1y ago

Using fMRI scans on 19 lonely fans of “Game of Thrones”, researchers discovered that they processed their favorite characters similarly to real friends in their brains. This suggests that lonelier ...

news.osu.edu For the lonely, a blurred line between real and fictional people

In lonely people, the boundary between real friends and favorite fictional characters gets blurred in the part of the brain that is active when thinking about others, a new study found.Researchers scanned the brains of people who were fans of “Game of Thrones” while they thought about various charac...

Using fMRI scans on 19 lonely fans of “Game of Thrones”, researchers discovered that they processed their favorite characters similarly to real friends in their brains. This suggests that lonelier ...::In lonely people, the boundary between real friends and favorite fictional characters gets blurred in the part of the brain that is active when thinking about others, a new study found.Researchers scanned the brains of people who were fans of “Game of Thrones” while they thought about various characters in the show and about their real frien...

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Game of Thrones is the wrong show for caring about the characters...
- I'd think the constant threat of death would make your care for them stronger.
- Not the last four Seasons, people were invincible.
  
  Well, after killing 90% of the good characters, going forward with the killing wasn't just an option anymore
- Sometimes, I think of all the people that name their kids, Daenerys, and then after the last season realized they made a big mistake.
  
  Idk... it still like the name sounds good and cool. I am a more traditional guy when naming so I wouldn't go for it but still think is a nice name.
  
  Bruh people straight up named their daughters "Khaleesi"
  
  Like Lilith?

Is this the same effect that causes religious people to believe they are in a real relationship with their god?
- Also the same one that makes conservative dipshits believe asshole politicians are on their side.
  
  You just don't know him like I do, man. Soon he'll enact his big plan and fix everything!! He's just waiting until the moment is right to sneak it all past the other side, man!

Years ago there was a guy on reddit who gave up media for a month. He said he got lonely, and would head out to public spaces just to be around people.
- So if we ban social media, people will return to the real world and socialize, rather than wallowing in an online pit of rage and despair?

I believe there’s a subplot in Fahrenheit 451 where the protagonist’s wife becomes lost in a surround-screen fictional show that she talks about as if it were her real social life. This is not some aberration but the intended way for it to be consumed - the characters turn and address her directly throughout the show.

I am not that lonely, but I have imaginary friends who are fictional characters from books and actual people from history. I talk to them in my head when bored, like when folding laundry or driving. I wonder what that would look like in an MRI.
- Look at r/tulpas on reddit (no lemmy community as of now)
- I'd look at online gaming.
  Classic MMORPGs seem like they would be right up this alley.

“My best friend, Ramsey Snow…”

My girl Cersei was just telling me about this the other day. How you have to cut people off before they become real in your mind. Because you know, she and I are the only two people in the world.

MRI for this makes me think more needs to be spent on cancer research. MRIs don't come cheap if at all for people dying of cancer. GoT? never watched any
- You're not wrong, but people also die of behaviors that stem from loneliness. I'd suggest it's not a complete waste to examine.

27 comments