Multiplicity

I don't think I was very clear with that, sorry. Um... I mean what is it like for you (you being the person that answers, not their body as a whole) when someone else is fronting? When you finally get to front (if ever) does it just seem like what the other experienced happened to you? or what it would be like if suddenly a singleton were reading another's thoughts, and knew how everything was interpreted by them? I may be unclear again. I know what you mean by confusing yourself.

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kao-no-san.livejournal.com

Well, like I had said, most stuff seems to end up in the big pool of meoories and information, everyone has access to it, sort of like a computer program. So if Jesse was fronting and Orin decided to take over, he could jump right in without missing a beat since he has that to look at. We all do, though the new member seems to be having a bit of trouble with that, leading to little 'glitches' in the programming so to speak.

I don't think anyone really 'sleeps' when someone else is fronting, they seem to sort of hover around, waiting to front if needed.

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I don't think anyone really 'sleeps' when someone else is fronting, they seem to sort of hover around, waiting to front if needed.

Like watching TV? For lack of a better example. I guess almost like when someone else is fronting you are sitting behind their eyes or something.

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We go back to our own world and do things there. When we are up front, we don't remember details too well of what went on back home without a fair amount of concentration although we can tell you in general what's happening, news headlines and so on. When we are there, the earth world feels like something that isn't really all that clear, although again we can access news headlines.

Information being sent to an individual, he'll be picking up via phone, receptacle or audio plug; or if it's public, it'll be transmitted over a CNN channel for all to see. Live CNN is apt not to be narrated in either English or Lauta, and a lot of these transmissions end up on B-roll.

Informal audio (and some video) transmissions are sent and received on backchannels. Most of what you get there is Registry and/or CNN operators, Spaceport crew, and people in aircars chatting, and there's a lot of gossip. Frontrunners are tuned in to backchannel as a matter of course. Some people can tap into any backchannel frequency no matter where they are, and shoot a message straight up the stream to the frontrunner. Gabe is notorious for this.

A datascan is an information stream that transmits constantly to or from one or more of the Registry stations -- not just from the earth world back to Laura, but from station to station on Laura. It's automatic, and anyone can use an audio plug and listen to any datascan at any time. Or download it into a receptacle and look at it.

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You make it sound so technical. Wow. Sounds like it would be confusing.

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Information. Data. They were the life's blood of the city as much as the people were, and, like them, they were immensely varied in their natures. The compass points of the city were prime locations for the radio and television stations, the towers of which would rise high against the night, studded with the blinkings of lights like gateways into different realms....

Man, I love the way the Courts write. Well, anyway.

It isn't really confusing when you're there, because you just access the ones you want. You also have the option of not listening or watching at all. Plenty of people on Laura (including a couple of members of High Council) have never owned an audio plug in their lives and think CNN is ridiculous because if they want a weather forecast they step outside and look. About the same as earth, really... like you don't have to listen to every radio station on the dial, you just pick the one you want.

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arimle.livejournal.com

We're always something of a blended consciousness, so when we say "Elmira is fronting", what we really mean is Elmira is driving, and the others are sitting in the car. When I'm not driving I'm still aware of what's going on, although I'm definitely not paying as much attention as the driver. If I come up while something's being done, I'm usually able to continue doing it (although Sláva once shoved me into front when we were about to get off a bus and I got disoriented and ended up leaving our coat there). We've never woken up in Halifax wearing different clothes, there are no gaps in our memory as far as remembering facts go, but I don't have as much (or any) emotional immediacy with memories that don't affect me-as-Elmira.

(We identify as median, just for the record.)

Elmira

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wow. You have no idea how much I actually understand these responses. Thank you.

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...as for the memory gap thing I only mentioned that because it seems common for singletons to think that memory lapses are characteristic to being multiple. I wasn't sure if there was any truth to that or not because for the most part everyone seems to have a common 'memory bank' that everyone can access.

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Nah, that's a Wilburian myth that all multiples lack continuity. Some do and some don't. Continuity does not necessarily mean a system is functional or healthy -- we've known at least two really, really sick multiples whose people communicated and had continuity just fine. Also, lack of continuity doesn't necessarily mean you have to be all Sybil and stuff --

consortium among others don't have continuity, and operate via notes and lists.

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arimle.livejournal.com

I think there is a bit of truth to it, but it hasn't soaked up all the truth available. The vast majority of multiples have never woken up naked in a foreign country, for us there are a number of built-in mechanisms that keep people from hijacking the body and running away to Bratislava (much as certain members of the system secretly wish to do just that), or whatever. Though certainly a resourceful system could get by without co-consciousness.

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starsandfishes.livejournal.com

~nods~ The car analogy works well for us too. We do have an inside world but I can't seem to get into it very well, so usually when someone else is fronting I'm just sort of hanging around and often not really paying much attention. We don't lose time but we do sometimes lose details of information - for instance if Viola comes on front, makes a phonecall to a friend during which I'm not really paying attention, then I come back on front, it doesn't feel like lost time - I know exactly where we've been and all - but I usually find it really difficult to remember the details of the conversation without asking her or dragging her back up front so I can "borrow" the information. It's a little odd at times, but it's a minor thing and has never been a particular inconvenience.

(We don't quite know what we identify as. ;)

Caitlin

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elenbarathi.livejournal.com

"What is it like being in a body when you aren't fronting or cofronting? Is it something like sleeping? Would you even remember what it's like?"

For me, it's like being a passenger... along for the ride, but not driving, nor co-piloting. I can talk to my 'brothers' if I want; I can 'look out the windows' as much as I like, but I don't have to... if I prefer, I can just kick back, think my own thoughts, and not pay any attention to what's going on. No memory-lapses, no "lost time" - even if I don't pay attention, I've got access to the realtime memory of where we've been and what's gone on.

It wasn't always so. Used to be that Crist-Erui would sometimes panic, take over, and run away. That was alarming, because then it was more like being a "passenger" in the windowless back of a van, and the realtime memory would be all hazy and garbled afterward.

Partly I think that was due to the fact that I was not pulling my weight, thus leaving my 'brothers' to manage things on their own too much. Duathir can't maintain corporeality that long on his own, so Crist-Erui would have to take the helm, and there is a definite limit to what kinds of situations Crist-Erui is able to cope with or endure... also a limit to how much direction he's willing to accept from his twin. We got that worked out, though, so he is no longer put in the position of trying to 'drive in traffic', as it were. *grins* He's great at off-road, though.

It's not all as cut-and-dried as this extended metaphor may make it sound, but that's the basic idea. It's possible to "sleep" in the back seat, but if I do it too much it plays hell with the RT sleep-cycle, which is precarious as it is. Crist-Erui either sleeps or trances out (it's hard to tell which) quite a bit when he's the passenger, but this is okay because he doesn't have to worry about our RT schedule. The only time it causes a problem is when he "wakes up" in a mood to go walking all night, and is disappointed when he can't.

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arhuaine.livejournal.com

No memory-lapses, no "lost time" - even if I don't pay attention, I've got access to the realtime memory of where we've been and what's gone on.
That's how things are supposed to be for us, and most of the time it does work. Unfortunately it's a flawed system and sometimes it doesn't. Thats when we end up with lost time.

Duathir can't maintain corporeality that long on his own,
Appparently that gets better with practise. :D

==Cas.

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pengke.livejournal.com

For me, being at the front while someone else is fronting is usually boring. I'm aware but not really paying attention. It's kind of like when you're sitting in a lecture hall and the professor is droning on and on. So you're thinking instead of listening to him but you're still getting enough of what he's saying to take notes.

Since you are using this to judge your own potential plurality, you need to remember that just because the description of someone else's experience matches your experience it doesn't mean you're experiencing the same thing. Dissociative episodes are very similar to multiplicity when you just look at people's descriptions of what they're experiencing. (We suspect that's partially why the psychology community is so insistant that dissociation is a part of being multiple.) In actuality, the two experiences are completely different.

It might be hard for you to tell without any way to compare them. I'd suggest disregarding these episodes and seeing if there are any other signs that you might be sharing your body with someone else. Also, be cautious about how eager you are to see yourself as multiple. You wouldn't be the first to become selves-aware because you met other multiples but you've also stated before that you have a problem with self-identifying symptoms from whatever psychological subject you're interested in at the time.

- A

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I'm not so much using everyone's responses to evaluate myself because I know it's different for everyone. I was actually only asking out of sheer curiosity. It interesting hearing how everyone experiences life in general. Thanks for the response! ^-^

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gia1977.livejournal.com

I'm still working on how my system works out, but so far you have summed it up for me... like listening to a lecture with the professor droning on and on - I'm ready to fall asleep. lol.

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Not to butt in (I find myself saying this too often in these communities lately...) I'm new to this scene and found my way here bc my boyfriend is a multiple. I was interested in what you were saying about the difference between being multiple and just dissociating... could you explain that? (I know probably not the easiest thing in the world...)
I have to say that I really like the analogies you've all used to describe your experiences... it really sheds light on what my boyfriend(s) might be going through. They are not very good at talking about how it all works. I also wonder how you guys got to be so good at keeping a continuity to your thoughts/memories. My guys can't hardly keep themselves straight from one minute/person to the next. Any words of wisdom on that one?

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Not to butt in (I find myself saying this too often in these communities lately...) I'm new to this scene and found my way here bc my boyfriend is a multiple. I was interested in what you were saying about the difference between being multiple and just dissociating... could you explain that? (I know probably not the easiest thing in the world...)
I have to say that I really like the analogies you've all used to describe your experiences... it really sheds light on what my boyfriend(s) might be going through. They are not very good at talking about how it all works. I also wonder how you guys got to be so good at keeping a continuity to your thoughts/memories. My guys can't hardly keep themselves straight from one minute/person to the next. Any words of wisdom on that one?

would you mind if I "friend" this community?

Brianne

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Not to butt in (I find myself saying this too often in these communities lately...) I'm new to this scene and found my way here bc my boyfriend is a multiple. I was interested in what you were saying about the difference between being multiple and just dissociating... could you explain that? (I know probably not the easiest thing in the world...)
I have to say that I really like the analogies you've all used to describe your experiences... it really sheds light on what my boyfriend(s) might be going through. They are not very good at talking about how it all works. I also wonder how you guys got to be so good at keeping a continuity to your thoughts/memories. My guys can't hardly keep themselves straight from one minute/person to the next. Any words of wisdom on that one?

would anyone mind if I "friend" this community?

Brianne

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pengke.livejournal.com

Well, with both you'll find people describing the sensations of feeling detached and far away from everything, a feeling of watching yourself doing something, feelings of not being real or being invisible or something like that, ect but the causes for the sensations are completely different.

With dissociation, it's kind of like you've gone on autopilot. There are a lot of things we do in every day life that don't require a lot of conscious control. A common example is zoning out while driving. Plus, dissociation can play a role in escapism.

With multiples, they feel like they're watching themself doing things because they are watching their body doing things. Someone else is in control. Sometimes you can still be getting feedback from the body so that it physically feels like you're the one doing everything but it's someone else's thoughts and desires fueling the body's actions. Sometimes you can be in control but someone else is getting most of the sensations so to you the body feels kind of numb and distant. But all of it goes back to it doesn't just feel like it's not you doing things, it literally isn't you.

You will probably get better responses for your second question if you made a new entry for it.

- A

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What

pengke said. Also,
http://www.kitsune.cx/blackbirds/layman/

Welcome.

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arhuaine.livejournal.com

We use the analogy of flying an aircrraft. The person who's fronting is in the pilot seat. If someone's co-fronting they'll be in the co-pilot seat (and there may be more than one of those). The rest of us can choose whether to stay close and watch the pilot(s) and the intruments. Or we can stare out of the window. Or maybe go in the back to sleep or chat with each other. Or we might not even be on the plane at all. It varies so much even for us, even from one time to another. Its not necessarily true that all multiples have lapses of memory or lose time. We do, but there are many who don't.

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whisperedones.livejournal.com

We are a Co-Conscious system, which means we all have access to see what's happening. It's like being in a lecture classroom, I suppose, the one up Front is the professor, while the others are merely listening to the lecture. Like all classes, We can whisper to each other, while still paying attention to the Front, but We don't have control of what the others are doing. The driving analogy is a good one too. There are times when some of Us are asleep in the class (Usually Angelis, the little) or not really paying attention, but the words are engraved in the subconscious.

I can account for all Our actions... I don't want to always, but I can.

Oy, I better go, I'm late...

Ruby et al

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dreamingkat.livejournal.com

I can account for all Our actions... I don't want to always, but I can.

yeah. I hear ya there.

fortunately, we've got an "extra layer" that helps keeps things stable for outsiders more or less. It does the important filtering, like moderates accents, makes sure that offensive words are not used and social norms are not completely thrown out the window. We've got a mostly common memory, but not quite.

Sometimes when we're "not there" were sleeping, and sometimes we're off doing our own thing - which I guess could be best described as dreaming or something akin to astral travel. It is rather odd to look down and see your body going about whatever it needs to do while you float off and do something else. :)

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ex-khailitha846.livejournal.com

We've got a filter layer too, but it's almost an actual person. She's totally empty, but self-aware. (I'm not sure that makes sense, but she is. She thinks... she is just devoid of her own content.) She is like a glove or a mask through which the others can act and speak and maintain a kind of inconspicuous anonymity. She has been a great help in functioning in the RT world, taking care of business type and parenting type stuff. She also muddies the waters, makes it harder to tell who is doing what. And she has these bouts of confusion about her identity that are hard for all of Us to watch. When We are really safe, or really triggered, (odd how either extreme works) We step outside of her and can act directly with the environment.

For a long time, I think We kind of took her for granted and felt kind of condescending... but I read the Tao of Physics and was thinking about how quantum physicists can't actually observe any of the particles they are studying. So they perform all their experiments in a "bubble chamber" that records the trails and tracks of the particles themselves and then they make deductions based on that. Then We realized that she is kind of like a bubble chamber. And very important.

Wierdly enough, as soon as We came to this realization, she became less.... uh, opaque, and We are not as hidden as We used to be.

Hmmm...

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