I have earlier stated that “To understand study edge cases”, and the model of subagents in a single brain would benefit from studying just such edge cases, namely the Dissociative Identity Disorder, formerly known as the Multiple Personalities Disorder, where the subagents are plainly visible and their interaction and inter-communication is largely broken, making some of your suppositions and conjectures easy to study and test. There are many sites devoted to this largely misunderstood disorder, and the estimated prevalence of it in the general population is somewhere around 1-3%, so, odds are, you know someone with it personally, without realizing it. One good introduction to the topic is the documentary Many Sides of Jane, which may give you some very basic understanding of how subagents might function (and dysfunction) in the mind. Akrasia, fight for control, mutual sabotage, various subagent roles and behaviors are covered in the documentary in an accessible way and could serve as a much needed feedback for your ideas.
Thanks! I’ve been intending to first work out a preliminary version of the intuitive model that I’ve got in my head in sufficient detail to know exactly what claims I’m even making (these posts), and then delve into various other sources once I’ve finished writing down my initial rough sketch. (As I’ve found that trying to read too broadly about a research question before I’ve got a mental skeleton to “hang the content on” just causes me to forget most of the stuff that would actually have been relevant.) I’ll add your recommendations to the list of things to look at.
I haven’t gotten around watching that particular documentary, but I now briefly discuss DID (as well as quoting what you said about subagents and trauma elsewhere) in subagents, trauma, and rationality.
I have earlier stated that “To understand study edge cases”, and the model of subagents in a single brain would benefit from studying just such edge cases, namely the Dissociative Identity Disorder, formerly known as the Multiple Personalities Disorder, where the subagents are plainly visible and their interaction and inter-communication is largely broken, making some of your suppositions and conjectures easy to study and test. There are many sites devoted to this largely misunderstood disorder, and the estimated prevalence of it in the general population is somewhere around 1-3%, so, odds are, you know someone with it personally, without realizing it. One good introduction to the topic is the documentary Many Sides of Jane, which may give you some very basic understanding of how subagents might function (and dysfunction) in the mind. Akrasia, fight for control, mutual sabotage, various subagent roles and behaviors are covered in the documentary in an accessible way and could serve as a much needed feedback for your ideas.
Thanks! I’ve been intending to first work out a preliminary version of the intuitive model that I’ve got in my head in sufficient detail to know exactly what claims I’m even making (these posts), and then delve into various other sources once I’ve finished writing down my initial rough sketch. (As I’ve found that trying to read too broadly about a research question before I’ve got a mental skeleton to “hang the content on” just causes me to forget most of the stuff that would actually have been relevant.) I’ll add your recommendations to the list of things to look at.
I haven’t gotten around watching that particular documentary, but I now briefly discuss DID (as well as quoting what you said about subagents and trauma elsewhere) in subagents, trauma, and rationality.