[mechanical_fish]

Emulating the behavior of other people inside your mind is normal; there are folks who have tried to use that ability as part of the definition of human-level intelligence.

And trying to mentally simulate a world where those other people like and admire you is also normal: This is how we figure out what to do, and why. Yeah, it verges on the crazy fantasy sometimes, but hey, if you can't dream in your own dreams where do you dream?

You can't stop doing this, any more than you can consciously stop breathing.

What makes me want to watch that Barkley episode again, now, is that I wonder if it's really about privacy. Humans need privacy inside their own heads. They need privacy with their counselors. They need the freedom to work things out without other people taking their thoughts out of context. You need to be judged by the things that you do, because your editor needs a chance to work before the raw footage gets plastered all over Google.