Personal identity and social identification“Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.”― Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (1854–1900) Irish wit, poet and playwright Every mind is a world. Who am I? What am I doing? Where am I going? These are questions that should arise when talking about identity, sense of belonging or community direction. It is part of ancient human nature to want to belong to or identify with a group, such as a family, a culture, an association or a sports team. It is deeply rooted throughout the history of humanity: from tribalism, from antiquity to the present day. From hierarchies, to religious associations, to political parties, to military brotherhoods; to globally intertwined social networks, activist organizations, corporate conglomerates, fraternities, and clubs on college campuses. An individual's identity is greatly influenced by their environment and the large role that governing powers play in influencing our culture and society. In the last few years of my life experience, being part of a student body and being associated with a particular religious organization has exerted leverage on my perspective, personality, and identity. It strikes me that in our time racism and prejudice are still such a prevalent problem in this country and around the world. Can't we all just get along? Ethnic and religious conflict permeates headlines every day. The late Reverend Dr. King quoted, “We have flown through the air like birds and swum in the sea like fish, but we have yet to learn the simple act of walking the earth as brothers.” We live in a science fiction. The future that many of us grew up contemplating in television shows and comics is upon us. Atom... middle of paper... group preference or ethnocentrism and perception of belonging to a social or cultural group. Ethnic, cultural, economic and religious conflicts between groups of people are ever-present in our world and in the present. Ideologies, social engineering, mass media, the country, culture and religion one may be born into are all shaping forces that will continue to promote qualities that make a person or group different from others. An old Russian proverb says: "Show me your friends and I will tell you who you are." A biblical proverb: “He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” Shakespeare wrote: “All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely actors; they have their exits and their entrances; and a man in his time plays many parts, his acts last seven ages.” This is not a dress rehearsal, these are our lives.