Review: ID: The Quest for Identity in the 21st Century:

I got this because I'm interested in the issue of identity both from an anthropological kind of view and also political (ID cards etc). I also have a long-standing interest in neuroscience as an ammateur onlooker and Susan Greenfield is a populariser of neuroscience -so just the kind of author I'm likely to find useful.

This book offers seeks to address the interfaces between IT, biotech and nanotech with a view to exploring what these things singly or together may do to human identity. To do this, there is a rather intriguing big picture approach to different forms of idenntity in different socio-cultural miliuex.

I found the Anyone, Someone, Nobody and Eureka typology interesting and worth funther reflection. 'Anyone' is about collective identities born of an extreme ideology where the individual is subsumed in the collective; 'Someone' is about identity formation of extreme individualism; Nobody is the danger of 'descent' into mere sensoriness and effectively losing or not activating the higher thinking capacities; Eureka is a creative identity which seems to synthesise the best of all and avoid the worst of each,

There are some interesting discussions of belief and a use of the seven deadly sins to think about the dangers of social identities. An interesting idea but needing more development and care to convince those of us who 'do religion' on a regular basis.
ID: The Quest for Identity in the 21st Century: Amazon.co.uk: Susan Greenfield: Books