be forced to listen to the other one say something while you compare it with your own ideas. Just admit it, when watching debates online, you skip the parts of the opponent to listen to your preferred orator.

Minimize Tracking and Ads

With ad-blockers such as uBlock Origin, you can block tracking domains and leave your traces as much as a secret as possible. Almost every website has at least Google Analytics plugged in and it will be made useless for tracking you. Also, the ads will be invisible so you’ll be free from solicitation.

Conclusion

We’re living in a world where specialization in academia is keeping us in a test tube life where you only know what you’re studying. We stay home only knowing our families and nothing else. Our world is becoming more and more homogenized and even worse isolating. Even within our own circles, debates become awkward silence. Valuable conversations become impossible and our selection process becomes tuned to those we agree with.

Our perception of reality is black and white and the nuances won’t appear until you take off your rose-coloured glasses. The world we live in is imperfect and what other way to be mindful and accept it like that is by seeing all the different colours.

Widen you’re breadth and see your views grow, foster and become more varied.

Has Social Media Made Us Lazy Consumers?

The subject of the morality of social media has been done to death. We all know that it can help find organ donors but also has increased the incidence of depression and suicide in young people. I have the impression that these avenues have transformed us from researchers and content creators to consumers.

Most of us don’t do fact checking when reading newspapers or scrolling through Facebook feeds. People are vulnerable to believing everything they find as the Internet makes it so easy to not only misinform but also catalyse rumours and even legends. Anyone can write anything on the Internet with just a Tumblr account no matter how untrue it is. It creates the occult to mass hysteria. It’s amazing how mundane things can become viral based solely on drama.

Proper knowledge comes from multiple sources rather than a single individual posting about how Egyptian hieroglyphics indicate that the world is ending next year. Production value is high and an excellent narrator can make anything enticing. People just like to consume and spread facts no matter the fragile the source. I see this all the time with friends and family. Our minds are incredibly naïve and vulnerable to the occult and mysterious.

I’m guilty of this sometimes where I post a question on Reddit hoping to get answers on things that I can simply find with a Google Query, with a list supporting evidence and diverse sources. People do this on all forms of social media rather than do the research themselves. Most people respond with their anecdotal stories rather than posting something written properly with references.

I realized that I don’t want to use these forms of media because they don’t add value to my life or make me more intelligent. My reflections started when a phone company representative trying to sell me an expensive plan with unlimited data. I found myself quickly reflecting on this on a whim and told this person that “I’m not stuck to my phone”. It’s rare that I end up using more than 500MB of data per month and most of it stem from phone calls, navigation, going through my todo-list and a bit of browsing.

This never came to my mind a decade ago that we would become a vacuum for content. On the roads, on the bus, in class and of course on the bed, I saw people tantalized by social media content. From Instagram feeds to endless Tik Tok videos and Facebook. Scrolling, scrolling and scrolling over and over again. I was amazed at how much insipid and honestly useless content that people are hypnotized by.

In the reality we are living today, people don’t verify facts simply spreading them around creating conspiracy theories and even ideas that are quite dangerous. My peers, my friend and family often get attracted to some post with something ridiculous and I have to shatter a video or an article by actually doing some research to see if the claims are actually true. Usually not only do they seem untrue, but the claims are exaggerated and unbelievable to me, in other words, too good to be true.

I’ve been trying to escape these websites but the material is so enticing and it can be consumed endlessly. So much content that you will never be bored. It becomes an addiction finding myself checking these sites over and over again. It’s harder than I thought.

Humans are pretty smart but we tend to believe things that are superficially intuitive rather than the uncomfortable truth. Our dire need to know something means that we make arguments from ignorance. We have high regards to our human biology because the unknown makes us feel queasy. However, the frailty of our species is often forgotten and we realize that we need more effort to make sure our minds is full of useful facts and deep understanding of subjects.

I have seen myself transform from a content creator to an endless consumer. I’m trying to push myself hard to make things again and there’s a lot of learning to do. It’s just we want things presented to us in a Tik Tok videos rather than actually following a proper recipe.