I’m traveling for work this week so forgive me for recirculating this longread piece that I wrote for Fairer Disputations (and loved!) but which never got much attention. Fairytales and children’s stories brim over with characters animated by the ardent belief of their creator: stuffed tigers and rabbits brought to life by a child’s love, puppets who cut their strings and dance, fairies that live as long as you believe (and not a minute longer), chickpeas converted by a mother’s wish into longed-for children. During games of make-believe, monsters lurk in every shadow and bedsheets billow into sails.
That was a fascinating read! For some reason, my mind went straight to the symptom pool that Ethan Watters talks about in "Crazy Like Us." What if the concept of tulpamancy became as well known as multiple personalities/dissociative identity disorder is now? What if there were more tulpamancy videos on TikTok than DID videos? Would all the unhappy, lonely, distressed people who now believe they have DID believe they have tulpas instead of alters in this alternative universe?
I find this hauntingly accurate as one cause of the huge increase in people believing they are "transgender." I used to like to say "idealism becomes realism when put into practice." I still believe that, and it can be a great thing. However, a different version of this, involving fantasy - specifically the fantasy of what a "good life" might look like - would be "fantasy becomes reality when enacted onto the body." This is a dangerous idea that seems to rule supreme these days.
Those experiencing the fantasy that they are this opposite-sex-person think it has become reality once they can look in the mirror and see it and feel it on their body, and, most importantly, once other people can see their fantasy and think it's real. Thus, fooling others into believing you are male, for instance, makes the fantasy that you are this man that you have been thinking about for years, on-line and off, a reality (or enough like reality to keep the fantasy alive).
And no wonder these people are so hostile to anyone who stands in their way. Who wants to lose the fantasy they have been cultivating for years because of some meddling non-believer?
That was a fascinating read! For some reason, my mind went straight to the symptom pool that Ethan Watters talks about in "Crazy Like Us." What if the concept of tulpamancy became as well known as multiple personalities/dissociative identity disorder is now? What if there were more tulpamancy videos on TikTok than DID videos? Would all the unhappy, lonely, distressed people who now believe they have DID believe they have tulpas instead of alters in this alternative universe?
Anna Stubblefield would be a great candidate for tulpamancy.
I find this hauntingly accurate as one cause of the huge increase in people believing they are "transgender." I used to like to say "idealism becomes realism when put into practice." I still believe that, and it can be a great thing. However, a different version of this, involving fantasy - specifically the fantasy of what a "good life" might look like - would be "fantasy becomes reality when enacted onto the body." This is a dangerous idea that seems to rule supreme these days.
Those experiencing the fantasy that they are this opposite-sex-person think it has become reality once they can look in the mirror and see it and feel it on their body, and, most importantly, once other people can see their fantasy and think it's real. Thus, fooling others into believing you are male, for instance, makes the fantasy that you are this man that you have been thinking about for years, on-line and off, a reality (or enough like reality to keep the fantasy alive).
And no wonder these people are so hostile to anyone who stands in their way. Who wants to lose the fantasy they have been cultivating for years because of some meddling non-believer?
I loved that piece too...
You're forgiven!
And hope you enjoy your travels.
Babywearers?
Also: what is that fabulous painting? Is it Boucher?
Also: what is that fabulously kitschy painting? Is it Boucher?
You bet.
Thank you. Sorry about repeated question; it didn't appear at first so I thought it hadn't gone through.