# Memberships, Communities, Identity, Purpose (*This was a note I [originally posted on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/notes/675651534029/?mibextid=Nif5oz&paipv=0&eav=AfaWd7jzINq3VS1AYO_OT3t7U9sHMrgLfx_5VwDIA6HGVyS4IBq4tu5SscqNBOckEsA) back in 2021*) Singapore had her government elections about a month ago and I felt many people in my social circle become overly passionate about being Singaporean. At various points in my life, some friends (_all my Hackerspace kakis_) and I have been overly passionate about being software developers. For a good part of 8 months, I felt this great belief that being part of the Ingress community was something important - something that, with enough will and despite it being a game, could make a real difference to the world. The sense of community was overwhelming. And today, as I walked past a Catholic church and saw an international group of people I thought, “Maybe as Catholics, just like a follower of any religion, one could go to any country find the corresponding house of worship, identify oneself and *bam* a group of people have your back.” This got me thinking about the communities we all belonged to. That thought then made me realise that everytime I went to another country, and so long as i’m connected to the Internet, I always feel like ‘someone’s got my back”. For a start, the technology provides a way to communicate. But the “membership” gives me the comfort that whoever I communicate with would help me out if the need arises because we had a shared cause. But I digress. This train of thought got me thinking... Our individual opinions separate us from our friends, but that shared friendship unites a group. Our political ideologies divide us, but our shared identity as Singaporeans unite us. Our religious beliefs divide us, but our shared belief in humanity unite us. If what unites a group of people is a sense of common purpose, is the world divided because as a species we lack a common purpose? Why do we exist? And beyond just a mere existence, what is our common struggle? What is the purpose of our species? I guess this post I saw recently is pretty apt. [https://www.facebook.com/LatinosPost/posts/874786745968933](https://www.facebook.com/LatinosPost/posts/874786745968933) --- To have a conversation with me about this note, email me at [email protected] To understand why I chose to use email over comments, [[Why I'm using email instead of comments|read this]].