Identity

Identity is a very intersting thing. It bring people closer and at the same time it drive them part. A person can have many identity depending on context (location, time etc). An identity can be formed on the basis of just one atribute or property or even combination of many, a entity can have infinite number of identity. What is basis of identity? What is fundamental to identity - similarity or dissimilarity? Both similarity and dis-similarity are like two sides of same coin. If its head then its not tail and vioce versa. Similarly if two things are similar then they are not dis-similar and vice versa.

I think our ability to make differentiation is at the core of creating identity. If we can not differentiate between two things, then its essentailly the same as we have no way to tell there are two different things are there. Say I have two jars of water, one from river Kaveri and another from Godavari. Both of them have their own identity. They are different. Now lets mix them together. Assuming there is no difference in colour etc. its not possible to differentiate between two. So they are just water, having single identity different from non-water entity. We can have another identity for the same, water from kaveri and Godaveri, which is different from water from Ganga. Again this identity is based on creating a differentiation.

So it seeems to me identity is fundamentally a dissive force. But why do we need the identity? Can't we live without having identity? Lets assume there is only one identity for every one. Then immediate challenge comes of how to refer to a particular one when entity is not present and we can not refer by pointing fingure. Similary suppose we want to discuss something about a group, who has special access to a system, we will have to take names of each one. But agian name is idenity. So problem is how to refer them. To me it seems that, community and idenity are so closely related that one can not exist in the absence of other. Given the large number of challenges comming in our daily life in absence of idenity, it's a must for the society, in fact its good.

But given the numerous conflict based on community and identity some time it appears that if we eliminate the concept of identity, conflict can be avoided. But, if we observe closely, people of same community, having same idenity in certain context, fight each for the same resources. So there should be something else which is responsible for the conflict other than identity. Its only exploited by some one for their advantage. Root to all our conflict lies in our inflexibility, respect for right of others etc. Strange thing is that all of these are know to us, but we are still not able to manage the conflict.