Whats identity anyway?

First of, my background is computer science. One day I'll get around to doing a degree in psychology just so that that background isn't used as a reason for ignoring an argument. That said, I've still a lot to learn and hope this blog will help enlighten me while also being a service for others.

So what is identity anyway? I'd like comments on that one. Is there a single description in the academic literature that everyone accepts?

There's the dictionary definition, Wikipedia says stuff, and I like this guys talk, but I'm gonna run with an Oscar Wilde quote from De Profundis:

At every single moment of one’s life one is what one is going to be no less than what one has been.

So your identity is who you were and also who you are going to be. I'll take that a little further and say that your identity is also the structure of your convictions and how you identify with others.

Hmm, that Ribena probably needs diluted a bit more.