Discussion: Switching personalities

[poehalcho]

We all know it's fake, but what if it happened? the well-known change personalities over the phone during a storm accident. how do you think the effects would show when personalities are switched?

I think the effects would be very indirect. since knowledge and memories are engraved in the patterns of the brain, a person cannot really become someone else. rather I think what would change is the way a person thinks; his thought pattern. I cannot really imagine that as an engraved part of the brain as well. it seems like something that is decided on the fly and can always vary.

your thoughts?

[NuclearSilo]

unless smt cleared my brain, nothing could change the way I choose the way I live my life

[poehalcho]

that's not really what I meant.
both of the consciousnesses of the people get switched. so, you would basically be thinking though the other persons mind. you won't change your way of thinking but, you will have someone else's memories...I think...

how did I know you were going to be the first to answer this

[NuclearSilo]

How is it possible your way of thinking stays the same while your memory is switched? Think=brain=memory.
In another word, your hypothesis is impossible, or it happens when soul exists so the changes of physical material don't affect your inner self.

[poehalcho]

yes that last part is what I meant. the soul is switched, but it isn't physical matter. however, once switched it's connected to the brain (physical matter). this physical matter has memories and knowledge engraved in it. Your soul can think, however it does not remember. Thus when it thinks it relies on memories from the brain. you become a different person, however that person will probably act differently than he did before, even though he still has the same memories as ever.
compare it to a motherboard and a HDD, where you put the motherboard of 2 different companies, in different computer.

[NuclearSilo]

no thx. You are talking about a high-level knowledge. There're too much unknown and "if". No one would have a correct answer. If smt could happen, it's explainable, else no.

[poehalcho]

duh <__> it's just a what-if discussion. if you've got anymore hypothesizes be my guest to promote them. I'm just trying to start a good conversation here.

[NuclearSilo]

If such event exists, it means that the brain is no longer a command center of a human body. Body is a place a soul use to reside. Brain is a place to store knowledge and memory. Soul triggers thoughts. When a soul leaves a body, it brings with him memory. When it enter a body, it acquires new memory.
=> current memory = old memory + new memory
and personality depends on the current memory, it's how to choose to live basing on this memory

[woutR]

ooh goodies, another one of these threads. Bust out the tinfoil hats and let the fun begin

[XemnasXD]

damage to the the brain can easily cause a personality shift. The same goes for a traumatic experience. The brain is like a giant computer with with everything you know in its own separate file in different folders depending on their necessity. Thats why people with amnesia can still speak can english and what not because the primary language folder is separate from the the memory folder.

All a persona shift would require is something that causes a temporary or permanent loss of access to most of your memories and personality traits. Just like you sometimes make up memories or confuse them with other things a person would probably in the absence of normal memories would make up a separate persona to cope with the change thus creating a completely different person so to speak.

Some serial killers are known to have triggers where they are normal nice and decent people until they see or hear something that triggers a personality change into their sociopathic state.

[Ningyotsukai-san]

We all know it's fake, but what if it happened? the well-known change personalities over the phone during a storm accident. how do you think the effects would show when personalities are switched?

I think the effects would be very indirect. since knowledge and memories are engraved in the patterns of the brain, a person cannot really become someone else. rather I think what would change is the way a person thinks; his thought pattern. I cannot really imagine that as an engraved part of the brain as well. it seems like something that is decided on the fly and can always vary.

your thoughts?

Could be going in a completely different direction, but sounds like you're talking about dissociative disorders, where some aspect of someone's personality seems fragmented from the rest...

kind of like Dissociative Identity Disorder ~ Person undergoes trauma so severe they repress it and their personality fragments in order to cope. Though, I think the whole dissociation's recognized as being some characteristic of whatever disease responding to some past trauma and has a link with mood swings and slight personality disorder.

Then again...I tend to forget what we went over in my psychology classes -.-''

but for the question on effects showing, I think it'd be pretty obvious when someone starts to think different on whatever conditioned situation (feelings included) and their behavior seems to have changed...personality's said to be an individual's unique pattern of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that persists over time and is variant on situations....

So in a sense, it's becoming someone different, but from the same person ....if that makes any sense...lols

Like ....being afraid of doing whatever action that's found from others to be your usual behavior in avoiding it at all costs, no matter what. Just try to stay w/ me on this....a change occurs and they're not only embracing coming across the situation, but approach it in a whole 'nother manner than expected before. Not showing fright and tossing it aside like it's nothing; becoming "someone else". Not the best example, but hope I made clear what I wanted....lol

As for the memory thing ...'d like to add a bit (not gonna talk about soul 'n stuff)...

Spoiler!

There's 3 Stages of Memory: Sensory, Short-Term, and Long-Term.

Sensory's the immediate 'n initial "recording" system of info. It holds that info long enough to be processed for basic physical characteristics. Forms automatically without attention or interpretation. There's 2 types under it: iconic memory (visual) and echoic memory (auditory).

Attention is, however, needed to transfer memory.

(Sensory Input) -> Sensory Memory - (Attention) -> Working Short-Term Memory

Short-Term's pretty self explanatory. The temporal lobe processes the new material while the prefrontal cortex stores the short-term memories...

After the info's been passed onto working memory, it can be "encoded" to long-term memory.

Long-Term's the same as short-term (self explanatory). The amygdala forms new emotional memories while the hippocampus forms new "semantic" and "episodic" memories.

Semantic ~ stored general facts and info.

Episodic ~ stored personally experienced events.

The thing brought up w/ D.I.D is the memory loss...a sense of losing consciousness.

The conscious is ideas, thoughts, and feelings which we are aware of...emphasis on the "aware of"

Freud said that personality's formed around 3 structures: id, ego, and superego.

Id's basically the pleasure principle where it's dealt in the unconscious (well below the surface of awareness) seeking to fulfill urges and desires on an instinctual level (behavior). Superego's shaped by social and parental standards each individual has internalized. It conflicts with Id where it strives for satisfaction in a socially acceptable fashion and Id goes for it regardless of whatever moral standards were set up. While the Ego's a part mediating between environmental demands (reality), conscience (superego), and needs (id).

My main focus is on the ID. Being an unconscious aspect of the "self", it seeks to fulfill our desires, like overcoming a fear, in an instinctual way...forming our behavior around it towards getting that goal done.

Perhaps if one truly wanted to fulfill something, the "self" would find a way to complete it, even if it has to ..like was said earlier...fragment the "self" to get that want met.