You're working with a subjective rather than intersubjective constraint on what identity is. Think of identity as the union of key relationships. Then think of the grain of that. For a family/clan context, it's a set of asymmetric relationships like parent/child/grandparent...
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ok, identity as "I am X's parent, Y's child, and Z's grandparent", that makes sense. in the same way you could say "I am a citizen of X country" or "I am a member of Y professional society", I guess. Is that where you're going with the horizontal identity?
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To a first approximation yes. If the set of n closest relationships that define you are all p2p, you're a horizontally integrated person. If they are all asymmetric, you're vertically integrated.
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so like "fellow citizen" or "business partner" or "friend" are symmetric relationships but "parent" is asymmetrical?
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kinda, though of course, there are asymmetries between powerful and weak citizens, or between bosses and employees. This is why, this relational way of thinking about it is a derivative/extrinsic way, and my initial set of 2 attribute lists was more about intrinsic modes
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Like, I think you can be vertical or horizontal all by yourself on a desert island depending on how you behave, integrate your experiences, try to grow, etc. If you prefer, it's almost synonymous with fox/hedgehog. Fox = horizontally integrated personality, hedgehog=vertical.
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Oh so vertical is like “I have A community, A set of values, etc” and horizontal moves between those things based on price, risk, rationality, etc?
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More radical. You don’t need vertical waypoints to make a horizontal trajectory. Nomad caravans are not homes being uprooted and re-founded repeatedly… they have wheels. Renters typically move more frequently but not because they buy/sell houses more often. They lease.
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Is your vertical/hedgehog preference really as strong as you’re making it sound? You don’t strike me as that strongly oriented one way or another.
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I can’t tell if I have an orientation one way or another because I can’t get a handle on what your horizontal thing even is. That could mean I’m so horizontal I can’t see it, or so vertical I can’t see it, or something else.
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You’re definitely more V than H, but rather than being pure V, I think you feed your V and starve your H. I’ve often read some of your blog posts and wished you’d go further down a bunnytrail, but you seem to rein in distraction strongly to return to your Big Things
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2 of your posts made it to yak collective online governance study group reading list in the past year… hoe culture and hierarchies-wealth thing… you’re on the anarchist track. I suspect you classify both as digressions.
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For an h-identity, low urgency dissipation and distractability, with strong, opportunistic responsiveness to shifting winds and serendipity feels like a natural and good way to be, while focused intensity seems bad and artificial. I think for v-identity it is reverse.
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