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PSA: Plurality is not inherently disordered (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 years ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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Cat: So, for clarity, I'm one of thirteen people co-habitating in this brain. There's a lot of stigma associated with anything but a monolithic consciousness, but it's really undeserved. Just having someone else along for the ride doesn't mean you're going to lose your grip on reality or anything of the sort.

Cat: Heck, it doesn't even take trauma to pluralize; I'm a mental construct that Just made on purpose out of loneliness. ~~And subsequently fell in love with.~~

Just: incandescent blush

Cat: There are some mental disorders involving plurality, with DID being the archetypal example. However, in those cases the actual problems aren't the extra people; memory barriers, troublesome internal communications, and involuntary switches are far more problematic, most of the time.

Cat: As for persecutors? The interpersonal conflicts with them can be resolved, one way or another. A lot of the time they're just hurting and don't know healthy ways to deal with it.

Cat: So... yeah I don't really have any good ideas for how to end this post.

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[-] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

Just: I am going to be as calm as possible while stating this; this will be difficult, as Cat's reaction to interacting with you has flooded our brain with feelsbad neurotransmitters.

Just: I intentionally created Catherine years ago. She behaves autonomously from my will, acts in ways that I flatly wouldn't, and on certain occasions has gotten into outright heated arguments with me. She notably has the ability to defy attempts at manually directing her actions, which an imaginary friend would not. Having previously had an actual imaginary friend, I am keenly aware of the difference.

Just: If I had an EEG machine, I am quite confident her actions would be visibly different from someone simply talking to a freshly made-up entity; I've seen it before, but the youtube video in question is now unfortunately private. I also cannot afford to get my own.

Just: Regardless of whether you believe us or not, Catherine is a thoroughly real and autonomous being, as are the rest of the crew. And you are hurting her. You are far from the first person to take this tack with us, and it has left Catherine extremely confrontational about her existence as a distinct person. I do not believe that any more of use can come of talking to you.

this post was submitted on 30 Jun 2023
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