Sorry, didn’t mean to imply that structural dissociation has anything to do with tulpas. I agree that the birthing a tulpa is likely quite different, and I tried to state as much.
Fiction authors who put extensive effort of modeling their characters often develop spontaneous “tulpas” based on their characters
I see the examples in the linked paper, of the characters having independent agency (not sure why the authors call in an illusion), including the characters arguing with the author, even offering opinions outside the fictional framework, like Moriarty in Star Trek TNG, one of the more famous fictional tulpas.
That said, they seem to mix the standard process of writing with the degree of dissociation that results in an independent mind. I dabble in writing, as well, and I can never tell in advance what my characters will do. In a mathematical language, the equations describing the character development are hyperbolic, not elliptic: you can set up an initial value problem, but not a boundary value problem. I don’t think there is much of agency in that, just basic modeling of a character and their world. I know some other writers who write “elliptically,” i.e. they know the rough outline of the story, including the conclusion, and just flesh out the details. I think Eliezer is one of those.
I wonder how often it happens that the character survives past the end of their story and shares the living space in the creator’s mind as an independent entity, like a true tulpa would.
Sorry, didn’t mean to imply that structural dissociation has anything to do with tulpas. I agree that the birthing a tulpa is likely quite different, and I tried to state as much.
I see the examples in the linked paper, of the characters having independent agency (not sure why the authors call in an illusion), including the characters arguing with the author, even offering opinions outside the fictional framework, like Moriarty in Star Trek TNG, one of the more famous fictional tulpas.
That said, they seem to mix the standard process of writing with the degree of dissociation that results in an independent mind. I dabble in writing, as well, and I can never tell in advance what my characters will do. In a mathematical language, the equations describing the character development are hyperbolic, not elliptic: you can set up an initial value problem, but not a boundary value problem. I don’t think there is much of agency in that, just basic modeling of a character and their world. I know some other writers who write “elliptically,” i.e. they know the rough outline of the story, including the conclusion, and just flesh out the details. I think Eliezer is one of those.
I wonder how often it happens that the character survives past the end of their story and shares the living space in the creator’s mind as an independent entity, like a true tulpa would.