[HN Gopher] The 'Batman Effect': How having an alter ego empower...
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The 'Batman Effect': How having an alter ego empowers you
Author : mrleinad
Score : 86 points
Date : 2022-04-16 20:13 UTC (2 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (lsa.umich.edu)
(TXT) w3m dump (lsa.umich.edu)
| Barrin92 wrote:
| Immediately made me think of VTubing. A lot of vtubers now are
| among the most popular streaming channels on Youtube and many of
| them are probably what you could call above average performers in
| terms of what content they put out, from music to narrative
| fiction.
|
| Also reminded of me of an interview with Buckethead explaining
| his alter ego:
|
| _" "Because I was always super scared to play, and I didn't
| really link that together, I just thought 'This is weird.' Like a
| horror movie guy. And when he saw it he was like 'You should just
| go for it!' I was like 'That would be cool.' Because I could do
| everything I liked doing as this character that I'm totally
| scared to death to do otherwise. And it applied to all the stuff
| I like, like Disneyland and martial arts and dancing, all that
| stuff I liked. I was like, 'I can't do it just like me.' It was a
| great way to get all the stuff out."_
| vmception wrote:
| My friends that I've taken to masquarades (or just worn fun
| masks to clubs with) have said similar things.
|
| Its like despite being goofier and less conspicuous, they feel
| so much more free
| unwind wrote:
| Okay I will fly the Old Guy flag proudly and paste a
| definition:
|
| _A VTuber, or virtual YouTuber, is an online entertainer who
| uses a virtual avatar generated using computer graphics and
| real-time motion capture software or technology._
|
| Straight from Wikipedia.
| drBonkers wrote:
| I don't think this one is an old guy thing. No one I know in
| their 20s would know what a VTuber is. Thanks for the
| definition.
| psyc wrote:
| I'm in my forties and have known exactly what this was for
| years (ever since Hatsune Miku), but still had to look up
| the term "VTuber", which I did not recognize.
| agumonkey wrote:
| French guitarist Matthieu Cheddid, althought not hiding as
| much, says he changed his appearance and created some kind of
| persona (so-called M) to drop his fears to be a public artist.
| bobkazamakis wrote:
| You bring guitar into the idea of an alter ego without
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckethead
| egypturnash wrote:
| Furries have known this power for decades.
| amelius wrote:
| Perhaps schizophrenia has an evolutionary advantage?
| _qua wrote:
| That's not what schizophrenia is.
| V-2 wrote:
| You probably meant split personality.
| thenerdhead wrote:
| I taught comedy improv for many years. One tip I would give new
| performers is to adopt an alter ego for the stage (a fun fake
| name and/or personality) and to choose a totem (an object) that
| they wear to do just that such as shoes, a shirt, watch, etc.
|
| This helped so many different people such as accountants, pre-k
| teachers, stay-at-home moms, and even university professors get
| out of their shells, prevent their stage fright, and to be more
| energetic on-stage when their normal persona is calm, cool, and
| collected.
|
| I do believe we also have an alter ego in three different
| situations such as work, home, and play. Another common thing I
| would teach is that you can alter your characters in scenes
| easily by adopting one of those personas of the character you're
| portraying.
|
| I believe many people adopt an alter ego without knowing it
| today. These are YouTubers, Streamers, Conference Speakers, and
| really anything where there's a concept of a "stage".
|
| The book "The Alter Ego Effect" by Todd Herman goes into this
| further, but my favorite material on this is "Impro" by Keith
| Johnstone.
| hesdeadjim wrote:
| I've found five years of D&D to have a similar, and persistent,
| effect. In the beginning I found it hard to relax and "yes and"
| what was going on. Fast forward to now, I can be in character
| in front of random people without a hint of anxiety. It was a
| completely unexpected side-effect of playing, and I've also
| seen a general increase in creativity as well.
| sklargh wrote:
| Came here thinking about how much my time as a B|X ref has
| helped me socially/professionally.
| bovermyer wrote:
| When does it stop being an alter ego and become dissociative
| identity disorder?
| macksd wrote:
| When it starts being involuntary and harmful, or perhaps in
| response to emotional trauma?
| cwaffles wrote:
| I recall there was an article of mental models to make the most
| in life, knowing that their time on Earth is limited. For example
| one would try to live like they are the protagonist of their own
| life movie, living like a rock star. Does anyone recall an
| article like that?
| Comevius wrote:
| I wonder if this comes with side effects, like how mindfulness
| increases selfishness in those who think that their existence is
| independent from the existence of others, which is how most
| people in Western countries think.
|
| Playfulness is probably a healthier option for shifting your
| perception compared to this much self-distancing.
| emerged wrote:
| You managed to shit on both westerners and people who use
| mindfulness... for no real reason.
|
| Or maybe it was your alter ego?
|
| Anyway, I used to have an alter ego. But I stopped using it for
| years, then one day a guy I never met got really mad at me
| because he didn't want to use my nickname. It was an odd moment
| because I had never met him and don't even use that nickname.
| He just heard it from someone else and the existence of a
| nickname apparently made him angry.
|
| I quit shortly after because the manager who was also on the
| call didn't even react as this guy I never met yelled at me for
| reasons that made no sense.
| katzgrau wrote:
| > like how mindfulness increases selfishness in those who think
| that their existence is independent from the existence of
| others
|
| ... If one was really being mindful, they'd eventually see that
| the existence of their "self" is only possible in relation to
| others existing. So there's the self and the other, but in
| essence, one.
|
| And that's one of the reasons the golden rule makes so much
| sense.
|
| So I wouldn't blame mindfulness for any side effects. Negative
| side effects are the result of the ego/self creeping back into
| the picture.
| Comevius wrote:
| The problem might not be with mindfulness, but with our self-
| centered culture, which causes this secularized mindfulness
| to be a snake oil with a few personal benefits at best. It's
| more of a self-discipline or concentration tool when you
| strip it from it's culture, which used to involve ethics as I
| understand.
| ad404b8a372f2b9 wrote:
| Do we not all have a professional alter ego? I'm a completely
| different guy when I'm at work, I don't give myself a different
| name, and it's not the same pressure as a rock star but still, it
| seems natural.
| fsloth wrote:
| I am at least and it's terribly exhausting. Need to pretend I
| care about the product, care about being perceived as a high
| output individual contributor etc. Need to pretend I'm good
| with people and generally cheery.
|
| I am all of those things at work, but I need to say to myself
| "be all of these things" and consciously think about "ok how
| would or should the professional me act in this situation".
|
| Maybe everyone does it to an extent, I don't know.
|
| Professional life has certain expectations I find artificial
| and incomprehensible (multiple weird games going on behind the
| scenes etc) so I try to cope.
|
| Weird rules like "every engineer is expected to take pride in
| their work and have their professional output be a matter of
| honor" and so on. My take is - "meh. You pay me. I write your
| high quality code. It's terribly important but also terribly
| tedious and boring. I really do not appreciate the hours I need
| to waste at my job but that's what it means to earn a living as
| a cog in a machine and I seem to be a pretty well performing
| cog".
|
| Every programmer probably dreams of winning a lottery so they
| could focus on writing programs they find interesting and not
| just those that pay the bills.
| akvadrako wrote:
| No, I'm pretty much the same at work as with my friends and
| alone.
|
| I also don't do well in very corporate environments. But that
| tradeoff is worth it.
| RF_Savage wrote:
| Yeah I'm sure everybody has their worksona.
| DoreenMichele wrote:
| Only if you have any sense and a clue.
|
| Some people don't do that and maybe learn the hard way that
| it's not good to be too genuine all the time with everyone.
| vmception wrote:
| Yeah I just nod and agree with co-worker's exclusionary forms
| of inclusion, to continue exchanging time for money and
| potentially sex with that co-worker.
|
| A very large part of how echo chambers form
| FFRefresh wrote:
| I really like the framing you used: 'exclusionary forms of
| inclusion'. Really encapsulates it well.
| danielmarkbruce wrote:
| Trump seems to use this to great effect....
| google234123 wrote:
| Fake it 'til you make it - though most people we see or hear
| about in the news are outliers :p
| unknownus3r wrote:
| Strongly disagree. While "alter ego" helps short term it just
| delays the reckoning and imposter syndrome for later and leads to
| identity issues and confusion. Take the hard path in the present
| and watch it get easier later
| LAC-Tech wrote:
| This can most clearly be seen in professional wrestling, where
| their alter egos are front and centre of the whole presentation.
| evocatus wrote:
| What happens when you assume the alter ego in perpetuity? Where
| does the "original ego" go?
| tyurok wrote:
| Art imitates life until life imitates art.
| QuikAccount wrote:
| Funny that you ask this. I recall reading about this a while
| ago although I can't find what I was reading. Apparently this
| is called "ego suicide." Killing your original self and letting
| the personality you created takeover your entire being.
| TeaDude wrote:
| I have an further question. No pressure if you don't remember
| or it wasn't listed. (I'm really interested in _anyone_ who
| can answer this)
|
| Is there a term for when you believe that that "original ego"
| was killed by something else? Be it killed by "the world" or
| some serious life event or revelation or something.
| evocatus wrote:
| This is the ego death. You could fill libraries with what
| has been written on this phenomenon, though under many
| different names.
| [deleted]
| jollybean wrote:
| Chris Gaines [1]
|
| [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Gaines
| anyfactor wrote:
| What's up, you got Ed Chambers.
|
| https://youtube.com/watch?v=vnug6i5SkQQ
| ankit219 wrote:
| I just wonder what are the other things from comic books that
| might actually turn out to be true if there is research on them.
| V-2 wrote:
| To me the effect occurs - to some extent - with regard to which
| language I speak.
| bigmattystyles wrote:
| This is an anecdote of 1, but I grew up in France speaking French
| and moved to the US at 11. I don't have an accent when I speak
| English or French. I'm truly bilingual. I feel like I have way
| less anxiety, am more relaxed and have more confidence when I
| speak French, and it's not just the setting. I've done it for
| long periods of time professionally, on dates, etc.. I don't know
| if there's anything to this. To me it's always felt like there
| was.
| drewcoo wrote:
| soared wrote:
| Full article: https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200817-the-
| batman-eff...
| version_five wrote:
| Just to nitpick, "Bruce Wayne" is the alter ego of batman, not
| the other way around, at least in the Chris Nolan movies. In
| reality he's smart and tough and hardened by the League of
| Shadows, etc. But as Bruce Wayne he plays a bimbo billionaire so
| that nobody will realize who he actually is.
| tomcam wrote:
| Many consider me a bimbo thousandaire
| Rzor wrote:
| In many comic books too. He thinks of himself as Batman, not
| Bruce Wayne, and never feels entirely comfortable without the
| mask.
| endominus wrote:
| Not just the Nolan movies; a number of comics mention that, and
| a memorable scene in Batman Beyond makes it even more explicit.
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7t7yiN_Z5eg
| [deleted]
| smoe wrote:
| Reminded me of something my mother told me about her school years
| in Finland in around the 60s: In the beginning of the year for
| the foreign language classes every student had to came up with a
| fictional persona that fits the culture of the language being
| learned and stick with it during the entire year.
|
| As I understand one of the main rationales was, that if it less
| likely for you to fall back to the native tongue when you don't
| know how to say something when you are playing a role. I found
| that pretty interesting. I have no idea how widespread this sort
| of thing is/was.
| tomcam wrote:
| Childish Gambino, Donald Glover's alter ego, covering a song by
| Chris Gaines, Garth Brooks' alter ego:
|
| https://youtu.be/yBPKdl_YeqE
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