#personal identity

[that-dreaming-dragon]

Identity is like this: you’ve got to grasp it with your own hands, and decide how you want it.

[anonartstudio]

Evil In Another Life

[glowettee]

hi just wondering if u have any advice on how to find your signatures? like signature color, signature scents, signature jewelry etc

✧・゜: finding your signatures・゜✧:・゜

omg i love this question so much! finding your signature elements is literally one of the most fun parts of building your personal aesthetic. it's like creating your own character design for the main character (you!).

i spent years feeling like i was just collecting random pretty things without any real cohesion. then i realized that having intentional signatures makes you memorable and gives you this sense of identity that feels so grounding. so here's my process for finding yours!

⋆.ೃ࿔:･ signature color ･:࿔ೃ.⋆

this one's actually more intuitive than people make it seem! start by noticing:

what color do you naturally gravitate toward when shopping?

which color consistently makes you feel confident when you wear it?

what color are most of your favorite items already?

which color feels like "you" even if you can't explain why?

for me it's a specific shade of light pink (surprise surprise). i noticed i kept buying everything in this color without even realizing it. your signature doesn't have to be just one color though! it could be a palette of 2-3 colors that work together.

pro tip: once you find it, add little touches of your color everywhere - phone case, water bottle, bookmarks. it creates this subtle cohesion in your life that feels so satisfying.

⋆.ೃ࿔:･ signature scent ･:࿔ೃ.⋆

this one is so powerful because scent ties directly to memory! people will literally think of you when they smell your signature scent elsewhere.

get sample sizes before committing (i wasted so much money before learning this)

wear a potential signature for at least a week straight

notice which one you keep reaching for without thinking

consider different concentrations (perfume, lotion, hair mist) for layering

my signature is a vanilla sandalwood that's slightly sweet but not too young feeling. i have it in everything from perfume to hand cream so the scent follows me subtly.

⋆.ೃ࿔:･ signature jewelry ･:࿔ೃ.⋆

the key with signature jewelry is choosing pieces you can wear literally every day without getting tired of them:

what pieces do you feel naked without?

which ones go with everything you wear?

what has personal meaning beyond just looking pretty?

i have these tiny star earrings i never take out and a delicate chain bracelet with my initial. they're subtle enough to go with everything but still distinctly "me."

⋆.ೃ࿔:･ other signature elements ･:࿔ೃ.⋆

there are so many other fun signatures you can develop:

a signature nail color or style

a signature accessory (headband, hair clip, specific bag)

a signature drink order (baristas at my local café start making mine when i walk in)

a signature makeup look (for me it's barely-there makeup with winged liner, or douyin makeup)

a signature phrase or greeting

the best signatures evolve naturally and feel effortless. if you're forcing it, it's probably not right for you! and remember signatures can evolve as you do - mine have shifted slightly over the years while still maintaining their essence.

what signature elements are you drawn to already? i bet you have some emerging ones without even realizing it!

xoxo, mindy 🤍

[derelictdiver]

A way I relate to my gender identity is that of a mech pilot, at least as the concept exists and is often described in fiction, especially here on Tumblr.

My gender (and my identity as a whole outside my gender) is a mess, and primarily tied into the equipment that I operate from day to day (that equipment being a computer). It's what i do for work, it's what I do as a hobby.

When I am away from a computer, I feel like I'm missing parts. I feel like I can't see properly. Like I can't communicate properly. I know I'm not supposed to feel this way, but I also know there isn't really anything I can do about it at this point in time.

I am faceless. I live in the dark and see by command line, consoles, and browsers. When I see "myself", I recognize not the person staring back at me. Do I fit in the binary? No. Am I transfeminine? Probably. If I change, will I recognize the person in the mirror? Probably still no. I think that ship has sailed and I have been so depersonalized and so derealized that I can never reconnect with myself on a human level.

I communicate via the machine. My "voice" is a serialized binary transmission. I rarely speak. I type often. People see me as a profile, a blog, a post, a comment. They never see a person. I am, to most people, a series of open sockets and ports communicating data over HTTPS in the frontend, and various protocols in the back.

I can't sleep right without the hum of fans and presence of a computer. I don't mind the lack of another person beside me (though I admit it would be nice); but if I am without a working computer, I feel truly alone.

The thing that takes the place of a person doesn't act right. Its voice sounds weird. It has odd mannerisms. Its gait is all wrong. It can't make eye contact. Its skin is too pale, and its eyes hurt in the sun.

Can that really be me? Can I really express myself outside of the computer? Will that thing, that hardware that exists outside of the interface that I've long considered my way of interacting with the world ever truly resonate with me as a person? Resonate as me as a person?

It feels wrong to be separate from the machine. It feels wrong to be a person of flesh and blood.

I just want to be whole. I want to feel whole. Is that so much to ask?

[omegaphilosophia]

The Philosophy of Dreams

The philosophy of dreams is a profound inquiry into one of the most universal yet enigmatic human experiences. Dreams challenge our fundamental assumptions about reality, consciousness, identity, and truth. Far from being mere neural noise, they have been treated by philosophers as a metaphysical puzzle, an epistemological crisis, a psychological revelation, and a creative frontier.

Here is a breakdown of the major philosophical approaches to dreams.

1. The Epistemological Challenge: The Dream Doubt

Dreams create the most powerful argument for radical skepticism—the idea that we cannot have certain knowledge of the external world.

Classical Formulation (Plato, Aristotle): Noted the difficulty of distinguishing dreaming from waking, planting the seed of doubt.

René Descartes: In Meditations on First Philosophy, he made the "dream argument" foundational. Since dreams can be vividly realistic and internally coherent, how can I be certain that my present, waking experience is not just a particularly persistent dream? This doubt attacks the reliability of the senses and pushes us to seek a foundation for knowledge beyond sensory experience (leading Descartes to cogito ergo sum).

Zhuangzi's Butterfly Dream: The Daoist sage questioned the very basis of identity and perspective: "Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming I am a man." This isn't just skepticism, but a metaphysical insight into the fluid, relative nature of the self and reality.

2. The Metaphysical Window: Dreams as an Alternate Reality or Divine Communication

Many traditions grant dreams ontological significance—they are a real dimension of being.

Ancient & Indigenous Views: Dreams as a realm where the soul travels, where one communicates with ancestors, spirits, or gods. They are real experiences in a non-physical plane (the "dreamtime" in Aboriginal Australian philosophy).

Plato: In the Timaeus, dreams could be either divine revelations (messages from the gods) or disturbances from the lower, appetitive part of the soul. They reveal truths hidden from the waking mind.

Aristotle: Took a more naturalistic but still metaphysical view in On Dreams, seeing them as the continuation of sensory processing and imagination (phantasia) in sleep, but also as possible indicators of bodily states.

3. The Psychological Revelation: The Unconscious Unveiled

Modern philosophy of dreams is deeply shaped by psychology, viewing them as a privileged window into the hidden self.

Sigmund Freud (Psychoanalysis): In The Interpretation of Dreams, he called dreams the "royal road to the unconscious." They are disguised fulfillments of repressed wishes (often sexual or aggressive), undergoing censorship and symbolic transformation (manifest content vs. latent content). Philosophically, this shattered the Enlightenment ideal of the transparent, rational self.

Carl Jung (Analytical Psychology): Saw dreams not as disguises, but as compensatory communications from the collective unconscious. They use archetypal symbols to restore psychic balance and guide the individual toward wholeness (individuation). Dreams are the psyche's natural philosophy, speaking in the language of metaphor and myth.

Existential Analysis (Ludwig Binswanger, Medard Boss): Rejected Freudian interpretation. For Boss, dreams are a fundamental mode of being-in-the-world that reveals our existential concerns (freedom, anxiety, relationships) in a more pure, undisguised form than waking life.

4. The Cognitive and Phenomenological Approach: The Fabric of Consciousness

This approach asks: What does the experience of dreaming tell us about the nature of consciousness itself?

Phenomenology: Dreaming reveals consciousness's world-making power. In a dream, we inhabit a fully realized, immersive world generated entirely by the mind. This shows that consciousness is intrinsically intentional (it creates a "world") even without external input.

Cognitive Science/Philosophy of Mind: Dreams are a test case for theories of consciousness. The "hard problem" is present: why do we have subjective, qualitative experiences (the phenomenology) of a dream world? Research on lucid dreaming (where one knows one is dreaming) blurs the line between waking and dreaming consciousness, challenging definitions of awareness and metacognition.

Antonio Damasio/David Chalmers: Use dreaming to explore how the brain constructs a self-model and a world-model, even in the absence of sensory constraints.

5. The Creative and Existential Frontier: Dreams as Meaning-Making

Here, dreams are not problems to be solved, but resources for living.

Existentialism: Dreams confront us with raw anxiety, freedom, and absurdity. They strip away social masks and present existential dilemmas in symbolic form. Engaging with dreams can be an act of authenticity.

Philosophy of Art & Creativity: Dreams demonstrate the mind's innate capacity for narrative, symbol, and surreal innovation. They are a source of artistic inspiration and a model for non-linear, associative thinking. They challenge our ordinary logic of time, space, and identity.

Moral Philosophy: Can we be held responsible for our actions in dreams? Do dream emotions (guilt, fear, love) have moral significance? This probes the nature of moral agency and character.

6. The Skeptical Dismissal: Dreams as Epiphenomenal Noise

Not all philosophies grant dreams deep significance.

Eliminative Materialism/Reductionism: Dreams are merely epiphenomenal byproducts of brain maintenance (e.g., memory consolidation, neural pruning during sleep). They have no intrinsic meaning, message, or philosophical import. Any meaning is projected onto them by the waking mind.

Certain Eastern Philosophies (e.g., Advaita Vedanta): While not dismissive, see both waking and dreaming states as ultimately illusory (maya) compared to the non-dual reality of pure consciousness (Brahman). From this highest perspective, the dream debate is moot.

Core Philosophical Questions Raised by Dreams

The Reality Question: What is the ontological status of the dream world? Is it a private simulation, a lower level of reality, or pure illusion?

The Self Question: Who is the "I" that dreams? Is it the same as the waking self? In dreams, we often have different identities, memories, and moral compasses.

The Knowledge Question: If our minds can generate completely convincing fake worlds while we sleep, what does that say about the reliability of our waking perception? Can we ever be certain we are awake?

The Meaning Question: Do dreams have intrinsic meaning (messages from the unconscious/divine) or is meaning ascribed by the waking mind?

The Ethics Question: Are we responsible for our dream actions? Do they reveal our true, unfiltered character?

Conclusion: The Mirror of Mind

The philosophy of dreams ultimately reveals less about dreams themselves and more about our concepts of reality, self, and mind. Dreams are the mind's most radical experiment on itself.

They demonstrate that:

Consciousness is a world-builder, not a passive receiver.

The self is fluid and multiplicitous, not a monolithic unity.

Reality is a precarious construct, dependent on the ongoing agreement of our cognitive faculties.

To study dreams philosophically is to engage in a form of cognitive archaeology, digging into the strange, symbolic, and often unsettling productions of our own minds to better understand the limits and possibilities of human existence. They are, as the poet Novalis said, a defense against the "regularity and conventionality" of ordinary life, a nightly reminder that the mind's potential is far stranger and richer than our waking assumptions allow.

[singularweevil]

you don't have to be trans to change your name by the way . you don't have to change your name if you're trans . you can present yourself however you want without having to be a certain thing . you do not have to label yourself if you do not desire . you do not have to adhere to societal norms and beliefs and you are allowed to do anything you want in the terms of your identity and your appearance if it feels the most like you . you can have a complex identity if it makes you feel like you . you can have the most simple , one word identity in existence if it feels more like you . you can have an identity so ambiguous you upset the masses if you do not feel like finding the perfect identity and only care for what you're interested in . you do not have to sound or act or look masculine or feminine or androgynous just because of you're identity . if you do not enjoy dressing and acting and sounding and looking your gender , you do not have to . there is no rule on what you can and cannot do .

[nightmarebunnyking]

My dread and worry about my government following suit with banned social media

It will make everyone have to put their ID into third party site and their information can be leak I don't want to put my ID online,the internet is so supposed to be anonymous.