Topic: Code and human identity: Why code has been mobilized in the fight for protection and achievement of identity.

Thesis: I will discuss and explore the relationship that has been formed between identity and code. By using examples from literature, history and modern technology I hope to find a better understanding of why identity creates power and how mankind has used code and cryptology as a vehicle to protect identity and the power which accompanies it.

Identity takes shape in many forms in the human condition. Identity can be used to describe a personal character attribute, to describe patriotism, as an intellectual divider, as a means to acquire power and also as a way to provide basic human separation. With the possession of strong identity, power is formed. This power can take form in many aspects of human life; a strong personal identity can mean status and power, a strong national identity can create authority; this shows that identity is a crucial component in the human condition. Identity also may be used to maintain separation, thus continuing the human desire to create and sustain a hierarchy in power.

The acquisition of identity is a process which probably is never truly completed in a lifetime. Every person evolves thus making a person’s identity evolve. The human race lives to understand identity whether it be personal or the identity of someone else. To recognize the identity of someone else code once again is used. This has been best reflected in literature; in Ovid’s, “The Art of Love” identity is explored through the relationship between men and women. Ovid hopes to show both men and women how to crack the “code” of the opposite sex thus gaining an understanding of their identity. These examples in literature reflect the notion that understanding identity is an extraordinary advantage.

The loss of identity shows how truly important identity is in each individual lifetime. This is especially true of personal identity. In the modern world the horrors that come with the loss of identity are overwhelmingly prevalent in day to day life. Credit Cards, Facebook, email are just a few of the ways in which identity loss can occur. Identity loss in the modern world is potentially devastating. Because of the implications accompanying loss, the use of code has become prevalent in the protection of identity. Codes are created to maintain barriers between yourself (and your personal identity) and everyone else. The powerlessness that is formed due to the loss of identity shows that in this modern day and age the greatest power (and most desired) is the identity each person maintains.
I hope that by exploring human identity and its relationship with code, I can better understand the value and power of both.

Tentative Bibliography:
Doctorow, Cory. Little Brother. Macmillan, 2008.
2007

Singh, Simon. The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography. Reprint ed. Anchor, 2000.

Ovid, The Art of Love.