WHO am I? is a deep philosophical question, one which can take a lifetime of pondering. Humans are prone to ask such profound questions; so, after 7.5 million years of computing by the Deep Thought super computer, we have the response: “The ultimate answer to life, the universe and everything is: 42.” (Intrigued? Read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by hilarious sci-fi writer Douglas Adams.) At a more mundane level, today I can answer the identity question, like Deep Thought, in numerals: “xxx6910” — that being my partially-redacted Aadhaar number. This gives me (and some 1.1+ billion Indians) a digital identity, which can be accessed anywhere and anytime. More important, being biometric and retina-scan based, it is unique; therefore, better than a conventional name which can — and often is — duplicated (think of how many Anil Kapoors or Srinivasans you know, leave alone Buntys and Pinkys).
This transition of identity — from alphabetical name to number — is yet to happen in day-to-day human interactions, but is the norm when interacting with machines (e.g., for digital financial transactions) or in proving identity (e.g., for entering an airport terminal). How long before we are defined and identified by a number instead of a name? Is “xxx3269, meet 6910” going to become the norm for introductions in a few years?
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WHO am I? is a deep philosophical question, one which can take a lifetime of pondering. Humans are prone to ask such profound questions; so, after 7.5 million years of computing by the Deep Thought super computer, we have the response: “The ultimate answer to life, the universe and everything is: 42.” (Intrigued? Read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by hilarious sci-fi writer Douglas Adams.) At a more mundane level, today I can answer the identity question, like Deep Thought, in numerals: “xxx6910” — that being my partially-redacted Aadhaar number. This gives me (and some 1.1+ billion Indians) a digital identity, which can be accessed anywhere and anytime. More important, being biometric and retina-scan based, it is unique; therefore, better than a conventional name which can — and often is — duplicated (think of how many Anil Kapoors or Srinivasans you know, leave alone Buntys and Pinkys).