A novel way of describing the function of a name. I'm always confused by cultures that have extremely common distributions of surnames (and there are a lot.) I have almost an anxiety for them not having a birthright named identity somehow, an "I'm me." It's that they don't have an "address" in my mind. This isn't a cultural criticism, it's an extremely modest anxiety. it's like the thought that they would almost be lost without something that is uniquely theirs.... and yet if i search my own name on Facebook, there are hundreds of me and it doesn't threaten me for a moment.
This is why I think names are much better at locating us within finite communities, rather than within the macro "community" of the human family. The Internet has, in this way, adulterated the power of naming, bestowing powerful addresses to a few, while stripping away the sense of power from those of us who have "common" names. My whole life, my friends, my family, and my colleagues addressed me as Jordan Petersen. And then Jordan Peterson unwittingly stole some of the potency of that address by becoming broadly famous. In my non-online life, I retain ownership of that address, but online, I had to move, so to speak, to a new one. Which is why I go by J.E. Petersen on the internet.
I always wishes I was named Sam - in this framework does that mean I wanna live in a different neighborhood?
It seems to be a small change, so maybe you don’t have to uproot completely. Maybe just the house on the next corner?
Good question! Maybe so, but certainly not far.
A novel way of describing the function of a name. I'm always confused by cultures that have extremely common distributions of surnames (and there are a lot.) I have almost an anxiety for them not having a birthright named identity somehow, an "I'm me." It's that they don't have an "address" in my mind. This isn't a cultural criticism, it's an extremely modest anxiety. it's like the thought that they would almost be lost without something that is uniquely theirs.... and yet if i search my own name on Facebook, there are hundreds of me and it doesn't threaten me for a moment.
This is why I think names are much better at locating us within finite communities, rather than within the macro "community" of the human family. The Internet has, in this way, adulterated the power of naming, bestowing powerful addresses to a few, while stripping away the sense of power from those of us who have "common" names. My whole life, my friends, my family, and my colleagues addressed me as Jordan Petersen. And then Jordan Peterson unwittingly stole some of the potency of that address by becoming broadly famous. In my non-online life, I retain ownership of that address, but online, I had to move, so to speak, to a new one. Which is why I go by J.E. Petersen on the internet.
Just so you know, I don’t know them and I do know you. So, I guess, I’m, sort of, you win. 🥇