Comfort and Chaos: The Neuro-Ontological Dilemma in Cyber-Information Sharing

The cyber-information space presents a unique risk for the creation and proliferation of identity-driven actors. The choice of some individuals to align with and perpetuate identity-driven or extremist content points to larger questions at the intersection of the international socio-political landscape with individual conceptions of security, as well as the impact of the cyber-information space on individuals’ notions of identity and wellbeing. It is the contention here that insights from both ontological security and neurobiology can provide a useful lens through which this issue can be examined, as each help us decipher the invisible motivations and engagements that can fuel an actor’s pursuit of security. Using a Social Network Analysis of identity-driven discourse on the social media platform X, the concept of the neuro-ontological dilemma is proposed as a means of understanding the impact of cyber-information on the proliferation and maintenance of exclusive identities online, noting implications for societal wellbeing and potential directions for future research therein.