I try very hard to avoid any collective identity for myself, even to the extent where a lot of people would say "I am a [verb]er," I consciously prefer "I [verb

I try very hard to avoid any collective identity for myself, even to the extent where a lot of people would say "I am a [verb]er," I consciously prefer "I [verb]." The collective identity mindset opens people up to manipulation, guilt by association, and undeserved praise by association (which sounds nice but can lead to poor decisions based on a distorted sense of self). Any benefits are comparatively small. You can still go [verb] with the [verb]ers without merging your identity and worldview with theirs.