I think that it stems from aphantasia itself. A human mind unable to use mental imagery as a guide or for reflection is to me no different than that of an animal reacting to stimuli -- soulless and thoughtless.
You're right and, crucially, a consequence of this is that they lack a sense of self which is independent from their beliefs. Quoting something I posted :
They are incapable of separating their sense of self, of who they are, from the ideas they currently hold.
The result is that their entire identity is built around what they believe in. In fact, their identity is what they believe in. And vice versa. And so they cannot process or integrate new information which contradicts assumptions they previously made. Because any such information is a direct attack against their very selves. So it just makes them angry, sad, furious, depressed. They cannot bring themselves to consider it. No matter what you show them, or how much evidence piles up.
Consequently, they become people who know little, believe much, and have overly inflated and fragile egos. NPCs, in a nutshell.
Unfortunately, I don't share your optimism about this being fixable. I've never once witnessed an NPC "becoming human" in the sense of acquiring an independent self. I suspect it is genetic; you either have it or you don't. You either know the difference between "I am ..." and "I believe ...", or you don't.
Maybe, maybe, it's something that can be instilled at a very young age. But, even if so, some just have it, without intervention or help, and others don't. Those who grew into adulthood without ever once having an independent thought are a lost cause in any case. Why would you want to salvage them, even if you could? How is that different from pulling niggers out of their mud huts and pretending that makes them just like us?
their entire identity is built around what they believe in. In fact, their identity is what they believe in.
Indeed, they are literally a collection of someone else's thoughts and ideas; a wholly synthetic mind. I've read on some norm forums such as reddit for instance where they have discussed this at length. Many were unaware that such a thing as mental imagery even existed, relegating it to euphemism when they heard it. One user discussed their inability and claimed to have spent months trying to conjure its ability, and succeeding in doing so. The ignorance to and curiosity of the subject alone is pause enough for me to believe that it may be possible for them.
The alternative is to give up and live amongst a mass of thoughtless machines that would kill you all the same as an equal.
I reject giving up.
I'm all for making information available to anyone who has the ability and initiative to consume it. But if you need to routinely hand feed a creature, in order for it to survive, then perhaps it doesn't deserve to.
You mentioned this one user's curiosity... This makes me wonder whether this was just someone who was born with the vision, but who had let it atrophy due to growing up in an environment that is so saturated with "programming", and so critical and dismissive of thought. NPCs generally lack curiosity. Their reaction to the new and unexplained - let alone the contrary or controversial - tends to be a mix of fear, disdain and anxiety. Not excitement or interest. It makes them deeply uncomfortable and they desperately try to get back to whatever feels safe and known. The only new ideas they tend to accept are those which have been pre-digested and pre-approved, hand-delivered in bite-sized pieces via established channels.
It's difficult to imagine how someone with a strong natural sense of curiosity would even wind up as an NPC to begin with. You'd think they would discover these things on their own, if they are indeed discoverable and not inborn.
Another alternative would be to accept this is how they are, or at least that manipulating them in this way is far more effective than attempting to reason with them, and therefore proceed to take advantage of them in a more benign and productive way than their current masters.
If our enemies can program them, so can we.
if you need to routinely hand feed a creature, in order for it to survive, then perhaps it doesn't deserve to.
That poor creature has never even eaten... I don't want to live in that world, and I have the ability to try and change it. What kind of person would I be if I didn't?
Yes, it can atrophy with lack of use, or reliance upon routine patterns and ideas. The point being is that it can be gone and exercised to return.
If our enemies can program them, so can we.
So can they program them back, and they already own all the tools. However, an independent mind cannot be programmed.
My question to you is: Do you believe that there are more 'NPCs' today than in the past? If so, then we can surmise that it is likely that they can be converted.
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