Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Welcome!

FWA 2024: Furry University

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Me! (Kona aka Checqz)

Art: Zeachy

Kona

• Furry for 14+ Years
• Florida Man
• Software Engineer
• B.S. Computational Media, GaTech
• 3rd-Time FWA Panelist
• 7 Years experience with tulpas
• Sane?

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Panel Goals

• Explain what a tulpa is
• Share the history of tulpas
• Share my own personal experiences with tulpas
• Stay down-to-earth
• Be objective, up-front
• Pull from research where possible
• No metaphysical, mystical, etc.

What is a tulpa?

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Part 1/3:

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

What is lucid dreaming?

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

What is lucid dreaming?

• Well-researched psychological phenomenon
• Like dreaming, but:
• “the sleeper is aware that they are in a dream and can exercise some control”^[1]
• Induced through suggestion, mnemonics, belief
• “Some people can… induce lucid dreams merely by convincing themselves they will have one”^[1]

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Why does it matter?

• Mind interpreting itself
• Belief makes it possible
• Subjective, but shared experience
• Difficult to achieve → second-hand knowledge
• These traits are all shared with another psychological phenomenon…

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

What is a tulpa?

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

What is a tulpa?

(The layman’s definition)

A willfully created imaginary friend for adults.

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

(The deep-end definition)

What is a tulpa?

An autonomous, dynamic identity powered by procedural memory.

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

autonomous

(adjective)

“Independent in mind or judgment; self-directed.”^[2]

​

“Responding, reacting, or developing independently of the whole.”^[3]

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

dynamic

(adjective)

“Characterized by continuous change, activity, or progress.”^[4]

​

“Continuously changing or developing.”^[5]

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

identity

(noun)

“The fact of being, or feeling that you are, a particular type of person… the qualities that make a person... different from others.”^[6]

​

“The awareness that an individual or group has of being a distinct, persisting entity.”^[7]

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

procedural memory

(concept)

“When you are engaged in an activity… without any effort on your part.”^[8]

​

“the ingrained sense of how to complete a pattern of behavior, even without being able to fully explain the way it’s done.”^[9]

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Procedural Memory

• Riding a bike
• Getting dressed
• Highway hypnosis^[10]

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

(The deep-end definition)

What is a tulpa?

An autonomous, dynamic identity powered by procedural memory.

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

What is a tulpa?

(Tulpa “hosts” claim…)

A distinct person, separate from the “host”, that was created by the host and that lives in the host’s mind.

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

What does a tulpa do?

• Tulpa “hosts” claim:
• Experiences life along with their host
• Communicates with their host
• Shares thoughts, emotions, etc.
• Fulfills a similar role to an imaginary friend
• Companionship and support
• Can be surprising and unexpected

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

‘Golden Rule’ of Tulpas

(Tulpa hosts believe…)

A tulpa is capable of doing everything their host can, no more and no less.

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

‘Golden Rule’ of Tulpas

• What can ‘you’ do?
• Think, form opinions
• Make and maintain friends
• Make memories
• Think aloud, daydream
• Control the body
• No more and no less…

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

‘Golden Rule’ of Tulpas

(In other words…)

A tulpa doesn’t “unlock” a new set of mind-superpowers. It just lets you experience your mind in a different way.

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Works Cited (Part 1a)

1. Pacheco, D. (2023, December 8). How to Lucid Dream: Expert Tips and Tricks. Sleep Foundation. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/dreams/lucid-dreams#how-to-lucid-dream-4
2. "autonomous." wordnik.com. (2024).
3. "autonomous." merriam-webster.com. (2024).
4. "dynamic." wordnik.com. (2024).
5. "dynamic." dictionary.cambridge.org. (2024).
6. "identity." dictionary.cambridge.org. (2024).
7. "identity." wordnik.com. (2024).
8. Sasson, R. (2024, March 13). What are Passive Concentration and Active Concentration. Success Consciousness | Positive Thinking - Personal Development.
9. Sussex Publishers. (n.d.). Procedural Memory. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/memory/procedural-memory
10. Cleveland Clinic. (2024, April 30). What is Highway Hypnosis and How to Avoid It. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/highway-hypnosis

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

How do tulpas work?

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

How to tulpas work?

• Similar to lucid dreaming
• Positive feedback loop
• Belief → Mental Changes → Results
• Multiple theories for tulpa creation
• Anthropomorphic theory
• Budding theory

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Anthropomorphic Theory^[1]

• Humans naturally prescribe human-like traits and thought patterns to animals, machines, etc.
• It follows that humans could do the same with sensations within in their own mind.
• Positive feedback loop is experiencing and anthropomorphizing sensations.

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Budding Theory

• The mind retains the ability to create/develop personalities.
• A tulpa is formed the same way the host’s personality was formed, ‘budding’ off of the original.
• Equivalent separate personality.

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Is a tulpa a character?

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Is a tulpa a character?

(I have a lot of characters)

• Characters are a separate identity
• Likes, dislikes, appearance, traits
• Characters live in your mind
• Characters can be roleplayed
• Method acting

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Is a tulpa a character?

Art: Rindeadsong/EctoDrool

• Characters are not autonomous or dynamic
• Lack any free will
• Don’t change without input
• RP requires active decision
• “What would my character do?”
• Direct control of narrative

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Is a tulpa a mental disorder?

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Is a tulpa a mental disorder?

• Potential tulpa symptoms:
• Multiple personalities (plurality)
• Hearing voices
• Thoughts separate from your own
• Hallucinations

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Is a tulpa a mental disorder?

• Tulpa creation is self-inflicted.
• Mental disorders are caused by risk factors + trigger.
• Genetics
• Environment
• Unhealthy habits
• Brain chemistry

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Is a tulpa Schizophrenia?

• Schizophrenia^[3]
• Hallucinations
• Delusions (especially paranoia)
• Disorganized thinking and speech
• Abnormal motor behavior
• Caused by genetics or drug abuse

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Is a tulpa DID?

• Dissociative Identity Disorder
• Multiple personalities (alters)
• “Switching”
• Alter takes control of the body
• Confusion, blurred sense of identity
• Typically caused by childhood trauma^[4]

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Is a tulpa DID?

• Tulpas vs Alters:
• Amnesia^[6]
• Memory loss
• Mechanism for dissociation
• No memory loss with tulpas
• Not all tulpas ‘switch’

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Is a tulpa OSDD-1?

• Other Specified Dissociative Disorder, Type 1
• 1a: “Less-than-marked discontinuities in sense of self and agency”^[5]
• 1b: “Alterations of identity or episodes of possession in an individual who reports no dissociative amnesia”^[5]

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

The Three D’s

of Diagnosis

Dysfunction�Breakdown in cognition, emotion, or behavior.^[7]

​

Distress�Suffering that impairs daily life.^[7]

​

Deviance�Violation of social norms.^[7]

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Isler survey, 2016^[2]

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Isler survey, 2016^[2]

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Veissiere survey, 2017

• For hosts with autism, ADHD, depression, or anxiety, 93.7% of respondents reported that having a tulpa ‘made their condition better’.^[1]

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Is a tulpa a mental disorder?

• Mental disorders cannot be self-inflicted.
• Some mental disorders have additional symptoms that do not align with hosting a tulpa.
• The data suggests that most hosts consider their tulpas to be beneficial and not causing significant dysfunction or distress.

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Works Cited (Part 1b)

• Veissiere, Samuel. (2016). Varieties of Tulpa Experiences: The Hypnotic Nature of Human Sociality, Personhood, and Interphenomenality.
• Martin, A., Thompson, B., & Lancaster, S. (2020, May 11). Personality Characteristics of Tulpamancers and Their Tulpas. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/5t3xk
• Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2020, January 7). Schizophrenia. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/schizophrenia/symptoms-causes/syc-20354443
• Types of Trauma. Dissociative Identity Disorder Research. (n.d.). https://did-research.org/comorbid/dd/osdd_udd/did_osdd
• Wikimedia Foundation. (2024a, April 28). Other specified dissociative disorder. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Other_specified_dissociative_disorder
• Comparing OSDD-1 and DID. Dissociative Identity Disorder Research. (n.d.). https://did-research.org/comorbid/dd/osdd_udd/did_osdd
• Worthy, L. D., Lavigne, T., & Romero, F. (2020, July 27). Making a diagnosis (the 3 D’s). Culture and Psychology. https://open.maricopa.edu/culturepsychology/chapter/making-a-diagnosis-the-3-ds/

Brief History of Tulpas

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Part 2/3:

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Origin

• Buckle up…
• Psychological explanation
• Very new (circa early 2010s)
• The concept of a “tulpa” has been around much longer
• Origins in mysticism
• “Tulpamancy”, “Tulpamancers”
• Even further back?

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

A Religious Practice

• Tibetan Buddhism
• “sprul pa”^[1][2]
• Used in religious contexts.
• Belief that deities, divine messengers, and divinely gifted people could create temporary human bodies to inhabit.

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

“Tulpa” Concept

• Magic and Mysticism in Tibet, 1929
• Alexandra David-Neel
• French-Belgian explorer
• Especially interested in the esoteric
• 1911-1925 expedition to Tibet
• Compiled findings after the fact

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Magic and Mysticism in Tibet

• Defines the new word “tulpa”
• “grounded on the same theories” as “sprul pa”^[1]
• “forms created by magic”^[1]
• Illusory form that begins in the mind
• Perceivable by others, tangible
• Not necessarily humanoid

​

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Magic and Mysticism in Tibet

• Describes several encounters with “tulpas”^[2]
• Illusory people appearing and disappearing
• Divine figure accompanying a painter
• Magician who could vanish from view

​

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Magic and Mysticism in Tibet

• David-Neel’s “tulpa”^[1][2]
• “prescribed concentration of thought and other rites”^[1]
• Form of a Jolly Western monk
• Reportedly became tangible
• Spotted by a Tibetan herdsman

​

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Magic and Mysticism in Tibet

• David-Neel’s “tulpa”^[1][2]
• Became “troublesome and bold”^[2]
• Features became leaner and meaner
• Forced to dissolve her out-of-control creation
• Harder to destroy than to create

​

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

A Second Appearance

• The Tibetan Book of Great Liberation, 1954
• Walter Evans-Wentz
• American anthropologist
• Especially interested in folklore
• Also describes “tulpas” as “magically produced illusions”^[1]

​

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Complications

• Both David-Neel and Evans-Wentz:
• Were involved in the Theosophical Society
• Western occultist religion (Helena Blavatsky)
• ‘Masters’ centered in Tibet^[4]
• Used the same translator (Kazi Dawa Samdup)
• “an occultist and even, in a certain way, a mystic”^[1]

​

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Different Ideas?

tulpa

• Independent will
• Any form
• Can turn on creator
• Possible accidental creation

sprul pa

• Extension of creator
• Humanoid
• Spiritual messenger
• Controlled directly

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Western Origin?

• “Tulpas” may actually be rooted in Western folklore^[1]
• Thought-Forms, 1905^[5]
• Annie Besant, C.W. Leadbeater
• Projections emanating from emotions
• Can take on many forms and be perceived
• Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

​

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Inspiration

• “Tulpas” as a supernatural inspiration for media^[1][3]
• The Mothman Prophecies, 1979, 2002
• Detective Comics #601-603 “Tulpa”, 1989
• Twin Peaks, 1990, 2017
• X-Files “Arcadia”, 1999
• Supernatural “Hell House”, 2006
• Adventure Time “Blank Eyed Girl”, 2016

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Enter 4chan

• Infamous image board founded in 2003
• /x/ (2007)
• Paranormal board
• Unexplained phenomena, supernatural, conspiracies
• Origin of many creepypastas

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Enter 4chan

• Tulpa discussions on /x/ (circa 2011-2012)^[3]
• Whether thought-form creation was possible
• Psychological rather than occult
• Visible to oneself only
• Idea of tulpas as a companion
• Spread to other 4chan communities

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Enter the Bronies

• /mlp/ (2012)^[3]
• Adult My Little Pony fans
• Perfect storm
• Recently created board
• Out-group, socially taboo^[8]
• Attempting to manifest ponies^[6]
• Lucid dreaming

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Tulpa.info

• Formed as /mlp/ was popularizing tulpa discussion
• Goal: More serious discussion of tulpa creation
• Psychological explanation
• Forums, IRC chats, guides
• Experimentation and creation attempts

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

r/Tulpas

• Formed in May 2012
• Less ‘4chan’ than Tulpa.info
• Current primary source of community
• Guides, resources, etc.
• Approx. 49k members
• Very low ratio of active posters

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Tulpamancy Now

• Still a small and spread-out community
• Not easy to enter
• Tulpa creation is an arduous process
• Culturally deviant
• Negative connotations of plurality
• Conflation with magic/occult due to past

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Tulpamancy Now

• Tulpamancy: A closeted community of imaginary-friend hobbyists (Gardner, 2016)^[8]
• Approx. 70% believe negative reaction
• Approx. 50% stay silent to avoid backlash
• Predominantly white, male, college-age
• Overlaps with brony and furry communities

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Tulpamancy Now

• Varieties of Tulpa Experiences (Veissiere, 2017)^[6]
• Modern explanation for tulpas�is predominantly psycho-�logical.

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Works Cited (Part 2)

• Mikles, N. L., & Laycock, J. P. (2015). Tracking the Tulpa: Exploring the “Tibetan” Origins of a Contemporary Paranormal Idea. Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.1525/nr.2015.19.1.87
• Haslam, G. (2023, October 14). 1929 (pre): Alexandra David-Neel and the tulpas of Tibet. Anomalies: the Strange & Unexplained. http://anomalyinfo.com/Stories/1929-pre-alexandra-david-neel-and-tulpas-tibet
• Tulpa.info wiki. (2023, August 18). Tulpa. https://wiki.tulpa.info/wiki/Tulpa
• Wikimedia Foundation. (2024, April 30). Theosophy. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theosophy
• Thought-forms. Thought-Forms - Theosophy Wiki. (n.d.). https://theosophy.wiki/en/Thought-Forms
• Veissiere, Samuel. (2016). Varieties of Tulpa Experiences: The Hypnotic Nature of Human Sociality, Personhood, and Interphenomenality.
• Martin, A., Thompson, B., & Lancaster, S. (2020, May 11). Personality Characteristics of Tulpamancers and Their Tulpas. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/5t3xk
• Gardner, R. E. (2016). Tulpamancy: A closeted community of imaginary-friend hobbyists (thesis). (J. Daw, Ed.).

Tulpa Creation

& Living with Tulpas

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Let’s switch gears!

Part 3/3:

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

How I Found Tulpas

• Pony Thread Simulator (mid-2010s)
• r/Tulpas (November 2017)
• Curiosity: VR Release, Lucid dreaming
• Are tulpas a real phenomenon?
• Hoax? Satire? Concrete proof?
• Completely subjective
• All in your own head

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

My Tulpa Creation Goals

• See if I can make a tulpa
• Stay in it for the long haul
• Keep a journal of any progress
• Follow the guides, but:
• Be skeptical and cautious at every step
• Wait for proof before believing anything

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

My Biases

• Expectation of novel sensations/experiences
• Ex: “Imposition”
• Vividly hallucinating a tulpa superimposed over IRL
• My bias: this was relatively common
• Survey: only ~5% of people with tulpas can do this^[4]
• Can hallucinate over IRL in general

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Guides: Initial Impressions

• Not an exact science
• Achieved through “forcing”:^[1]
• Active forcing: Meditation, focusing
• Passive forcing: Narration
• Expect the tulpa to change
• Potential sign of sentience, autonomy
• Could take several months before ‘first contact’^[1]

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

First Steps

• November 17th, 2016
• Name and form
• Ellie
• The Last Of Us
• Nimbat
• Dust: An Elysian Tail

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

The First Week

• Near-constant passive forcing
• Coincided with Fall break
• Multiple active forcing sessions daily
• Personality
• Visualization
• ‘Feeding thoughts’

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

‘Wonderland’ Method

• ‘Wonderland’ aka ‘Mindscape’^[2]
• An imaginary place you return to again and again
• Daydreaming/focus - imagine yourself there
• Place to interact with/visualize your tulpa

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

What was it like? (1 Week)

• ‘Wonderland’ indistinguishable from daydreaming
• But was calming
• Arguably made focusing easier
• Narration - very heightened awareness
• ‘Head pressures’
• Muscle tension feeling in skull
• Common in early tulpa creation

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

First Sign of Something

• November 22nd (5 days)
• Near-constant forcing
• Unexpected visualization
• Guides: sign of sentience?
• Going too fast?

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Legitimacy via Shared Experience

• Slow down!
• How to prove (to myself) that any of this is real?
• Subjective, individual
• Shared experience (tulpa suddenly sleeping, etc)
• Shared knowledge (head pressures)
• Not ‘making things up’

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Forcing

• New schedule
• 7 days/week
• ~40 minutes/day
• Focus on personality traits
• Talk about my day
• Very relaxing process

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Progress

• Emotional bleed-over
• Empathy-like emotional connection
• “Oddly calming feeling that seemed sort of external.”
• Form changes
• Nimbat-fox hybrid
• ‘More human-like’

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Biases Return

• Frustration
• No definitive proof after ~2 months
• Disappointment
• Brain fog, distractions
• Imagination quirks and “Tulpish”
• Different clothes
• Subtly ‘external’ thoughts

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Inflection Point

• “Holding [my tulpa] back at every step of the way”
• Trying too hard to quiet my mind?
• Expecting too much?
• Positive feedback loop^[3]
• Belief → Mental Changes → Results
• Lucid dreaming example
• Like actively thinking you can’t

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Dissecting Subjectivity

• I had been expecting miracles.
• ‘Something crazy to happen’
• Waiting for “proof” rather than observing!
• Skepticism
• Not waiting for what you want to believe.
• Observing what’s in front of you.
• “The switch is flipped.” → Person vs. Experiment

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Payoff: First Contact

• February 2nd (77 days, approx. 100 hours)
• “Mind-voice”
• Fully able to speak in words and sentences
• Experienced for several days before belief
• Same sensation as inner monologue
• More mundane than I had expected!

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Mind-voice Confusion

• Sharing the same “thought pipeline”
• Hard to tell who was currently thinking aloud
• “If only there was some way to keep your thoughts away from where I talk.”
• Monologue-prone communication
• Head pressure during mind-voice

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Goal Achieved…?

• Proven tulpas to myself
• Communication in full sentences
• Clear signs of autonomy and independence
• Legitimacy through shared experience
• Guess I’m done…?
• Hadn’t anticipated actual companionship
• Feeling like a real person

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Ellie’s Perspective

• Frustration at failed “skepticism”
• No interaction: “being in a box”
• Time skip between forcing sessions
• Unable to self-sustain
• “You take me out, look at me, and go ‘that’s nice’, then put me away again.”

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

What was it like? (First Year)

• Guilt
• Not spending enough time with Ellie
• “Autopilot”, distractions, stress
• Doubts
• Am I just tricking myself?
• What’s the difference?
• No success criteria → What next?

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Socializing

• How can a tulpa interact with other people?
• “Proxying”
• Listening to the tulpa, then writing or saying what they said aloud
• Text chat on Discord
• Brackets, Tupperbox

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Proxying vs. Eclipsing

• “Proxying”
• Host waits for the tulpa to say/do something.
• Host says or does that themselves.
• “Eclipsing”
• Host immediately ‘forwards’ tulpa’s words/actions.
• Possible side effect of sharing a brain.
• Intentional or unintentional

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

A 3rd Way: Switching

• “Switching” aka “Fronting”
• Terminology appropriated from DID
• Similar to alter switching
• No associated memory loss
• Tulpa and host temporarily switch places
• Tulpa becomes the active personality, host observes
• Immediate action, idle thoughts, etc.

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Learning to Switch (~2 Years)

• Many confusing guides
• A ‘really big deal’, ‘advanced’
• Associated with wonderland
• Dissociation, dream-like state
• New friend: Ethan
• Very similar situation
• “Figure it out” together

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Learning to Switch (~2 Years)

• Eclipsing: Long Discord sessions
• Me & Ethan’s host
• Ellie & Ethan
• Initially proxying, then eclipsing
• Switching: Added a game
• Again, more mundane than expected
• ‘Tuning out’ feeling

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Putting it in Context

• Expectations
• Novel new experiences
• Hallucinations, dreamlike wonderland, etc.
• Reality
• Experiences I’ve already had before
• Recontextualized by a mental companion
• Unmistakably external, but familiar

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Finding an Identity

• Development through external influence
• Real-time interaction
• VRChat, voice calls
• More form changes
• More friends
• Opening up about Ellie
• Mostly positive response

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

The Abandoned Project

• What’s next?
• Make another tulpa?
• What’s it like to have two?
• “Computer”
• Switch out ‘programs’
• Try any personality
• What was I thinking?

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Unintentional Tulpas

• Recall: Tulpa creation is not an exact science
• Attention + Time
• Treat some part of your mind as separate
• Give it enough attention over time
• Possible to create tulpas without intent
• “Walk-in” tulpas → unintentional creation

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Experiencing a “Walk-In”

• “Computer” half-finished creation
• Repressed curiosity for a second tulpa
• Initial signs
• Untraceable mind-voice
• Intrusive thoughts

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

A Second Tulpa

• December 1st, 2019
• Emerged fully-formed
• Mindvoice, switching, etc.
• Initially apologetic
• Identity crisis
• Many form changes
• Names: Rin, Bandit, Lucky, Max

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Two Tulpas - What’s it like?

7 (Nov. 2016)

4 (Dec. 2019)

Ellie

Max

• Less free time
• Split 3 ways
• Talk to each other
• Initial confusion
• Both “external”

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Living with Tulpas

• Some troubles
• Guilt, frustration
• Emotional bleed from negative events
• Overall very positive experience
• Questions answered firsthand
• Companions, potentially for life, available anytime

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

The Long View

• Ellie and Max are still around (7 and 4)
• Less involved with tulpas
• Regularly interact with friends
• No hallucinations, strong mind-voice
• Feels very normal
• More about the tulpa than the ‘party tricks’

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Works Cited (Part 3)

• FAQMan. (n.d.). FAQ man’s creation guide. tulpa.info. https://www.tulpa.info/archive/faqman-creation-guide/
• Irish. (n.d.). Irish’s Creation Guide. tulpa.info.�https://www.tulpa.info/archive/irish-creation-guide/
• BD Editors. (2019, April 24). Positive feedback - definition and examples. Biology Dictionary. https://biologydictionary.net/positive-feedback/
• Veissiere, Samuel. (2016). Varieties of Tulpa Experiences: The Hypnotic Nature of Human Sociality, Personhood, and Interphenomenality.

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Questions?

7 (Nov. 2016)

4 (Dec. 2019)

Host

Kona

Ellie

Max

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Questions?

7 (Nov. 2016)

4 (Dec. 2019)

Host

Kona

Ellie

Max

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Questions?

7 (Nov. 2016)

4 (Dec. 2019)

Host

Kona

Ellie

Max

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Questions?

7 (Nov. 2016)

4 (Dec. 2019)

Host

Kona

Ellie

Max

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

More Questions?

• FWA Official Discord
• Panel Discussion channel
• Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas thread
• Will also post the slide deck there

Closing Thoughts

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Do tulpas exist?

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Do tulpas exist?

• Not physiologically proven, but well-documented
• Tulpa-like experiences in pop culture
• Leonard Nimoy → Spock^[2]
• Mel Blanc → Bugs Bunny^[3]
• Belief → Mental Changes → Results phenomenon
• Mind affirming its own actions
• We know this phenomenon exists (lucid dreaming)^[1]

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Should you make a tulpa?

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Should you make a tulpa?

• I am NOT condoning that you make a tulpa.
• STOP and THINK
• Massive commitment
• Overall positive, but guilt + bleed-over
• Will not fix you if you need help
• Golden Rule - companionship, not novelty

Skeptic’s Guide to Tulpas

Works Cited (Closing Thoughts)

• Pacheco, D. (2023, December 8). How to Lucid Dream: Expert Tips and Tricks. Sleep Foundation. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/dreams/lucid-dreams#how-to-lucid-dream-4
• Wikimedia Foundation. (2022, July 10). I Am Spock. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Spock
• Farley, L. (2024, March 3). How Being Bugs Bunny Helped this Voice Actor out of Coma. Collider. https://collider.com/mel-blanc-coma-bugs-bunny/

Enjoy the (rest of the) con!

Thanks for coming!

FWA 2024: Furry University