I was on a ferry the other day, and ran into that quintessential Harley Davidson motorcyclist. On a bagger with half helmet, Harley Davidson boots, and Harley jacket with that round emblem on the back – slightly wider than Captain America’s shield. The unmistakable cross-country rider to Sturgis. Which is among the bigger motorcycle gatherings on the planet. Absolutely a cheerful guy to converse with, but then also signaling a clear identity.

Not just in motorcycling, adopting identities wholesale seems like a human trait. Whether it’s politics, art, culture, or even technology — we seek to belong. We signal identity not just through clothing, but through gadgets, accessories, and through expressed opinions. Especially in politics or economics, we tend to state beliefs primarily to signal who we are, not because we believe they are absolute truths.  

Often, we become liberal, conservative, or libertarian not through expansive research, but through instincts. Research and study are expensive while ideological signaling is entertaining and cheap. So, it’s only human to pick where we want to belong and then adopt ideas wholesale. In fact, actual research would evolve our own thoughts, which makes it difficult to fit in. It also tends to make life lonelier.  

Seems like it’s not the truth that we seek – but it’s that identity. It’s common for all political factions to have quite a bit of infighting as well. Internal tussles over who is the true torchbearer are well-known. Our instincts will simply not allow that group identity to get corrupted. It seems like identity is an essential driving force in all our pursuits.  

Viewed through that lens, all contentious social convulsions are related to identity. Even the trivial ones. Recently came across this band Deafheaven — they trigger an identity crisis among black metal fans, especially the ones on Reddit. The band channeled all black metal influences without their aesthetics. Sounds like black metal but does not reflect the artistic roots. Essentially corrupting a pristine identity — wreaking havoc in a black metal-head’s otherwise serene existence. 

Seems like the world is constantly in this disruptive state, plunging from one crisis of identity to another. Each such crisis spawns new groups and personas. Whether it’s ‘true Norwegian Black Metal’, or capital (L)ibertarian v/s small (l)ibertarian, or convolutions like democratic socialist liberal or MAGA conservative. Reasons for the fractious factions could be many – tribal instincts, cognitive affinity to ideologies, packaging by intellectuals and influencers, or a combination of them all. Eventually, an ecosystem that thrives on fragmentation will fuel the divisions. But like most things, there is also a flipside to this. 

This identity crisis also serves a function — an essential pillar in Federalism. Madison eloquently stated — “the society itself will be broken into so many parts, interests, and classes of citizens, that the rights of individuals, or of the minority, will be in little danger from interested combinations of the majority.” The gridlock and the quarrels prevent concentration of power, and concerted action at scale. In the long run, this becomes a favorable bias against transient emotions, prejudices, and fears of the masses from causing permanent damage to a republic. But the trade-off is — meaningful policy change at scale becomes harder.