Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Is communicating with your self communication?

I recently read "Fight Club" by Chuck Palahniuk. SPOILER ALERT: In the book the main charachter (commonly refered to as "Jack" thought the book never reveals his real name) creates an alter ego who takes over his body whenever he falls asleep. "Jack" befriends this alter ego named Tyler Durden. Everyone in the story sees "Jack" as Tyler Durden except for himself. It is not revealed or the protagonist that they are the same person until near the end of the book. Until that point we see them as two individuals with ulterior motives. Now my question is "Can communicating with one's self be studing along with communication?" If someone is schitzophrentic to the point where they are two different people at different times and have the ability to have conversations with themself/selves, is it actually communications or just a madman's ramblings? In a way I see this as just one person with their own thoughts, as they are not actually conveying any information to another individual, however, if one does see them as two different people then one persona may be able to devulge information to the other persona and, in a way, maybe be able to help themself. Your thoughts?
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6 comments:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 4, 2009 at 8:29 PM

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  2. AnonymousFebruary 4, 2009 at 8:31 PM

    I'd say it depends most on your definition of the word "person." Would you define a person as one with it's own thoughts, feelings, goals, etc. or as one with it's own body?
    With the former definition, yes it would be communication. However, with the latter definition it would not be communication.
    Dictionary.com lists 15 different definitions.
    http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=person

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  3. P.W. MaerzFebruary 4, 2009 at 8:55 PM

    A major point to consider is that in "Fight Club" the main character doesn't have schizophrenia. In schizophrenic patients there is no alter-ego that "takes over the body" and characterized by abnormalities in the perception or expression of reality. "Fight Club" uses a idiosyncratic version of dissociative identity disorder(DID)in which the victim undergoes both audio-visual hallucinations or alternates his identities while he is 'sleeping.'


    I think that in cases of DID like this there can be communication between personalities if they are aware of each other. Though in most case of DID there is no communication because the personalities are not aware of each other, each would experience a period of mental blackout when the other was in control.

    BTW, another great example of DID in fiction is Ted DekKer's novel Three.

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  4. Jenni SmithFebruary 5, 2009 at 12:18 AM

    even set apart from mental disorders and things of that sort, I go to the idea of introspection. By deep thought, inner turmoil of looking to 'find oneself' it may be possible to learn more about oneself or 'communicate' in some form. I think it's not communicating in the strict form of the word but may be more along the lines of discovering new information or aspects of your own personality. It may be too much to say that one can truly communicate with their own self but then again, we are all the time changing or stretching words' meanings, why not now? communication multi-definitonal word as it is. insane or not insane, i think it may be possible

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  5. MosesFebruary 5, 2009 at 10:34 AM

    Forget about dissociative identity disorder for a second. My question is: is introspection and personal reflection something that can be called self-communication? I think if the response to that question is in the affirmative then the answer to whether a dialogue between two personalities is a form of communication becomes obvious. Personally, I think a lot goes on in the subconscious that we aren't always aware of, and by thinking and reflecting on these things, we are in essence facilitating communication between our own subconsciousness and consciousness. Thus communicating with one's self is a form of communication, and thus when the narrator speaks with Tyler Durden he is in fact engaging in communication.

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  6. MosesFebruary 5, 2009 at 2:05 PM

    Wow... so I guess I should have read the post above me before leaving my comment. I pretty much wrote the exact same thing as Jenni Smith. Sorry for the redundancy, and I guess that means I agree with Jenni.

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