When "I'm literally 12" becomes abruptly and immediately true
For Alice, who asked me to write this.
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One of the unique features of plurality is how people within the system don't have to be like the body. Just because they live in it doesn't mean they all must resemble it, or have their personal proprioception match up with the body’s external shape. This means that system members can vary in all kinds of ways - height/weight, ethnicity, species or body plan, and the topic of today’s essay: age.
It can be tricky sometimes for people to wrap their heads around what it means for a system member to look and be different from the body. After all, you’re not in their head with them, so all you have to go on perception-wise is the body, and it’s gonna look however old it is. What does it mean for someone to be 7 years old when their external body is 38? How should you interact with a system member who's much younger than the members you know? In what ways are internal children similar or different from external children? I'll be talking through the ways I’ve learned how to treat them well and care for them.
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For Alice, who asked me to write this.
—
One of the unique features of plurality is how people within the system don't have to be like the body. Just because they live in it doesn't mean they all must resemble it, or have their personal proprioception match up with the body’s external shape. This means that system members can vary in all kinds of ways - height/weight, ethnicity, species or body plan, and the topic of today’s essay: age.
It can be tricky sometimes for people to wrap their heads around what it means for a system member to look and be different from the body. After all, you’re not in their head with them, so all you have to go on perception-wise is the body, and it’s gonna look however old it is. What does it mean for someone to be 7 years old when their external body is 38? How should you interact with a system member who's much younger than the members you know? In what ways are internal children similar or different from external children? I'll be talking through the ways I’ve learned how to treat them well and care for them.
—
( Read more )