In the beginning
… was the word
And the word was:
identity
I’m going to jump to the meat of the matter — the subject that has led us to create this project. Let me start with a dream:
Opening scene, an old man is talking to a small device sitting by his bed, they’re having a very serious conversation, the old man is dying and he’s talking about his last thoughts, the lasts bits and bytes of information he wants to convey. “Grandpa’”, he says, “I’ve had a good life, I think”. The voice answers back in a familiar voice, the old man has heard this voice ever since he was a young boy. The conversation goes on for hours as the “old friends” reminisce about life, about the value of storing all this information into an artificial intelligence that, once the old man is gone, it will continue to preserve the information, knowledge, wisdom, memories and records of this individual, the self it once knew. So that at some future, when someone wants to access this … self … this wisdom and knowledge, it can not only recite, but it continue to evolve in a somewhat natural path that a human brain would have followed, tho now thru a cyber version of this universe.
I envision such a device in the future being able to capture the life of a human and his/her notions of self to preserve that consciousness and in a sense ensure that when we die, that this information is not simply lost, but can live on its own, continue to evolve the human condition.
This was the lofty goal when I started conceptualizing what has now become the Self Project. If such a future is to exist, then it’s important to begin creating the building blocks, and so for this inaugural post, I start with the idea that “self”, such a concept, is rather complicated, but we are going to simplify the model with exploring a meta concept, the concept of Identity, and two sub concepts, the idea of self identity, and the idea of identity outside of the self
Self-Identity: Self-identity pertains to how an individual perceives and defines themselves. It involves a person’s internal understanding of who they are, including their beliefs, values, personality traits, and personal experiences. Self-identity is subjective and can evolve over time as individuals develop and gain new insights about themselves. It is closely tied to one’s sense of individuality and uniqueness.
Identity Outside of the Self: Identity outside of the self refers to how an individual is perceived and categorized by others in social contexts. It encompasses the characteristics, roles, and attributes that are ascribed to a person by society or specific groups. This external identity can include factors such as gender, ethnicity, nationality, occupation, and social roles. Identity outside of the self is often influenced by societal norms, cultural expectations, and social interactions.
While self-identity is primarily rooted in an individual’s internal perspective and self-perception, identity outside of the self is shaped by external perceptions and social constructs. Self-identity focuses on one’s own understanding of their personality and values, whereas identity outside of the self relates to how others perceive and categorize an individual based on external factors.
The self-spiral is an intriguing idea that we change the world by controlling waht the world “sees” about us, while the world is changing us by what we perceive of the world.
It’s important to note that self-identity and identity outside of the self can interact and influence each other. External perceptions and societal labels can impact an individual’s self-identity, and personal self-reflection can lead to changes in how a person presents themselves to others. With this understanding, we now move to one of the core beliefs of the self project: computational models of identity primarily deal with identity outside of the self.
In the context of computational security and digital systems, identity management involves how individuals are authenticated, authorized, and recognized within a technological environment.Computational identity models focus on representing and managing digital identities, which are typically associated with users or entities accessing computer systems, online services, or networks. These models address questions such as how to verify the identity of users, how to grant appropriate access privileges based on their identity, and how to protect and secure digital identities from unauthorized use.
These models often rely on various mechanisms such as usernames, passwords, biometrics, digital certificates, and other forms of authentication to establish and verify an individual’s identity. They also encompass concepts like identity federation, single sign-on, role-based access control, and attribute-based access control.By incorporating computational identity models, organizations and systems can establish trust, manage user access, and protect sensitive information. These models enable the secure interaction and communication between individuals and digital systems, ensuring that identities are properly authenticated and authorized within the technological environment.
In summary, computational identity models primarily focus on managing identity outside of the self, dealing with the representation, verification, and authorization of digital identities within computational systems and networks. With this in mind, the self project seeks to focus on the gathering of existing research, technologies and work, as well as the development of new ones, in order to define Identity, Trust and life, in the context of the SELF.