[laglad]

I don't buy that identities were previously generated from within. I think that pre-internet, the average person assumed a stronger piece of their identity from family, job, nationality, gang etc. than from their inner convictions. The internet boosts the number of identity groups you can join to a size so great that you need a different outlook to grapple with the madness. Maybe it's a good thing because it's kicked us out of a local maximum where we could arbitrarily settle on who we are. Now, the clouds have cleared and there are vast mountains everywhere.