Strangers to friends in an instant.
Identity I: Adjectives vs. Nouns
Identity II: Use Identities to Guide Behaviors
Identity III: Automatic Connection
There are few things more satisfying in life than knowing what someone is about and who they are after a sentence or two. Two examples come to mind:
And two generic non-examples from the same categories:
The difference between the example and non-example is personality, and ultimately by extension, identity; in other words, adjectives vs. nouns.
The SSC readers may be scientists or doctors or philosophers or politicians or futurists, but they're drawn together by the greater force of curiosity, rationality, etc. The Gym Jones members may be mountaineers or cyclists or snowboarders or martial artists, but they're drawn together by the greater force of sustained self-improvement and the philosophy of Gym Jones itself.
But the baking readers have no sort of identity or philosophy or guiding principle uniting them, they all just happen to read the same blog. Same for the gym goer: they work out because it's the "right thing to do" or they have no other hobbies. Meeting one offers no stimulation or mutual understanding of what drives the other.
Dan Frank describes this so-called force in his What is Slatestarcodex and why is it such a good filter for people like me?, also keying in on the identity aspect of these relationships:
I feel like people in the SSC community resonate with me in a way that very few people in my life otherwise do. When interacting with people online who read SSC, and when I’ve met some members of this community in person, I feel a huge overlap in identity – a part of my identity that is quite core to my being that I often struggle to connect with other people in my life with.
Thus the third purpose of identity is revealed: connection.
Identities forming relationships and communities is prevalent in all walks of life—see the concept of social identity theory. We feel stronger connections to people who think and behave like us, with more affinity towards those that share more checkboxes (e.g., experiences, philosophy, etc).
I argue that the identities seen here are different from those related to the culture war; sure, being fit has some correlation to political ideology, but these people aren't training for that, they're doing it for themselves. The identities here transcend petty differences in philosophies.
Then what is the theme? Reward. Personal growth. A sense of community. And not the superficial versions, but a true feeling of reward, a step forward that feels forward, a feeling of belonging that feels warm and inviting and right.
It's rare when groups or people like this are found (whether it's caused by lack of searching, lack of availability, lack of advertisement, or lack of option (i.e., nobody adopts an identity that fosters a group like this) remains to be seen), so rare that most people are unlikely to ever find one.
There is a recommended procedure for when you do find someone:
Really quite simple, actually.
Capitalizing on the discovery can pay extensive dividends for everyone involved provided the effort is put in. It's difficult to express the value of relationships like these to those who haven't experienced it—finding someone who just gets it and you and everything you're about is magical. There's little to no explanation needed. They found the path on their own through their own experiences and successes and tribulations. It's like an old best friend who hasn't been seen in years: the first interaction is right to the point.