By various Pluresians, originally written in 2013 and significantly reworked in 2024
Who are you and how did you get here?
We are a plural (or multiple) system: a group of self-perceiving entities using a single brain. (We typically call ourselves “headmates” or “people,” though. Never “personalities,” and only one of us is an alter.)
If our memories are correct, we were diagnosed with Multiple Personality Disorder (now Dissociative Identity Disorder) in the late 1980s, but we don’t think of multiplicity itself as the disorder. The problem was the dissociative amnesia, not the fact that we’re more than one. Also, we’ve never been singular in the first place. There were attempts to fuse us after our diagnosis, but they failed after a few months. Fusion “therapy” doesn’t work for most systems, and we are no exception.
These days, we consider our system a “mutual emergent association,” or a healthy adaptive response to severe trauma and abuse.
Having each other has allowed us to stay alive in a world that frequently wants us dead.
How do you work with each other?
Headmates take turns participating in our daily life. Often, two or more people can be present at once, which is called co-fronting or co-consciousness. We communicate with each other using a variety of methods, including text files, paper notes, the Apple Notes app, and conversations within our headspace.
Do you have a system government?
Yes. The six primary frontrunners hold veto power over our collective decisions, but they prefer to be collaborators rather than rulers. Vova is the head of the system and is the only one permitted to make major unilateral decisions.
For major decisions, we take votes or hold system-wide discussions.
What are you like as individuals?
Like any group of people, we vary in our personal traits and interests. Some of us are optimistic and hopeful; others are cynical and sarcastic; others try to fight off pessimism. We are Jewish, but we have different interpretations of what or who God is. All of us lean to the political left, but the ways we interpret it are different.
We’re different people, and like any group of people, we will vary. But we do have some shared themes, including a passion for intellectual pursuits, an interest in art and writing, and a zeal for justice and equity.
Do you have an inner world?
Yes.