mediabean

Though I never thought I’d ever envy the plight of a serf, last night I found myself wishing I was digging a ditch in midevil Europe. Though such a life would certainly pit me against plague, hunger and incredible monotony, it would just as certainly relieve me of one incredible stress we digital natives confront:

What the hell do I put in my Facebook profile?

I don’t mean this simply—yes, Facebook didn’t exist 800 years ago; pretend for a moment it did. While I’m sure the amount of language required to adequately complete the profile would be unbelievable, the largest stress I encounter would be completely non existent. “Who are you?” was not a question an inhabitant of the 12th century had to think too much about. In fact, the identity of any non-modern human was (is) pretty obvious: name? race? religion? gender? None of these were choices. Your identity was cemented in birth and didn’t change.

And thank goodness that’s changed, right? Right?

Definitely. But the choices we can make are truly unprecendeted, and our internet profiles only start to represent the incredible number of choices we’re able to make. Though no one is advocating a return to the feudal system, it’s interesting to think critically about the stresses these choices create.

A few months ago, my good friend Richie suggested I read Nationalism and the Mind, an essay by Boston University professor Liah Greenfeld. Previous works by Greenfeld argue that our modern culture, nationalism, is sovereign, secular and egalitarian; it’s self-sufficient and changeable, and above all else, it exalts the individual. Nationalism and the Mind begins to explore the subject of Greenfeld’s next book: that while humans have chosen choice, our modern culture’s emphasis on independence may be too much for many minds to handle, and may in fact be the source for functional psychoses such as depression, anorexia and schizophrenia.

It’s a fascinating argument: at the core of anxiety lies an identity crisis. It makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?

Logical or not, it’s a tough and controversial sell. But even if Greenfeld’s wrong, her work makes me wonder how technology, especially the social nature of the internet, has effected our contemporary identity? Does it help, hinder or simply highlight the identity crises that have become so crucial to our society?