I always wonder during those discussions - what exactly is a "real" name
supposed to be? I don't have "real" name. Rather, I have many chosen names, and
a name my parents gave me. I consider all of these names real, as they refer to
a facet of my personality, a part of me.
I do have a legal name - my birth name. It's but one of many. Why is my legal
name important? It isn't. I don't even consider it my primary name. The
concept of one single "real" name is severely retarded and flies in the face of
reality. We need to get rid of this concept, along with the illusion of a
single identity. I simply am not the same person when I am with my parents,
when I'm with my meatspace friends, or if I'm hanging out on IRC with people I
know pretty well, but have never seen or met. I'm someone different here on HN
than I am on 4chan, or any other message board. That's perfectly human, and no
company or law will ever change that.
I do have a legal name - my birth name. It's but one of many. Why is my legal name important? It isn't. I don't even consider it my primary name. The concept of one single "real" name is severely retarded and flies in the face of reality. We need to get rid of this concept, along with the illusion of a single identity. I simply am not the same person when I am with my parents, when I'm with my meatspace friends, or if I'm hanging out on IRC with people I know pretty well, but have never seen or met. I'm someone different here on HN than I am on 4chan, or any other message board. That's perfectly human, and no company or law will ever change that.