An identity document must remain simpler than the identity it claims to establish.

A document has to be checkable, so it can hold only what fits on a card. A name, a date, a photograph, a number, and everything that actually distinguishes you is omitted because it cannot be verified at a counter. The simplification is not a failure of the document, it is the condition of it working.

When a form flattens you, remember that the flattening is structural rather than a judgment. And when you deal with someone through their paperwork, assume there is a great deal not represented. The card was designed to be simpler than the person.