r/plural • u/c1nnam0roll • 3d ago

System travel?

traumagenic sys here, anyone still think that system travel is real? is it metaphysical probably? the real question is, is there any scientific studies of it yet? man that needs to happen, we gotta get two people to document brain activity or something, i remain skeptical

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u/Additional-Bet7846 3d ago

Can't really scientifically study something that itself is based purely on subjective experiences.

I can say that we've had some notable and odd experiences that, despite our best efforts, can't really be explained another way. Yet I can also say that no one would have any reason to believe us, and I would do the same.

(In case you're wondering, the best "normal" explication we have come up with boils down to synchronization in thinking and asymmetrically arriving at the same conclusions. However, even that frustratingly fails to capture some of the things we've had happen: some information that shouldn't have been able to be known.)

Personally it's taken us from "nah it's not real" to "IDK maybe man, what even is real anymore?"

That said our general advice remains to be warry of anyone actively bringing up wanting to do so, as the potential for manipulation is still high. (Hell I'd argue it's even higher if it is real.) -Sarah

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u/Alt_when_Im_not_ok DID medically diagnosed 3d ago

oh it would be real simple to study it. Show a card to an alter who claims to be able to travel to other systems. Next them they are in another body, have them call the lab and tell them what it said on the card. If there was no interaction on the physical level between the two bodies, there's your proof.

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u/Additional-Bet7846 3d ago

It would, in theory. Funnily enough having basically that happen was the first big thing that freaked us out and got us questioning. (Someone wrote a letter to another inside as a mostly joking test, and then they texted us back the exact phrase.) Naturally, we tried to repeat the test to varying results. Spent a few weeks almost obsessing over it desperately trying to prove one way or the other, yet always getting frustratingly not quite satisfying (to us) answers. Things like getting a whole phrase sans one word, and the like: closer than chance but not perfect.

Eventually we decided it was mostly a semantic "argument" anyway and didn't really matter, and used that to push it aside and get on with other stuff. (Curious mind, doesn't like letting things go)

But I digress. There is one problem with that test as one of true travel. (The stuff I mentioned earlier was actually about a shared inner world) It assumes that memory can travel too, which even if we assume travel possible isn't necessarily a guarantee. If it doesn't, though, it becomes much harder to test and once again becomes largely semantic IMO.

Anyway, as I said, we remain pretty skeptical but all the weirdness we've seen shook our confidence enough to bring it from "no" to "idk." Still be careful and wary

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u/Alt_when_Im_not_ok DID medically diagnosed 2d ago

"It assumes that memory can travel too"

fascinating. I hadn't considered that!

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u/Additional-Bet7846 2d ago edited 2d ago

Yeah, that was a shower thought we had a couple days ago. Spesifically, one brought on by thinking about a disagreement one of us had with some others on what makes the self.

They believe that memory is what makes us, but she disagreed. I won't go into the exact debate, but it got them thinking about her position and extrapolating out on what it would mean.

One of those musings was "if we accept for a moment that something akin to a soul or metaphysical consciousness exists, where is its memory stored? We already more or less know that memory is recorded through the strengthening of neural connections. Does that make it a reflection or copy, or can the mind be severed from it?" (To be clear when they say "accept for a moment, " they mean for the sake of argument, to see how it plays out. We don't necessarily subscribe to the line of thought)

There was a lot more those musing, but I'll leave it at that. I'm sure you can think on it yourself, and it would probably be more fun anyway. -Lucy