The rise of the ready-made identity

Dear Reader,

Have you noticed how everybody is "something" now, and nobody is "kind of" anything anymore?

You are not vaguely interested in plant-based eating; you are vegan. 

You are not trying to stay active; you are a fitness freak. 

You are not cautiously sceptical about American politics. 

You are either a Trump hater or a Trump supporter, with no recognised visa category in between.

There is no middle ground anymore.

Only a narrow strip of social wilderness where you must constantly clarify what you are not, because nobody can quite tell what you are.

This is not because people have suddenly become decisive. It is because moderation has become a full-time job. 

It requires thinking, explanation and sentences that start with "well" and end with visible impatience.

Nuance is exhausting. 

Extremes, by contrast, arrive with a label and a ready-made personality. 

So why does this happen?

Because the human mind is not built for nuance by default, it is built for survival, clarity, and meaning. 

Extremes offer all three, with the confidence of something that does not expect to be questioned.

What looks like irrational behaviour is often a very rational response to a world that refuses to sit still long enough to be understood.

The brain, which prefers shortcuts:

Our brain is a compression machine. Its primary goal is not truth but efficiency.

Black or white is cheaper than grey. Good or evil is easier than "contextual, incentive-driven behaviour influenced by upbringing".

This is why children think in absolutes. It is also why adults return to absolutes under stress, usually while insisting they have done "a lot of research".

Extremes help because they reduce mental effort, remove ambiguity, and speed up decisions.

When the world feels uncertain, the mind chooses clarity over accuracy and congratulates itself for being decisive.

There is also an evolutionary explanation. If you heard a noise in the bushes, you did not need a nuanced framework; you needed a binary answer: danger or no danger.

Today, the same instinct expresses itself through political certainty, moral rigidity, health dogma, and productivity regimes that treat rest like a character flaw.

Extremes feel safe because they remove hesitation. Hesitation feels irresponsible when everything seems urgent.

Identity, delivered fully formed

Extremes do not just tell you what to think, they tell you who you are.

"I am vegan." "I am minimalist." "I am anti-capitalist." "I only buy luxury."

Each statement comes with a worldview, a social circle, and a list of things you are allowed to look down on. 

You do not need to explain yourself; your identity explains you.

Moderate positions, by contrast, require sentences that start with "it depends" and end with visible disappointment from everyone listening.

In a fragmented world, clarity of identity feels like relief. 

Philosophy, without a doubt:

At a deeper level, humans are uncomfortable with ambiguity.

Moderation implies partial truth, incomplete knowledge, and moral uncertainty. None of these travel well on social media or in casual conversation.

Extremes restore the illusion of certainty; they offer a clean moral geometry. "This is Right/Wrong/ End of discussion".

They also function as meaning shortcuts. Meaning is difficult work because it requires patience, humility, and the uncomfortable possibility that you might be wrong.

Extreme belief systems do that work for you. They provide clear values, clear enemies, and clear goals. 

This is why extreme ideas flourish during periods of cultural, economic, or technological instability.

The internet, which rewards volume:

We all know that digital platforms do not reward nuance; they reward confidence.

Algorithms optimise for engagement, not balance. Extremes win because they trigger emotion, invite conflict, and encourage defence.

Nuance, meanwhile, explains itself carefully to an empty room, exactly as this article does.

At the same time, shared authority has collapsed, and institutions are mistrusted. So, everyone is now their own judge of truth.

Without a centre, people drift to the edges, where confidence replaces credibility. Extremes feel convincing when nobody agrees on who is allowed to be right.

Brands that choose a side:

From a marketing perspective, extremes work.

A brand that stands for everything stands for nothing.

Strong brands are extreme in at least one dimension. Price. Belief. Aesthetic. Behaviour. Worldview.

Luxury brands are extreme in restraint and price; mass brands are extreme in accessibility. 

Cult brands are extreme in values, and moderate brands are...well!!, easily forgotten.

Extremes also simplify choice. Consumers are overwhelmed, so clarity wins.

"This is the cleanest." "The boldest." "The cheapest." "The most ethical."

The claim may be imperfect, but the certainty feels like relief.

Extremes create tribes. Tribes defend the brand, forgive mistakes, and promote it unprompted. From a strategic perspective, polarisation is not a risk; it is the mechanism.

The Contradiction:

The world is complex, adaptive, and resistant to slogans. 

Extremes provide clarity but reduce understanding. They explain everything quickly but poorly. 

They feel like insight but are mostly compression. Extremes create identity but block growth. 

Once your sense of self is tied to a belief, changing your mind feels like self-erasure. You stop learning not because you are ignorant, but because learning would require becoming someone else.

Extremes build brands quickly and erode trust slowly. Big promises attract attention, but reality eventually arrives. When experience fails to match the absolute claim, loyalty turns into cynicism.

And finally, the great irony.

Extremes publicly reject nuance but privately depend on it. 

Behind every extreme system is moderation doing the invisible labour, legal exceptions, operational compromises or ethical trade-offs.

Extremes survive on the surface because nuance is working in the background.

Which is unfortunate, because nuance does not fit neatly into a bio.

Cheers!

Akanksha