I've noticed something about a lot of people from various interest groups. A lot of people enjoy unplugging themselves. This can be in the form of watching TV, playing video games, going to a unicorn furry rave or people like us who like to "turn on, tune in, drop out" with the use of entheogens.
I consider myself to be someone who enjoys dropping out of my identity, so that I may learn from not being me. I do not want to drop out of my identity all the time. I have never, and will never, have an identity crisis (my mindset naturally forbids that from taking place). But there are plenty of people who struggle with a sense of identity, mainly from conflicting influences. One prime example is a homosexual who is told they aren't "normal", and they need to fix themselves. I can't even conceptualise the identity struggle going on through this person's mind, being told they are not normal, but feeling totally fine.
The reason I started this topic is because I watched two VICE documentaries. One was on LARPing (live-action roleplaying) and the other was the unicorn movement. I watched both of these closely, because I wanted to see why people gravitated towards these hobbies.
For you old farts, LARPing is dressing up like World of Warcraft characters and acting like the character, including the fighting (which is done with fake weapons which they often make themselves). This often takes place over a weekend, where they camp in a forest.
[youtube]
[youtube]
In the case of the LARP video, I initially found LARPing humorous. Mainly because they yell "Fireball! 1 damage!" repeatedly out loud, which is something I normally don't see (coming from a video game perspective). After watching the video, I started to wonder why people enjoy having alter egos. The focal point of that documentary was on a young man, Jon, with Aspberger's syndrome. He struggled with social situations in normal circumstances, but overcame these obstacles because of LARPing. I thought "holy shit, that's awesome". He always had one LARP character with a ridiculously long name (first name was Von). In fact, most LARPers have extremely extensive backstories of their character. Anyway, Von showed many characteristics that Jon did not have. When Jon was confronted with a situation that he could not deal with, he would think "what would Von do?" And he would proceed from that point using Von's "wisdom". This was absolutely and unequivocally cool, for someone with Aspberger's syndrome to combat their problems just with their mind. But what about everyone else at the LARP event? Did anyone of them seem like they were struggling with identity? There was one guy/girl who was transgender (I never know what to refer them as. I will call them "guyrls" ). The rest seemed like they didn't have any problems with who they are.
Then I thought about myself. "Hang on. Don't I make characters in video games that follow some archetype?" Granted, I don't go as far as these guys, I just make a character and go "This guy is a bad ass mothafuckin' warlock, beeyatch!". That's the limit of my roleplaying. But isn't this small gesture indicative of wanting to let go? Upon thinking about this, I said no. I just want to see what would happen to this character when confronted with a variety of problems. I would make decisions based on who they were, not what I would do. In essence, I was a puppet master, just creating a narrative.
But why do I want to create a character? Why not just press the "randomise" button and start playing? I guess I need to find the answer myself.
For the unicorn video, the guy in the video found his "unicornness" from ayahuasca. From his actions, he seems to be a massive contradiction. When he meditates, he says to let go of oneself etc. You know, typical egoless meditative practice. But most of the time, he's brimming with narcissism, which is the polar opposite of the former. That, to me, seems like someone who's having difficulty finding out who they are. After 3 months, he started cross-dressing and said he's starting to bring out his feminine side, which confirmed my belief.
I never understood the furry movement, because it seems like an exercise in futility. These people want to be the animal they identify with, but can never attain it. I can understand transgenderism, because that makes total sense to me, from a neuroscience perspective. Androgens and other sex hormones are well studied, and scientists know what causes transgenderism. But what causes "furryism"? Is it because a person who did not have a sense of identity was persuaded to join this subculture by one of their friends? Is it a plea for attention? I suppose everyone has their own reason, and I may never truly understand it.
I guess one cannot talk about identity without talking about individuality. Is that the answer to this huge-arse post? That people just want to be different? What do you guys think?
I consider myself to be someone who enjoys dropping out of my identity, so that I may learn from not being me. I do not want to drop out of my identity all the time. I have never, and will never, have an identity crisis (my mindset naturally forbids that from taking place). But there are plenty of people who struggle with a sense of identity, mainly from conflicting influences. One prime example is a homosexual who is told they aren't "normal", and they need to fix themselves. I can't even conceptualise the identity struggle going on through this person's mind, being told they are not normal, but feeling totally fine.
The reason I started this topic is because I watched two VICE documentaries. One was on LARPing (live-action roleplaying) and the other was the unicorn movement. I watched both of these closely, because I wanted to see why people gravitated towards these hobbies.
For you old farts, LARPing is dressing up like World of Warcraft characters and acting like the character, including the fighting (which is done with fake weapons which they often make themselves). This often takes place over a weekend, where they camp in a forest.
[youtube]
[youtube]
In the case of the LARP video, I initially found LARPing humorous. Mainly because they yell "Fireball! 1 damage!" repeatedly out loud, which is something I normally don't see (coming from a video game perspective). After watching the video, I started to wonder why people enjoy having alter egos. The focal point of that documentary was on a young man, Jon, with Aspberger's syndrome. He struggled with social situations in normal circumstances, but overcame these obstacles because of LARPing. I thought "holy shit, that's awesome". He always had one LARP character with a ridiculously long name (first name was Von). In fact, most LARPers have extremely extensive backstories of their character. Anyway, Von showed many characteristics that Jon did not have. When Jon was confronted with a situation that he could not deal with, he would think "what would Von do?" And he would proceed from that point using Von's "wisdom". This was absolutely and unequivocally cool, for someone with Aspberger's syndrome to combat their problems just with their mind. But what about everyone else at the LARP event? Did anyone of them seem like they were struggling with identity? There was one guy/girl who was transgender (I never know what to refer them as. I will call them "guyrls" ). The rest seemed like they didn't have any problems with who they are.
Then I thought about myself. "Hang on. Don't I make characters in video games that follow some archetype?" Granted, I don't go as far as these guys, I just make a character and go "This guy is a bad ass mothafuckin' warlock, beeyatch!". That's the limit of my roleplaying. But isn't this small gesture indicative of wanting to let go? Upon thinking about this, I said no. I just want to see what would happen to this character when confronted with a variety of problems. I would make decisions based on who they were, not what I would do. In essence, I was a puppet master, just creating a narrative.
But why do I want to create a character? Why not just press the "randomise" button and start playing? I guess I need to find the answer myself.
For the unicorn video, the guy in the video found his "unicornness" from ayahuasca. From his actions, he seems to be a massive contradiction. When he meditates, he says to let go of oneself etc. You know, typical egoless meditative practice. But most of the time, he's brimming with narcissism, which is the polar opposite of the former. That, to me, seems like someone who's having difficulty finding out who they are. After 3 months, he started cross-dressing and said he's starting to bring out his feminine side, which confirmed my belief.
I never understood the furry movement, because it seems like an exercise in futility. These people want to be the animal they identify with, but can never attain it. I can understand transgenderism, because that makes total sense to me, from a neuroscience perspective. Androgens and other sex hormones are well studied, and scientists know what causes transgenderism. But what causes "furryism"? Is it because a person who did not have a sense of identity was persuaded to join this subculture by one of their friends? Is it a plea for attention? I suppose everyone has their own reason, and I may never truly understand it.
I guess one cannot talk about identity without talking about individuality. Is that the answer to this huge-arse post? That people just want to be different? What do you guys think?
