Identity, The weekly word from the Buddy Up community. Each week a word is chosen as a prompt to write about. Posts are published on Sunday or early Monday in order to give people a chance to read before a show on Monday evening in the Buddy Up server on Discord. https://discord.gg/3d5H3K8

The show starts at 8 PM UTC and normally runs for one hour to ninety minutes. Write a post about the word Identity and what is means to you. Use the tag dropintheocean so your post can be seen. Then simply attend the show. The use of voice in chat is preferred.

Identity

Identity, each of us has one and each one is unique like our fingerprint. Our fingerprints are used to identify us in some cases. We are more than our fingerprints. We may not be more than the fingerprint we leave behind. When we need to present identification we show a driver's license or a passport. This will show the name we were given by parents to identify us.

We have historical records that identify different species of animals that no longer live. The animals and insects alive today we have names for them and species allocation. In some cases these modern day animals can be identified as a relative species to one that no longer exists.

We identify different parts of our history on the planet by using earth samples. The alternating layers of soil the have accumulated on the land. Depending on the depth of the soil and how many layers of sediment have built up. A determination of age can be established to identify the time period.

As a people it seems we like to give names to things. It does make it easier to understand each other when we can say a word or name and know what or who the other person is talking about.

If there is something out there not yet named,
We will find it and we will give it a name.

It seems to be that a name given to something is its Identity. In nature we have a tree to identify something. We also then have another title or name for the species of tree. The same thing applies to animals. Cats, there are many species of cats and each species has its own identifiable name.

It all seems very straight forward. Until you get to us that is. Then things can get a little bit blurry. It should not be hard to identify a human. To identify an individual is not such an easy task. Well, we do not know every individual's names. Unlike with tree's we do not name each individual tree. We do this with humans though.

Generally the form of identity used is recognition. Remembering how a person looks. This is less confusing when it is someone we have known for a while. Identifying someone you only seen for a moment is not as easy. We often use description to identify someone else. A description of their personality when describing them to a friend. A description of their appearance if describing a bank robber. We use different methods to describe another's identity we do not just say the persons name.

There seems to be more to the human identity than just the name. The term "I am more than just a number" comes to mind. There is a bit more to us than just the name we have. Each if us will identify with various parts of life to different degree's. Our identity does not define who we are. In many ways it is nothing more than a method for us to interact with more efficiency.

If we were all named Bob. How would we know which Bob we were talking to?

We may never know who we talk to,
even if we can identify them.