What is the most significant aspect of human identity?

[mix]

Poll question: What is the most significant aspect of human identity?

[onehandle]

1. Other: Beer. nt

[mix]

23. what is beer nt

[tigereye]

2. culture?

[mix]

3. But culture will shape all of the above categories in some way. nt

[tigereye]

24. so there you go!

:D

[mix]

28. After I post #3, I thought exactly what you pointed out...culture is the underlying thing.

Thanks.

:)

[Ricochet21]

4. Huh?

[Rex]

5. ego

nt

[Boojatta]

6. I recommend expanding the list to include ...

• what goals the person is consciously pursuing
  
• what motivates the person
  
• rules of ethics that the person tries to avoid violating
  
• personality
  
• political philosophy that the person accepts
  

[Kennah]

7. ... this is my gun

[Spider Jerusalem]

8. It's an intersection of the above.

Identity is formed as a result of socioeconomic class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), education, politics, geographic origin, nationality, and so on. All of the various categories by which we define ourselves and by which we are defined by others contribute some part to the sum of our identity. So if you want a single aspect as to the most important or significant aspect of identity it would be our nature as individuals within the larger framework of society (and society itself, I suppose).

[mix]

15. thanks

I see it that way too, a composite.

[ZombieHorde]

9. I'll guess language. nt

[demwing]

10. Enlightened Self Perception (Ego + Self Awareness + Intellect)

Self awareness is the foundational ability to differentiate ones self from others. Add the ego element, and you've got the ability not merely to separate yourself from, but to measure yourself against others. Still, that's not strictly human. You have to add intelligence to the mix, and suddenly you gain the ability to measure youself against yourself. Thats human.

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

11. Self Awareness is only half of it. The other half is introspection.

We all self-evaluate ourselves. We all have internal models inside of the person we'd like to be. None of us are perfect, we make mistakes and good decisions and we have a critic inside who judges these things. I'm reading The Emotion Machine by Marvin Minsky which is about this kind of stuff. Minsky wants to study how we think in order to build an AI, so the point of view is interesting.

I'd say the biggest contributor to self is family. I think parents more then anyone else shape our self model.

[demwing]

12. You're right. After I reread my post, I came to a similar conclusion

After the edit, I saw your comment. In the end, we both ended up with the same conclusion - Self evaluation. I call it "Enlightened Self Awareness"

[pscot]

13. We're a bunch of apes

playing dressup.

[EFerrari]

14. Do you mean, the most recognizable? n/t

[mix]

16. The most determinant. nt

[EFerrari]

17. Determinant of what, though?

Of self image? Of public perception? Or?

[mix]

18. Social status, job opportunities, liberty, self-actualization, health...

I guess what shapes our destinies as individuals within a community.

[EFerrari]

19. Okay, so it sounds like, determinant of public or social perception.

In that case, my vote is for class.

[mix]

21. Though class is a social fact, it also has an interior dimension.

It's more than perception.

Class is emotionally felt and experienced, as is gender and ethnicity.

[EFerrari]

22. Of course. But it isn't solely individually constructed or experienced

as self image can be. Although, that is also interactive to a degree. :)

[Codeine]

20. Class, class, and class.

All else is decoration.

[Heidi]

25. I most closely identify with my self actualization (or lack of it).

But I identify others generally as they want to be identified.

[mix]

26. Self-actualization--living the life we want--is difficult for many and easier for others...

because it is both constrained and enabled by class, gender, ethnicity and sexuality. Some can overcome these constraints, many can't.

Rich straight white males versus anyone different.

Or the issue of coming out in Hollywood, as did Rupert Everett, and never worked again as a leading man.

[lumberjack_jeff]

27. Gender, sadly.

Although men and women have everything in common in the class struggle, we can't seem to talk the same language.

[Fumesucker]

29. Who are you and what have you done with Boojatta? n/t

[mix]

30. Is that a peak in the Himalayas?

If it is, I assure I had nothing to do with its disappearance.

[Fumesucker]

31. Only someone involved would know of the crime in the first place..

Boojatta is practically a DU legend for posting polls that are somewhat.. err.. "outside the box".. :evilgrin:

[mix]

32. Oh that Boojatta.

I move as if in a dream.

[Lucian]

33. It all depends where you are and how you perceive human identity.

[mix]

34. Cultural, social, political, and economic contexts are important.

But capitalism is a world system and that is why I think class is the most determinant factor in shaping our identities and destinies. But gender, ethnicity, and sexuality are hardly less important.

[Lucian]

35. I disagree.

I think it's all important, especially since GLBT issues are at the forefront of politics as well as women's issues and issues dealing with ethnicity.

[mix]

36. Disagree with what? nt

[Lucian]

37. You said gender, ethnicity, and sexuality are less important.

And I disagreed with you and said they're equally important when discussing human identity.

[mix]

38. I said they are "hardly less important" than class. Not that they are less important.

Class will play itself out, for example, via gender and ethnicity. Do women get paid as much as white males? Do African-Americans?

[Boojatta]

39. How about the fact that we're bipeds? That seems fairly determinative.

[mix]

40. as does our status as apex predators nt

[woo me with science]

41. personality nt

[mix]

42. But what shapes our personalities?

At any point in our lives, how do we become who we are?

[woo me with science]

43. Genes seem to play the largest part, but certain aspects of environment also play a role.

Genetic heritability of personality is estimated overall at about 60 percent.

A very rough outline from Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nature_versus_nurture):

Personality is a frequently cited example of a heritable trait that has been studied in twins and adoptions. Identical twins reared apart are far more similar in personality than randomly selected pairs of people. Likewise, identical twins are more similar than fraternal twins. Also, biological siblings are more similar in personality than adoptive siblings. Each observation suggests that personality is heritable to a certain extent. However, these same study designs allow for the examination of environment as well as genes. Adoption studies also directly measure the strength of shared family effects. Adopted siblings share only family environment. Unexpectedly, some adoption studies indicate that by adulthood the personalities of adopted siblings are no more similar than random pairs of strangers. This would mean that shared family effects on personality are zero by adulthood. As is the case with personality, non-shared environmental effects are often found to out-weigh shared environmental effects. That is, environmental effects that are typically thought to be life-shaping (such as family life) may have less of an impact than non-shared effects, which are harder to identify. One possible source of non-shared effects is the environment of pre-natal development. Random variations in the genetic program of development may be a substantial source of non-shared environment. These results suggest that "nurture" may not be the predominant factor in "environment".