Identifying identity
This blog post is written by an eight-year old in Taipei, using a VPN to make it look as if it is written in the UK and an online translator to overcome the obvious linguistic difficulties. In due course he may generate a suitable avatar to give himself an air of gravitas. He may even ‘sow’ a digital back story to lend weigh to his opinions. [Or is it?]
On the BBC News website today you can read an introduction by Pallab Ghosh to the latest report on digital identity. The report, by Professor John Beddington, makes numerous observations about the effects of hyper-connectivity on identity and social cohesion. Most of the arguments will be familiar, although the report itself should make for fascinating reading. Some of it pushes the debate a little further, though:
Some people who have been shy or lonely or feel less attractive discover they can socialise more successfully and express themselves more freely online.
That may well be true, but does it help them at all in their offline encounters? I spend a lot of time online, and I find it to be a stimulating place. It often challenges my thinking, feeds my creativity and expands my knowledge. That said, as a Pastor I spend a lot of time offline too. Sometimes I sit by a hospital bed as a person slips away from the life they have enjoyed and the people they have loved. Other times I sit in a chaotic home which reflects a chaotic life as I try to untangle the knots of the things and relationships which have gone wrong. On such occasions a digital existence offers a tidy alternative, but not a solution. Theoretically the person in the bed on the drip could be roaming a virtual landscape slaying dragons in shining armor slaying dragons at exactly the same moment as they are talking to me. Will it help, though, in the end?
As I nudge at the edges of this debate, I am reminded that the God of the Old Testament calls himself “I am”. Name and identity are as one there. The greatest honor which he offers to his creatures is to say, in effect ‘I am what I am: what you see is what you get’. No virtual identity there, then!
Like many others, I have often quoted the idea that the Chinese characters below signify ‘crisis’ by combining the concepts of ‘danger’ and ’opportunity’. It would seem that the jury is still out on that translation. Others say that it just means ‘precarious moment’. I wonder…
Image: chinatownconnection.com