I wondered about that myself-- if there even was such a thing as the switch, or if they were basically all just confused by having a whole new set of not-particularly-human impulses and instincts dumped into them, but I really don't think that will answer, by itself. (It may certainly contribute, though. I'd be shocked if it didn't.)
That persistent description of a *switch*, and especially Damon's characterization to Alaric of it being "like a button you can press" just sounds so much like they're describing an experience more artificial than just denial and self-indulgence.
I myself am really getting fed up with the persistent use of "humanity" as a descriptor for "decency" in fantasy fiction; it crops up all the time, and it drives me batty. In TVD, it appears that when they say "humanity" they claim to mean "having the emotional capacity of a human", but that doesn't really make any sense. I mean, Damon kills Jeremy, and the characters say "he's lost his humanity". As though lashing out in pain and rage uncontrollably and hurting people was A.) outside the range of possible human behavior, which any police officer who's responded to a domestic disturbance call knows it's not and B.) as though it were some kind of gesture of having no feelings. Which it also totally is not; it's a gesture of having tons of feelings and dealing with them in a wildly inappropriate way. It was totally "human" it just wasn't very nice.
Which I guess is kind of a long-winded way of agreeing with you: I don't think any vampires are as "inhuman" or "emotionless" as they *think* they are. I do think there is *some* kind of switch that does *something*... kind of like vampire training wheels, maybe? Spend a hundred years living in a particular way, and it becomes habit forming, even if you loose the high.
If one of the effects of the switch is to shut down your empathy, you won't even notice the damage you're doing to yourself. It's fairly well documented, I think, that doing monstrous things erodes your capacity to see them as monstrous. It's why torture is as bad for the torturer as it is for the tortured; engaging in heartless behaviors *makes* you heartless. In effect, I strongly suspect that a lot of vampires destroy their own capacity for empathy without even realizing it because they've got it artificially suppressed. And that this is why we tend not to see massive personality shifts occur in vampires when the switch starts to cease functioning.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2011-05-05 02:57 pm (UTC)That persistent description of a *switch*, and especially Damon's characterization to Alaric of it being "like a button you can press" just sounds so much like they're describing an experience more artificial than just denial and self-indulgence.
I myself am really getting fed up with the persistent use of "humanity" as a descriptor for "decency" in fantasy fiction; it crops up all the time, and it drives me batty. In TVD, it appears that when they say "humanity" they claim to mean "having the emotional capacity of a human", but that doesn't really make any sense. I mean, Damon kills Jeremy, and the characters say "he's lost his humanity". As though lashing out in pain and rage uncontrollably and hurting people was A.) outside the range of possible human behavior, which any police officer who's responded to a domestic disturbance call knows it's not and B.) as though it were some kind of gesture of having no feelings. Which it also totally is not; it's a gesture of having tons of feelings and dealing with them in a wildly inappropriate way. It was totally "human" it just wasn't very nice.
Which I guess is kind of a long-winded way of agreeing with you: I don't think any vampires are as "inhuman" or "emotionless" as they *think* they are. I do think there is *some* kind of switch that does *something*... kind of like vampire training wheels, maybe? Spend a hundred years living in a particular way, and it becomes habit forming, even if you loose the high.
If one of the effects of the switch is to shut down your empathy, you won't even notice the damage you're doing to yourself. It's fairly well documented, I think, that doing monstrous things erodes your capacity to see them as monstrous. It's why torture is as bad for the torturer as it is for the tortured; engaging in heartless behaviors *makes* you heartless. In effect, I strongly suspect that a lot of vampires destroy their own capacity for empathy without even realizing it because they've got it artificially suppressed. And that this is why we tend not to see massive personality shifts occur in vampires when the switch starts to cease functioning.