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Mon, Jul 25 2011 23:15:36

Identity - what is it really?

  1. This transpired on Twitter tonight. I started with a couple of musings.
    People responded. I responded back. In some cases I had to think on the fly. In some cases I made stronger statements than I usually would in order to force people to see things differently than usual. Let's see how this Storify thingie works and if I can put this together in some kind of a coherent story.

  2. BoraZ
    Do not understand why people think that name on birth certificate is "real" except for IRS, cops and immigration purposes?
    BoraZ
    Mon, Jul 25 2011 20:51:29
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  3. RitaJKing
    @BoraZ So, what is my "real" name?
    RitaJKing
    Mon, Jul 25 2011 20:57:02
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  4. BoraZ
    @RitaJKing The one YOU say is your real name, knowing yourself, not predicting (as your parents did) what the baby will grow up into.... ;-)
    BoraZ
    Mon, Jul 25 2011 20:57:44
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  5. BoraZ
    Methinks a lot of people mix up "official for the government" name with the "real" name. It is not the same thing.
    BoraZ
    Mon, Jul 25 2011 20:56:29
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  6. RitaJKing
    @BoraZ So if I started calling myself Eureka Dejavu for example, that would be my real name?
    RitaJKing
    Mon, Jul 25 2011 20:58:36
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  7. BoraZ
    @RitaJKing Yup
    BoraZ
    Mon, Jul 25 2011 20:58:53
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  8. BoraZ
    Maybe it is not growing up in the USA, but what government says is my name does not really matter much as to what I think is my real name.
    BoraZ
    Mon, Jul 25 2011 20:58:47
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  9. RitaJKing
    @BoraZ What is your official name and what is your real name?
    RitaJKing
    Mon, Jul 25 2011 20:59:07
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  10. BoraZ
    @RitaJKing for the US government, it is Bira Dusan Zivkovic. My birth certifcate looks different.
    BoraZ
    Mon, Jul 25 2011 21:00:04
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  11. BoraZ
    @RitaJKing Was Coturnix for a while, then simplified my life by fusing the two names into one. On Twitter, my real name is BoraZ
    BoraZ
    Mon, Jul 25 2011 21:00:23
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  12. RitaJKing
    @BoraZ You're BoraZ to me
    RitaJKing
    Mon, Jul 25 2011 21:00:37
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  13. BoraZ
    I do not let the government dictate what my name is (nor my parents). I am an adult. I can decide for myself.
    BoraZ
    Mon, Jul 25 2011 21:01:01
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  14. BoraZ
    But I grew up in a communist country, a different relationship to government - one of suspicions. Should be in US, too.
    BoraZ
    Mon, Jul 25 2011 21:01:27
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  15. smanthamurphy
    @BoraZ Hmm- I like that. If name = identity, and you control your own identity, then you control your name.
    smanthamurphy
    Mon, Jul 25 2011 21:02:19
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  16. teachingofsci
    @BoraZ "it's not what i am called that matters. It's what i answer to."
    teachingofsci
    Mon, Jul 25 2011 21:02:45
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  17. cgranade
    @BoraZ @RitaJKing For me the take away is that there is not just one "real name" per person. Names are contextual.
    cgranade
    Mon, Jul 25 2011 21:02:54
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  18. smanthamurphy
    @BoraZ It almost actually makes the argument that your avatar would be more "you" than you because of the full control- is it about control?
    smanthamurphy
    Mon, Jul 25 2011 21:05:21
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  19. BoraZ
    My mother changed her name from Rachela to Rea when she was 12. I grew up with that example of self-determination. Cannot fathom slavishnes.
    BoraZ
    Mon, Jul 25 2011 21:03:45
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  20. BoraZ
    I am incredibly fortunate and priviledged that I CAN afford to fuse all my names into one. Most people cannot.
    BoraZ
    Mon, Jul 25 2011 21:06:43
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  21. BoraZ
    @smanthamurphy I am never anonymous online. But I was pseudonymous for a while. And I am BoraZ here and yet you know exactly who I am.
    BoraZ
    Mon, Jul 25 2011 21:07:55
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  22. BoraZ
    What makes a name "real"? Context. Bora Dusan Zivkovic is real for the cops. BoraZ on Twitter. Coturnix in the blogosphere. All are "real"
    BoraZ
    Mon, Jul 25 2011 21:09:14
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  23. TheAtavism
    @BoraZ This was from before the G+ thing, but very relevant http://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/06/17/falsehoods-programmers-believe-about-names/
    TheAtavism
    Mon, Jul 25 2011 21:09:07
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  24. gmusser
    @BoraZ I'll grant the liberty to choose pseudonyms, but methinks you go too far in calling "name" a fiction
    gmusser
    Mon, Jul 25 2011 21:12:09
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  25. BoraZ
    @gmusser not a fiction - all of my names are equally real, in different context, none are fiction.
    BoraZ
    Mon, Jul 25 2011 21:12:52
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