"Identity" in most psychological context generally refers to how a person perceives themselves. It's personal; there is no threshold. You can identify as The Gr

"Identity" in most psychological context generally refers to how a person perceives themselves. It's personal; there is no threshold. You can identify as The Greatest JavaScript Master of All Time and no one can do anything but disagree. The way I read it, that's precisely the danger this essay is warning about. When you start identifying as a "JavaScript Developer" you are making JavaScript development a part of who you are. Anything about JavaScript becomes personal. You expose yourself to attacks that aren't even being directed at you. The bigger you inflate your identity the more get hit, until eventually you can't hold a conversation without getting offended about something. If you can keep these things out of your identity it is much easier to shrug off other opinions about them. You can stay objective and have meaningful conversations about the benefits and consequences of it. Because it's just a thing, it does its thing and gives you something to think about when it doesn't. Identity is personal: Identity is what you choose to care about. Some things should become part of your identity. Studies find that in most successful relationships partners see each other as part of their own identity. But most things probably don't belong there.