< Aliases are hard, perhaps impossible, on the modern Web
Somewhere along the line to "me", what you refer to as "a core 'personality'" seemed as much a mask/act as any other, except for being the first.
"I" can't say "I" remember it taking place, but having watched parents and their young ones, it seems "I" is first a notion as a sort of mathematical mean between the parents' notions of who the newborn "is" (there might be others nearby who contribute, e.g. "family"). That first - and, thus, "core" - notion and slowly added auxiliary/support notions are repeated until they seemingly manifest, i.e. miraculously self-referentially takes itself seriously (i.e. as though "real"), as sort of Phoenix arriving from ashes.
The process might be called "a first assisted, but eventually self-sustaining notional practice making perfect, aka seemingly real instead of merely notional.
Paths to a so-called "enlightenment" seem to be literally a *en- *lighten* -ing" of that notion hive/collective, it becoming "lighter" in terms of seeming to be something more than merely a complicated tree (programming sense) of notions kept seemingly alive by re-petition of said notions - both by itself, and by seeming others (e.g. "Hi there, inquiry!").
In other words, what we call our "self" has been the playing of a role unlike any other that might be played but for "fate"/accident having stoked its inception/conception first. Otherwise, it's no less fake than any other possible personality: 'tis all in the practicing/re-cognizing/re-iterating/re-membering that the "core" personality seems more real.
Ack. So hard to describe....
Mh, I think I have a reasonable idea of what you're trying to explain, although I consider somebody's "core personality", roughly, the mathematical mean of everything they experience, not only their parents (otherwise people wouldn't argue with them, potentially leaving their families altogether :P)
That said, I would personally define my "core personality" more like the direct result of my beliefs, philosophy and whatnot (how I got there is probably the aforementioned mathematical mean).
Yes, the above is indeed "constructed" (and potentially interchangeable), but as I said I need something to put my feet onto, to attach myself with reality.
The "first mask", my "internal identity" is needed to have a "social interaction" with myself you could say, hence why I can't get rid of it without losing that "relationship", which in turn is also a point of reference for me.
You could also say that I got too emotionally attached to my "main personality" which, in a way, brings me back to the argument I'm having with ~detritus (and which I'll answer soon too) :D
That's subjective though; I'm sure that freeing oneself of every point of reference and challenging the core concepts of society (and in a way reality itself) is fun indeed, but I don't find the need for something like this, at least right now.
I like to have fun (and certainly I like overstimulating myself with weird music and crazy games) but a lot of stuff does not play nice with my brain, like alcohol or stimulants stronger than a good espresso :)
(I have no idea how some people drink like 3 energy drinks a day)
Talking about espressos, ~bartender, could I please have one? The usual way. Thanks!
So, in short, I think I might be too weak/simple/plain/emotional/whatever to be able to enjoy or even just withstand such a huge tear in my perception like you're describing, which BTW sounds like a very, very interesting point of view.
I really appreciate discussing this and being mindful about such a concept will do it for "me", thanks :)
*sips coffee*