Great thread!!! Threads like this are the most important reason why I bother to check in at Mudcat regularly. I am really impressed with the tone of the responses. Judging from other threads, I expected more serious flaming than I got.

As in all matters of taste some people get it and some don't.

The key word is "fun." If the idea of multiple pseudonyms doesn't sound like fun to you, or if you've tried it and you didn't enjoy it, then you don't "get it." But that is NOT, repeat NOT, a criticism of you. It is no more a mark against you than any other matter of sheer taste such as an abhorrence of spinach or a love of single malt scotch.

No, Beanster, it was not a rhetorical question. I was really curious about the phenomenon of multiple psyeudonyms. Once upon a time, I thought I was so different and weird. The older I get the more clearly I see how ordinary I am. I just wondered if my use of multiple pseydonyms was another mark of my ordinariness. But thanks for the correction. I haven't studied psych since I took an intro course decades ago. I really like knowing correct terminology.

As for Callie and bert, no, I am not a troublemaker, Your assumption about my motivation says more about you than me. I was pleased to see that this theme died a quick death.

The question was also a kind of Rorschach test for the denizens of Mudcat. One thing that the exchange makes clear is that there are some very fundamental differences in the participants' perceptions of Mudcat.

For the record, I do NOT participate in Mudcat in order to cultivate deep, significant, personal, meaningful, whatever relationships. I satisfy those needs only in contexts where I can interact face-to-face with people. To be brutally honest, people who attempt to satisfy their need for such relationships at a place like Mudcat make me very nervous. They are exactly the people I hide from behind pseudonyms. To put it bluntly, I am a Mudcat guest because all I want is a mutually enjoyable one-night stand. I don't want a marriage.

Finally, I really liked Bagpuss' comment. It had the potential to take the whole discussion to the next level.