In Tibetan mysticism, the tulpa is a physical manifestation of the will, a being or object created, intentionally or unintentionally, directly from the energy of the mind. There are folk stories of tulpa’s manifesting from someone’s anger or unfulfilled desires, which then take on lives of their own.

It occurs to me that what we do when we create a profile on Facebook or Tribe or MySpace, etc., is create a sort of electronic tulpa, a stand-in for ourselves that to a certain degree, has it’s own independent existence separate from our own. After all, even when we are not online, our profiles are still out there, interacting with people who look at them, continuing conversations we have long since abandoned.

I can imagine a time not too far in the future when these electronic tulpas will be much more interactive and independent. Our artificially intelligent substitutes will buy our clothes and talk to our mother-in-laws when we don’t want to.

How do you feel about your electronic tulpa, now and in the future. Do you ever worry about the impression you leave via your profile and posts online? Would you like to take it even further in the future, and let it take over a bunch of other responsibilities?