Name and Identity

Extentional world is a physical world that we live in
however, the reality of this world is different than what we perceive
for perception is what our mind interpret what we sense externally and internally
perception is language and visually based
the language based perception is the world of absent and abstract objects and environment
we feel something is real but what do I feel is interpretation
visual based perception is different than the reality of the object or environment
visual based perception requires present and concrete objects and environment in front of us
Visual perception is created more by visual memory.
a fast moving pictures create a video
visual perception is a video
we have memory for all senses, including the feeling senses that can create trauma
however, all senses other than the visual must have visual interpretation
this visual interpretation is what we call mind.
then, we add the language based perception.
language based perception is different than pure imagination
perception is always about present object and environment
however, language based perception is the information about absent and abstract objects and environment that we add to the visual perception
for example, relationship, system, structure, psychological structure, and self of visual objects. But, for objects that we hear, taste, sense, and touch, we have to create the object itself in interpreting the sensation.
This is how we create meaning. It may be real that I am in a building and it is bright outside. Visual interpretation create a structure of the building and interpret the brightness and adding the language "I am in my house this morning" I give it a NAME.

pure imagination is not perception. it doesn't have present objects and environment. What is environment but our interpretation of objects and space.
it is 100% language based story made into a movie. Where a perception is like a video with an interpretation.

Perception and imagination are uniquely human. They are processed information. With this they create human community and living that separate itself from nature. We call it human made environment. Human is the only creature that don't shelter, eat, drink from nature. We don't digest those raw material. We eat and drink processed dish, ex. has been cooked. We live in a designed house and city with its road and transportation system. We create technology to fly, swim, and extend our muscle and senses. Our educational period takes much longer than animals.

With knowledge, we separate itself from nature. This is our verbal world that create a world of its own. "Give name to all creatures you see" said the Lord to Adam.

Sadly, we confuse between pure imagination and perception and reality. Not knowing the difference, we believe absolutely that our imagination and perception is reality. We think we already know and stop searching for the truth.  We make many decisions based on this "world" that is neither natural nor true.

The greatest confusion is our perception and imagination about our selves. I am different than who I think I am. Who I think I am is a name and identity I give myself, family identity, social identity, career identity, religious identity, basically any group membership that I belong to. I also give my self a psychological and physical identity, such as a nice person, an aggressive person or any other psychological profile. All of these identities are group membership with the meaning defined by the group. The clearest example is the interpretation of thinness and beauty in the society. The society gives value to this physical appearance and we just believe it. Commercial marketing fully understand this concept. They call it value added service. This is what branding is. They don't see the product anymore, they sell the brand. We do this on personal level too. We polish our self physically and thru our action and we try to improve our name/brand.

My identity is pure imagination. I am a person is a language based perception, but all additional information is pure imagination, our membership to abstract social groups. We even derive our sense of esteem from membership to these groups, either positive (prestigious careers or schools or family name) or negative (race, gender, health, etc). This gives birth to prejudice and stigma.

A literal person such as myself fall easily to this trap of imagination and language based perception. As an unsponsored philosopher who think just for fun, I sometimes confuse the difference between the I that I think about and the real I. Thinking is an activity like writing, reading, drawing, painting, singing, listening to music, playing sports, shopping, driving, etc. With thinking, however, we think that "I am this person who is in this place, etc" forgetting that they all are thoughts. We forget that we are thinking. We try to maintain this fake environment because we think that it is real and thus, we can't keep still. I always have this "splinter in my mind" that always make me thinking. The I that I think about is not the real I. A recovering drug addicts experience this struggle explicitly by thinking that they can quit smoking or drinking means that they can. They confuse between "I want to" with "I can". There are two I, the good one and the bad one. Sadly, they are nothing but positive and negative critic we tell our selves.

What is life other than activities? We think about the next activity at the same time as we are performing an activity. And, we perform the next activity, we think about the next next activity. Like Lennon advice to his boy "life is what happens to you while you busy making other plans" how deep...

We identify with our activities with the group associated with the activities, with the reward for belonging to those groups. An extreme examples are extreme religious cults and socialites. This is nothing but branding.

Self consciousness is our highest intelligence but it is also our downfall. Self consciousness is the enemy of spontaneity. It is the mark of incompetence or traumatic experience. it is the first step of learning. Self consciousness is the rehearsal of self in the unknown environment or challenged environment. We can't live without it but we wish we can live without it. This is what people lose when they drink. Self consciousness is our awareness of others/empathy. We ask ourselves a question before self consciousness "what does other think about me?". That's why it is more appropriate to call it public self consciousness. This is what hinders public speaking or confidence. A person who is beautiful is different than a person who knows that she is beautiful. "don't let your right hand know what your left hand is doing" Positive self consciousness is narcissistic thinking. A person who think that he is beautiful. To tamper it, it is wise to balance it out. We are not as good as what we think we are, we are not as bad what we think we are. There are always those who are better than me, and there are always those that are worse than me.

In spite of all the problems, our mind is nature's greatest creation. Not the mental logic and symbol/language mind, but our self consciousness. We are like God but on a small scale with our ability to create and progress. Our mind gives us a better chance to survive, decrease factors that can harm us and increase factors that can give better quality of life. However, our mind is nurturally conditioned. We are what we have been programmed to do. A robot can BE USED in factory setting or it can BE USED to kill depends on the program.

Body is nature but mind is nurture. PHYSICAL IS NATURE BUT PSYCHOLOGICAL IS NURTURE.