How strong do you think is the influen e of an ego's gender on its behaviour, considering that much of the differences stem different brain chemistries?
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Gender and EP
Fri, 2011-10-21 07:04
#1
Grinder
Gender and EP
Fri, 2011-10-21 13:49
#2
Re-Laborat
Re: Gender and EP
I hope you will excuse me if I invert your question and significantly change its meaning into what I believe is a viable counter-question:
"How strong do you think the influence of a [i]biomorph's[/i] gender is on its [i]ego's[/i] behaviour, considering that [i]many[/i] of the differences stem from different brain chemistries?"
Fri, 2011-10-21 14:40
#3
Smokeskin
Re: Gender and EP
I imagine the sleeving process rewrites the biomorph's brain to resemble the ego. Only if the morph has different hormonal levels would it affect behavior. The discussion of what this would entail unfortunately typically ends with accusations of chauvanism
Fri, 2011-10-21 17:40
#4
fafromnice
Re: Gender and EP
and what happen in synth ?
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What do you mean a butterfly cause this ? How a butterfly can cause an enviromental system overload on the other side of a 10 000 egos habitat ?
Fri, 2011-10-21 17:45
#5
Arenamontanus
Re: Gender and EP
Well, that testosterone increases willingness to take risks and aggression/assertiveness but reduces looking at faces (and hence likely empathy) is supported by a number of published studies - nothing chauvinist about it, especially since the effects can be fairly detrimental. Oxytocin seems to have the opposite effect on empathy, but it is unclear whether gender variations can produce a difference since it might need to be oxytocin inside the brain rather than in the bloodstream.
I have a feeling EP assumes the ego is not the whole brain state, and that some deep systems remain that can carry over addictions or other traits. I think this is a mistake, but it would certainly be fun if characters could have their personalities or sexual preferences changed by sleeving. Might get them even more hooked on synthmorphs.
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Fri, 2011-10-21 18:14
#6
Madwand
Re: Gender and EP
If you assume that sleeving in different biomorphs can change personalities or orientation (which I would), this allows for a similar possibility in synthmorphs. Simply adjust the simulated brain chemistry/appropriate biological structures and you could easily adjust personalities etc. without psychosurgery. Seems like a logical extension of EP technology to me.
Most vat-grown biomorphs are probably engineered to have a minimal influence on the ego. "Guaranteed not to change your personality or orientation!", etc. Still, many WILL influence the ego that way.
Fri, 2011-10-21 18:32
#7
Re-Laborat
Re: Gender and EP
Given that addiction in the game system can be taken as either a morph or an ego trait, I'd say your feeling is pretty on target.
I do also find the idea of a 'clean' morph (one which doesn't have gender-or-other brain chemistry balances but strives for neutrality) a curious one. Makes one wonder about things like the Fury, though...
Okay, MANY things make one wonder about the Fury.
Fri, 2011-10-21 18:43
#8
Madwand
Re: Gender and EP
I imagine the Fury is a model that is specifically tweaked for discipline, willingness to follow orders, and anti-psychotic tendencies. Apparently this is easier to do when the mind has less testosterone in it. Libido may be suppressed as well. It's debatable whether any of this is backed up by science, but that's the way it works in Eclipse Phase at least and it's enough for me to suspend my disbelief.
Sat, 2011-10-22 03:05
#9
Smokeskin
Re: Gender and EP
There you go, implying women are afraid of making tough decisions and are easily dominated ;)
I don't think data can be chauvinistic under any circumstance either, but there's a lot of people who feel differently. Racial and gender differences are minefields that few people are willing to discuss rationally.
Sat, 2011-10-22 03:11
#10
Smokeskin
Re: Gender and EP
Yeah EP assumes that. Look at the fury morph entry, which modifies behavior significantly.
It makes you wonder what parts of the brain the sleeving process actually rewire. And if you upload from say a fury morph, does the morph's effects on your behavior carry over?
Sat, 2011-10-22 03:15
#11
Smokeskin
Re: Gender and EP
Many would probably want morphs that modify personality. "This morph doesn't just boost your cognitive abilities, it is also tweaked for a positive outlook, acceptance of changes, higher energy levels and greater enjoyment of sex!"
Sat, 2011-10-22 11:08
#12
Axel the Chimeric
Re: Gender and EP
Sexual preferences aren't exactly easy to nail down. After all, we're still not really sure what causes people to be gay (though the difference in brain-structure that is noted does, perhaps, offer some hints). It's entirely possible that changing the hormone input might cause a rewriting of the brain and of preferences, or the sudden loss of the usual hormones might simply leave the brain deprived and have an effect similar to chemical castration.
At the same time, the core book does include mention of "patches" that help people adjust to resleeving, which no doubt include certain amounts of overwriting. While I imagine it's not exactly necessary, many clinics likely offer an ability to choose your sexual "responses" in your new body (hetero-, bi-, homo-, or asexual). This would amount to some degree of psychosurgery, but I'd imagine it'd be far less risky than traditional psychosurgery and much more likely to keep.
So, for all practical purposes, I'd just say "They get to choose it" and move on, unless they're in a rush or getting a black market body or something.
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Sun, 2011-10-23 02:21
#13
Kyorou
Re: Gender and EP
Well, in a transhuman future, I expect people to have a choice regarding their sexual orientation.
Of course, the remaining religious fundies then get to say that the gay 'chose to be gay'...
Sun, 2011-10-23 02:39
#14
Madwand
Re: Gender and EP
Note that some useful house rules on this topic were posted on the Path of Totality:
http://www.aleph.se/EclipsePhase/Neural%20hacking.pdf