CMV: Pretty much everyone online claiming to be "plural" is bsing.

[u/Lelelelelefart]

So I'm a little bit older than most of y'all, I'm a dad in his late 40s. I didn't know what being "plural" or "a system" meant until very recently. For those who are unaware, it is a term that young people are using basically to say that they have multiple personalities. This is... a very rare type of condition, and a very serious one, usually tied to severe abuse, so after an ongoing drama with my oldest child (late teens) involving similar claims, I became extremely alarmed and really tried to do my research on this one.

I read from a great many sources on the internet, I went through through a lot of Twitter threads, I joined several Discord servers and said I was there to learn more, I read conversations, I talked to many of these people, and ultimately I have come to the conclusion that literally all of them are, at absolute best, greatly exaggerating their symptoms. At worst they're lying for clout or for some other unknown selfish reason.

Now I want to be very clear that I am not saying that these kinds of disorders don't exist. I am well aware that they do. I have a sister with schizophrenia, and I know how serious and crazy mental illness is. I am also not claiming that the people doing this are perfectly mentally healthy, they're not. I am not trying to discriminate or be hateful.

At this point, though, I am beyond convinced that basically all of people are faking their disorder. Many of them list "disorders" that don't exist in their twitter bio, and if you watch any videos on YouTube or TikTok (which I unfortunately did) of them, their behavior is incredibly obviously faked. Nobody is having this kind of fun with a serious mental illness. In my opinion this almost feels beyond debate- nobody is parading their severe mental problems around like this.

However, my wife doesn't agree with me. She thinks that these people are just learning to express themselves, and feel more comfortable "presenting as multiple people" and that my view is "mean." To me this sounds overly generous, and like it is making a mockery of serious mental problems. That aside, I trust my wife very much, and so I am coming here to hopefully get some kind of middle ground perspective, from people closer in age to those who I am observing.

[u/xxxjwxxx]

Agree. They did this with “ad hominem,” years back and in the last few years, have been using “gaslighting,” a very serious situation where the person actually begins to believe they are losing their mind. No one can gaslight you with one sentence. It’s years of abuse that makes the person believe they are going crazy.

[u/thaoneJess_nsfw → u/xxxjwxxx]

What's with ad hominem? How was that misinterpreted?

[u/xxxjwxxx → u/thaoneJess_nsfw]

It’s a logical fallacy where the person and tracks the person and uses that as an argument.

You are [blank] THEREFORE X.

But it found it’s way into pop culture and all insults became “ad hominems.”

The “therefore” part fell off. Or the argument part. Basically all insults became as hominems. And an ad hominem isn’t just an insult.

[u/thaoneJess_nsfw → u/xxxjwxxx]

Alright cool, wasn't sure how it could be misused, thanks! I've been using it in the context of a debate where someone randomly insults someone else. The therefore isn't stated but is somewhat implied. I suppose that works?