Praise to ethnic identity.

[Majed]

"Being Italian is a trait—a character—that a person possesses. Italian culture, along with its soul and identity, is not confined to its geography, even though it is centered there. An Italian could go to Mars, yet they would remain Italian. Because this is their character, their worldview, their way of life, their culture—their very soul is Italian."

I wrote this about my view of italian identity. But it applies to all ethnic identities. 

We cannot deny the existence of ethnic groups, and the character of a people. 

It's real. 

[Nemra]

It's just a survival identity. All of them are false.

It's way more interesting to have a constructivist approach to how you survive rather than conform to some ethnic identity and defend it as if it were absolutely true.

[Majed]

2 minutes ago, Nemra said:

It's just a survival identity. All of them are false.

It's way more interesting to have a constructivist approach to how you survive rather than conform to some ethnic identity and defend it as if it were absolutely true.

@Nemra Careful. Every ethnic identity has a life of its own. Patterns within consciousness. 

[Nemra]

1 hour ago, Majed said:

Every ethnic identity has a life of its own. Patterns within consciousness. 

Your true identity is not based on survival. They are all false, no matter the degree of realness.

People think that there is more to their socially constructed identities. They believe those identities are not socially constructed which limits their thinking.

Sure, you won't be able to modify every last social construction. Maybe you don't have the energy, maybe you're fine with it, or maybe it would be detrimental to your current way of surviving.

There's a difference between conforming to a social construction and choosing how to construct.

Survival is the name of the game.

Edited 11 hours ago by Nemra

[Salvijus]

It's like a different breed or species. A work of art. 

[integral]

Nice this is one of the best posts ive seen you make, well done!

How culture becomes identity, indoctrination. 

[shenanigans]

47 minutes ago, Nemra said:

Your true identity is not based on survival. They are all false, no matter the degree of realness.

People think that there is more to their socially constructed identities. They believe those identities are not socially constructed which limits their thinking.

Sure, you won't be able to modify every last social construction. Maybe you don't have the energy, maybe you're fine with it, or maybe it would be detrimental to your current way of surviving.

There's a difference between conforming to a social construction and choosing how to construct.

Survival is the name of the game.

Survival shapes who you are. To your body, past experiences and actions. Still though, don't overdo it. Treat it moreso as something interchangeable like paradigms and taste the flavors. You could be italian. You could be human. You could be a God. You could be a man. You could be enlightened. You could be an independent thinker. A visionary. A leader. Each one has different trade offs pros and cons within the phyche. Change into what feels best in the moment or what the situation requires, etc. Learn who you are at your core.

Note: Italian although fun is not really descriptive/Universal although some people get off on it so you do you. 

Edited 11 hours ago by shenanigans

[Majed]

2 hours ago, Nemra said:

Your true identity is not based on survival. They are all false, no matter the degree of realness.

People think that there is more to their socially constructed identities. They believe those identities are not socially constructed which limits their thinking.

Sure, you won't be able to modify every last social construction. Maybe you don't have the energy, maybe you're fine with it, or maybe it would be detrimental to your current way of surviving.

There's a difference between conforming to a social construction and choosing how to construct.

Survival is the name of the game.

@Nemra You're missing something important, which is that ethnic identity sure it is socially constructed and its boundaries are somewhat flexible, but still the words are pointing to real patterns within consciousness or reality. There's an italian reality, a russian reality, a jewish reality, etc... these aren't mere social constructions, they are patterns of being. 

Yeah italy is a social construct, however still there's an italian identity. If you go to india for example, you won't find much of it, you'll find the indian identity and ways of being. 

It's like yeah gender is a social construct, but still most men wanna mate and date women. Now some men, a minority, want to mate and date men, or both genders, etc... but this is rather marginal and anecdotal compared to the majority. Which is why yes it is a social construct, but still there's a reality to it as well. 

Edited 9 hours ago by Majed

[Nemra]

@Majed, social construction is the pattern or reality. I'm not talking about biology. Of course, there are more fundamental constructions than social.

I'm not denying that people have ethnic identities. I'm saying that those identities are pseudo-identities regardless of the level of construction. Social constructions are real as long as you play by their rules. I'm not even saying not to play. It's just that people believe that their ethnic identities aren't socially constructed, which limits them. Social constructions have their purposes and consequences.

Regardless of the level of construction, all those identities are based on survival.

All these identities have been continuously morphing due to survival. They didn't exist out of the blue.

If I'm going to survive, I will be building a survival identity anyway. But if I'm not epistemically responsible, I would be limiting myself from knowing why I'm adopting a construction that I have the power not to adopt.

However, your true identity is beyond survival.

Edited 8 hours ago by Nemra

[Leo Gura]

Being Italian is a hallucination.

Which is why people get so defensive and offended when their ethnic identity is questioned.

Edited 8 hours ago by Leo Gura

[Majed]

6 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

Being Italian is a hallucination.

Which is why people get so defensive and offended when their ethnic identity is questioned.

@Leo Gura I am talking at the relative level, not the absolute here. 

You can enjoy the hallucination. Just because something is a hallucination doesn't mean it shouldn't be hallucinated ;). 

Edited 8 hours ago by Majed

[integral]

White academic multi-cultural stance is also an identity.

The normal person "default". 

Edited 8 hours ago by integral

[Leo Gura]

5 minutes ago, integral said:

White academic multi-cultural stance is also an identity.

The normal person "default". 

You wish that was default. Default is racism, xenophobia, and tribalism.

[Jodistrict]

My mother came from Italy and that was her state of being.  The surrounding culture didn’t change her identity.  But it did change me.  I am just beginning to realize the confusion it created for me.  Because as a child I assumed that the world she created at home was reality but the external culture I was having to grow up in was radically different.  So, I was never in sync with the culture that I was growing up in.  This stuff is real and deeply buried in the unconscious. 

[Majed]

5 minutes ago, Jodistrict said:

My mother came from Italy and that was her state of being.  The surrounding culture didn’t change her identity.  But it did change me.  I am just beginning to realize the confusion it created for me.  Because as a child I assumed that the world she created at home was reality but the external culture I was having to grow up in was radically different.  So, I was never in sync with the culture that I was growing up in.  This stuff is real and deeply buried in the unconscious. 

@Jodistrict Yes!

[integral]

19 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

You wish that was default. Default is racism, xenophobia, and tribalism.

Right, I was mostly pointing to the one that looks invisible  

[Rafael Thundercat]

6 hours ago, Nemra said:

They are all false,

Their falsness is existing