2016年02月10日
Thinking about Personal Identity
Hello!
Today, I’d like to talk about something similar to what I talked about last week with national identity. National identity is where someone has the idea of what makes the country they live in (or, for that matter, any country at all) special and unique. Japan, as I gave for an example, has hundreds of years of culture and heritage that define what “Japan” is. Canada, my own country, is so young compared to places like England or Japan, that defining what its national identity is much more difficult to do. I thought in my post last week that our country’s identity should be more defined not by what it gives to the world in terms of its own culture or heritage, but more by the combination of all the different cultures and groups that all live together and are creating something new and better out of the old.
This week, I want to talk a little about personal identity, which is what we use to define who we are as individuals, not only as citizens of a country or city. Personal identity is not asking “What makes me a Canadian?”, but more “What makes me Alex?” This question never has a simple answer, because it encompasses so many different parts of how we define ourselves. What we like, what we don’t like, where we come from, our social or economic status, and a thousand other factors all combine to make us who we are.
So why is personal identity important? Even if we were able to make a list of all the things about us that make us individuals, it would change every day. Every time we learn something new that changes how we view the world, or new tastes that grow and develop. Before I came to Japan, I never ate fish! I just didn’t like the taste of it, but in my time here, I’ve tried (slowly) to try and taste as many different types of seafood as possible! So, now I’m no longer “Alex, the guy who doesn’t like seafood” to “Alex, the guy who kind of likes some seafood”. That’s just one example from my life that shows that personal identity is not something cast in stone, but changes and adapts over time.
I think the reason that personal identity (even if it isn’t something that stays the same) is so important is that without it, we would have to choose who the ideal person is to be like. If I wasn’t allowed to be myself, because what I liked wasn’t what was considered “good” or “right”, then I would be spending all my time trying to be something I could never achieve!
What do you think? What are the things that make you special and different? Do you think that being different is good or bad?
Have a great week!
Alex
Today, I’d like to talk about something similar to what I talked about last week with national identity. National identity is where someone has the idea of what makes the country they live in (or, for that matter, any country at all) special and unique. Japan, as I gave for an example, has hundreds of years of culture and heritage that define what “Japan” is. Canada, my own country, is so young compared to places like England or Japan, that defining what its national identity is much more difficult to do. I thought in my post last week that our country’s identity should be more defined not by what it gives to the world in terms of its own culture or heritage, but more by the combination of all the different cultures and groups that all live together and are creating something new and better out of the old.
This week, I want to talk a little about personal identity, which is what we use to define who we are as individuals, not only as citizens of a country or city. Personal identity is not asking “What makes me a Canadian?”, but more “What makes me Alex?” This question never has a simple answer, because it encompasses so many different parts of how we define ourselves. What we like, what we don’t like, where we come from, our social or economic status, and a thousand other factors all combine to make us who we are.
So why is personal identity important? Even if we were able to make a list of all the things about us that make us individuals, it would change every day. Every time we learn something new that changes how we view the world, or new tastes that grow and develop. Before I came to Japan, I never ate fish! I just didn’t like the taste of it, but in my time here, I’ve tried (slowly) to try and taste as many different types of seafood as possible! So, now I’m no longer “Alex, the guy who doesn’t like seafood” to “Alex, the guy who kind of likes some seafood”. That’s just one example from my life that shows that personal identity is not something cast in stone, but changes and adapts over time.
I think the reason that personal identity (even if it isn’t something that stays the same) is so important is that without it, we would have to choose who the ideal person is to be like. If I wasn’t allowed to be myself, because what I liked wasn’t what was considered “good” or “right”, then I would be spending all my time trying to be something I could never achieve!
What do you think? What are the things that make you special and different? Do you think that being different is good or bad?
Have a great week!
Alex
Posted by teachers at 19:15│Comments(0)
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