You Are Not Your Ideas

And ideas are not people.

We live in a world where ideas can circle the globe in hours. It’s never been like this before, and we’re all struggling to adapt. For some reason, it seems like we’ve started associating our personal selves with our ideas.

In the past, anyone outside the royalty or nobility of the time was probably far too busy trying to simply feed themselves and their family, to consider things like self identity, or the concept of what an idea even “is”. The bottom tiers of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs are much more important when it comes down to choices. That’s food, water, sleep, security, all that good stuff.

Nowadays, we’re *just* bored enough that everyone seems to feel the need to become an armchair philosopher on X, Reddit, 4Chan, or some other crazy internet cave. We have just enough comfort and stability to sit around and stew in our misery, staring at our phones. And yes, I do see the irony of calling out armchair philosophers while currently acting as one.

So, I’d like to argue that people are actually separate from their ideas, their affiliations, and their politics. On the flip side of that, ideas are not humans, and they have different “rights”. While I have argued in the past that ideas do have a sort of “life” of their own, they are not people, and are not entitled to the same respect we give each other as humans, or should, at least.

Let’s dig in!

First things first, it has to be reiterated that ideas disseminate much much MUCH more quickly today than they used to. A post someone makes on a public forum or social media site has the chance to literally reach hundreds of millions of eyeballs within hours. Used to be, a skinny fella on a horse came into town once a week or so with the news, and if you didn’t get it straight from him, the second hand version would probably be inaccurate.

Sources are also far easier to find nowadays. Authors are easier to research for bias and corruption. With a computer, internet access, and a little patience you can probably find the source material and author for almost anything you’d need.

Now, front and center in the American mind today is the incessant war between Left and Right, Democrats and Republicans, Red vs Blue.

You’re gonna hear people say things like “I wish we would normalize changing your mind!” typically right before they go on to tell you why they’re correct about something, and everyone else is wrong.

Of course it’s good to change your mind about things, when faced with updated information! Nothing is ever as simple as it’s made out to be on the internet, and I think change is a direct reflection of growth. Changing your mind doesn’t always mean flipping-it could mean doubling down with better reasons for why you believe something. It doesn’t always have to be a 180 from A to B. Additionally, we’re constantly learning more about the world around us. I find that it’s common to see people who identify themselves with certain historical discoveries, for example. We see it quite often in the worlds of archeology, and science, to pick on the easy ones. They fight, kicking and screaming to defend these ideas and discoveries, regardless of new or better information, because they’ve tied their own identity (and career, probably) to that idea.

Look, it’s also worth noting that there *are* actors tasked, and paid, to influence your behavior, thoughts, and actions. It’s a real thing, and has been since the “super spy era” of the 1940s. It’s an awfully uncomfortable thought, and usually results in the term “conspiracy theorist” being tossed around. People don’t like knowing their own weaknesses, we prefer to think we’re in full control of our own minds. Unfortunately it’s real, and it’s likely to increase in frequency as artificial intelligence becomes more ingrained in our society. Sadly, I think regular people sometimes get caught up in large, global games, and get used as pawns. Even worse, we’ve got plenty of poor folks that actually mistake themselves for pawns, and get lost down the rabbit hole. They let their paranoia ruin their friendships, families, and careers.

Because of these actors and this influence, I think it’s become borderline impossible for someone to get “moved” to a different side of the political fence, regardless of whether or not the fence is still where it was on the political spectrum in the past. Ideologies have evolved, grown, spread, and truly infected people across the globe. It takes courage, humility, and a fair amount of self reflection in order to look back and reject past opinions. Personally, I cringe when looking back at some of the “concrete” beliefs that I used to have, and I’m confident that I will continue to learn and be embarrassed by past assumptions for most of my life. Might as well laugh about it, right?

So I think very normal, rational folks get “captured” by ideas. They begin to associate themselves and their identities with an idea, or ideas, and eventually start to view disagreements with those ideas as personal attacks on their character. Chances are, if you’re a stubborn old MAGA hat wearing, card carrying NRA, old guard Alabama republican, you probably feel some level of obligation to support whatever the people at the head of that train are fighting for. Oh, and by the way, what they’re fighting for will change over time! And same thing if you’re a blue-haired trans, Tesla hating poli-sci major (no disrespect meant, I know they can be sensitive but we pick on everyone equally here). If you don’t support, you lose your spot on the bus.

The lines drawn in the sand of the ideological battlefield demand your full compliance on all issues, lest you be excommunicated from the tribe and fed to the Xitter lions.

You are not your ideas. You are not your stance on gun control, abortion, immigration, foreign policy, or gender theory. Look, I agree that those things are important for us to figure out, but they simply aren’t worth your friendships, family, or your peace of mind.

You are something else entirely, and you’re probably pretty awesome! What exactly you “are”, isn’t up to me to say, and I’m not gonna claim to have any of those answers. You, and only you decide who and what you wanna be in this beautiful country, but I can tell you right now that you are not simply your ideas and affiliations.

Now, for example, if you WERE your ideas, you would be no better off than a slave, or a patsy. You’d lose many of the things that make you human, including your free will to act as you please, in a manner that lines up with the information you’ve been given up to any given point in time.

Ideologies tell people who they are and aren’t allowed to associate with, or (in extreme cases, of which there are many today) even engage with outside the ideological tribe. If you do, you’re a traitor, and must be purged from the group.

Well, in my opinion, that’s a pretty bad way to start a conversation, and an even worse way to make friends.

I’d even venture to argue that having a broad and diverse spectrum of friends and colleagues will make you more effective in your work, and life in general. We’re really only scared of what we don’t know, which comes from a fairly simple defense mechanism that kept us alive back when the world was REALLY scary. For the most part that reaction simply isn’t needed anymore. Look, it’s great when you’re alone at night in a bad part of town, but other than that it just causes us to get into useless arguments.

You are not your ideas, and ideas are not people. Let’s stop selling them our soul and peace of mind for less than they’re worth.