Author: Rita Carter
Publishing Date: April 2008
Publisher: Little Brown
ISBN: 0-316-11538-x
Price: $24.99
Have you ever lost track of time or thought that you were shy but every one else says that you are not? Have you ever made the statement, “I don’t know what got into me” or “I was somebody else back then?” If so, then you are witnessing MULTIPLICITY, according to the new science of personality. In fact, the main subject discussed in this book is that we all have multiple personalities albeit— not necessarily a disorder but the way nature intended things to be. Author, Rita Carter, calls this phenomena human plurality which is to say that psychologically, we are not individuals but a community of personalities in an individual body. If this is so, then we are definitely in trouble of finding ourselves in disunity with our neighbors, i.e. other personalities within our bodies.
Imagine, if you will, awakening to find that another personality that lives inside of you. Lets say the fighter in you (although it can easily be the promiscuous person or the gullible person inside of you) has done something that causes the rest of your personalities; the father or the mother, the giver and/or the helper to suffer. The way our current society thinks, there is one body and one person within. We will quickly find that we have gotten ourselves into trouble with absolutely no way for the other personalities to plead their cases. In fact, the entire community of people (personalities) may be punished for the acts of one personality within our psyche.
For many decades we have seen criminals tried for this offense and a great deal of them say that they do not know what got into them. According to the new science, it’s not so much what got into them, but what was inside of them all the while. There is a community of personalities better known as multiple personalities. Many of us are under the impression that multiple personality automatically means disorder but Multiple Personality Disorder is when the personalities become so dominant that the others can’t stop its actions. This disorder could be as simple as obsession with cleanliness to murderous tendencies.
However, we have all said at one time or another that we cannot account for our actions or that we do not know why we were thinking the way we were. So, could we truly be going along for the ride of each personality within us? Well, before you get upset, it may be a relief to know that the only time you are in danger of suffering from the misgivings of some other personality living inside of you is if you have a multiple personality disorder. If you have a healthy but very outward case of multiple personality or human plurality each personality is likely to be relative to the rest of the community, and therefore not so different that the life choices made by each personality are totally opposite each other.
The concept reminds me of George Gurdjieff who explained that we have no permanent and unchangeable "I".
"Each minute, each moment, man is saying or thinking 'I.' And each time his I is different. Just now it was a thought, now it is a desire, now a sensation, now another thought, and so on, endlessly. Man is a plurality. Man's name is legion," says Gurdjieff.
George Gurdjieff took some of his ideas from Buddhist and Sufi psychology which teaches that there is no stable essence, no individual "I". Instead, traditional Buddhists divide the self into skandas which are heaps that are composed of shifting thoughts and awareness. Sufis divide the many stages of self into what they call nefs. What makes the difference between the old and the new science of personality is that instead of saying that there is no “I” but rather a conglomeration of thoughts and desires, Multiplicity is saying that there are many “I’s” within one body. However, like one of Gurdjieff’s disciples, Oscar Ichazo, Rita Carter has a personality wheel.
What makes the book helpful is that the first half takes the time to inform us of the situation which can be very enlightening to many people. Let’s think about it: you have more than one personality and most likely each one has some skill in handling anything that you are faced with, now all you have to do is get to them so that you can turn them on whenever you need them. In the second half of the book, there is the personality wheel and instructions on how to get to know you in a whole new way. Below are both Oscar Ichazo’s personality chart and Rita Carter’s personality chart.
Personality Chart
Publishing Date: April 2008
Publisher: Little Brown
ISBN: 0-316-11538-x
Price: $24.99
Have you ever lost track of time or thought that you were shy but every one else says that you are not? Have you ever made the statement, “I don’t know what got into me” or “I was somebody else back then?” If so, then you are witnessing MULTIPLICITY, according to the new science of personality. In fact, the main subject discussed in this book is that we all have multiple personalities albeit— not necessarily a disorder but the way nature intended things to be. Author, Rita Carter, calls this phenomena human plurality which is to say that psychologically, we are not individuals but a community of personalities in an individual body. If this is so, then we are definitely in trouble of finding ourselves in disunity with our neighbors, i.e. other personalities within our bodies.
Imagine, if you will, awakening to find that another personality that lives inside of you. Lets say the fighter in you (although it can easily be the promiscuous person or the gullible person inside of you) has done something that causes the rest of your personalities; the father or the mother, the giver and/or the helper to suffer. The way our current society thinks, there is one body and one person within. We will quickly find that we have gotten ourselves into trouble with absolutely no way for the other personalities to plead their cases. In fact, the entire community of people (personalities) may be punished for the acts of one personality within our psyche.
For many decades we have seen criminals tried for this offense and a great deal of them say that they do not know what got into them. According to the new science, it’s not so much what got into them, but what was inside of them all the while. There is a community of personalities better known as multiple personalities. Many of us are under the impression that multiple personality automatically means disorder but Multiple Personality Disorder is when the personalities become so dominant that the others can’t stop its actions. This disorder could be as simple as obsession with cleanliness to murderous tendencies.
However, we have all said at one time or another that we cannot account for our actions or that we do not know why we were thinking the way we were. So, could we truly be going along for the ride of each personality within us? Well, before you get upset, it may be a relief to know that the only time you are in danger of suffering from the misgivings of some other personality living inside of you is if you have a multiple personality disorder. If you have a healthy but very outward case of multiple personality or human plurality each personality is likely to be relative to the rest of the community, and therefore not so different that the life choices made by each personality are totally opposite each other.
The concept reminds me of George Gurdjieff who explained that we have no permanent and unchangeable "I".
"Each minute, each moment, man is saying or thinking 'I.' And each time his I is different. Just now it was a thought, now it is a desire, now a sensation, now another thought, and so on, endlessly. Man is a plurality. Man's name is legion," says Gurdjieff.
George Gurdjieff took some of his ideas from Buddhist and Sufi psychology which teaches that there is no stable essence, no individual "I". Instead, traditional Buddhists divide the self into skandas which are heaps that are composed of shifting thoughts and awareness. Sufis divide the many stages of self into what they call nefs. What makes the difference between the old and the new science of personality is that instead of saying that there is no “I” but rather a conglomeration of thoughts and desires, Multiplicity is saying that there are many “I’s” within one body. However, like one of Gurdjieff’s disciples, Oscar Ichazo, Rita Carter has a personality wheel.
What makes the book helpful is that the first half takes the time to inform us of the situation which can be very enlightening to many people. Let’s think about it: you have more than one personality and most likely each one has some skill in handling anything that you are faced with, now all you have to do is get to them so that you can turn them on whenever you need them. In the second half of the book, there is the personality wheel and instructions on how to get to know you in a whole new way. Below are both Oscar Ichazo’s personality chart and Rita Carter’s personality chart.
Personality Chart
Rita Carter
Open-minded
Conservative
Extrovert
Introvert
Stable
Uptight
Agreeable
Open-minded
Conservative
Extrovert
Introvert
Stable
Uptight
Agreeable
Disagreeable
Conscientious
Careless
Careless
Oscar Ichazo
Perfectionist
Giver
Performer
Romantic
Observer
Trooper
Epicure
Boss
Mediator
Boss
Mediator
Multiplicity is a must read, it goes great with difficult times like these because if what Ms. Carter says is true, then we all should be contacting the personalities within us that are strong enough to hold on and ride the wave of the current economic situation that we find ourselves in. For those who are unaware of the many people living inside of you, it makes for informative and useful knowledge to anyone whom may be interested in or in need of a better understanding of the human psyche. Imagine never having to be alone again.
Aalim Elitou-reviewer
Copyright 2008
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