Multiplicity The New Science of Personality, Identity, and the Self

by Carter, Rita

• ISBN13: 9780316115384
• ISBN10: 031611538X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-03-27
• Publisher: Little, Brown Spark

Summary

MULTIPLICITY presents an entirely new view of our selves. Instead of seeing each person as a single personality, Carter argues that we all consist of multiple characters, each one with its own viewpoint, emotions and ambitions. The mother who feeds breakfast to her children, for example, has quite different concerns and opinions from the woman taking part in a boardroom discussion two hours later, and from the woman she will be with her husband that night. Yet all three may share the same body, and none is any more "authentic" than another. Personality changes in a person are conventionally frowned upon, but Carter shows that in today's world our ability to switch from one personality to another according to what is demanded of us is a huge strength, providing one's personalities work together as a team rather than against each other. In addition to its groundbreaking scientific thesis, MULTIPLICITY contains extensive exercises designed to help readers achieve this harmony.

Author Biography

Rita Carter is an award-winning science and medical writer. She contributes to New Scientist and a wide range of other British magazines and newspapers. Before specializing in science Rita worked for six years as a TV news presenter and radio host and producer. She continues to appear and be heard regularly on TV and radio as a medical and science commentator, and gives frequent talks and lectures throughout Europe and the US.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xi
A Brief History of Our Selves	p. 3
Priests, possession and Mesmer's plural pianist
Pierre Janet and the vanishing furniture
Multiple Personality Disorder-the first wave
Ego-states and hidden observers
Modern MPD-a manufactured madness?
So what is a personality, anyway?
The Landscape of Mind	p. 22
Majors, minors and micros
The big "I am"-developing the sense of self
The children in the child
How situations create personalities
Searching for the essential self
The trouble with personality tests
Sharing the stage
Mechanisms of Mind	p. 45
Memory, experience and I-memories
State-dependent recall
How memories fit together-the brain-wide web
The brain as building site
Dissociation
Adaptive dissociation
Defending the self
The dissociative spectrum
Sliding into disorder
Changing Times, Changing Selves	p. 74
The rise of the pick 'n' mix culture
How multiplicity can protect your health
Problem families
The early riser and the alarm-clock saboteur
Renegades
Taking responsibility
Intruders and gate-crashers
The People You Are	p. 91
Inner parents
Inner children
Roles and stereotypes
Opposites, shadows and renegades
Identikits and celebrities-personalities from pieces
Virtual personalities
Introduction	p. 115
How Multiple Are You?	p. 121
Where are you on the spectrum?
The Personality Wheel
Reading the Personality Wheel
Single Major
Double Major
Major-Minor
Major-Minors
Multiple Minors
How do your minors relate?
Meet the Family	p. 160
Defenders
Controllers
Punishers
Role players
Relics
Creatives
Working Together	p. 212
Visualizing your selves
Know your triggers
Taking stock
Building the team
Let sleeping dogs lie
Making conversation
Putting agreements into practice
The empty chair
Drawing up an agenda
A helping hand
Making a minor
Saying goodbye
Acknowledgments	p. 247
Notes	p. 249
Resources	p. 255
Index	p. 259
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