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Page 31
Volume 3
Psychology 2019
July 31-August 01, 2019
Journal of Clinical Psychology and Cognitive Science
July 31-August 01, 2019 | Amsterdam, Netherlands
PSYCHOLOGY AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE
22
nd
World Congress on
Clin Psychol Cog Sci, Volume 3
Suffering and multiple selves theory
Lan Luo
Yale University, USA
T
his paper seeks to integrate perspectives from psychology, cognitive science, and behavioral economics to address
how multiple selves theory relates to the science of pleasure. Drawing attention to one’s different selves can affect the
experience of suffering, and more importantly, how and why someone may gain pleasure from pain. For instance, pain serves
as a psychological anchor, emphasizing the awareness of one’s current self. This physical suffering may dissolve away the
concerns of the future self, leaving the current self both intact and salient. However, under certain conditions, the current self can
dematerialize in response to pain. This destruction of self creates an empty vessel of a human being, which can be filled with a
new identity in extraordinary circumstances. Even without the complete destruction of self, reduced higher-level awareness could
provide the current self with the possibility of seeking out entirely new abstract, conceptual representations. The author ends by
proposing three precursors, which outline when such transformative experiences may occur.