The Future of the Self

By Joanna Nadin

2024

First Published

3.61

Average Rating

120

Number of Pages

3H38M

Audio Length

Exploring the changing nature of ‘self’ through the lens of popular culture and how changes in science, philosophy, technology, and society might impact our sense of self in the future.Look in the mirror – what do you see?We all feel, instinctively, that self exists. That somewhere inside us, under the clothes, the make-up, and self-tan, lurks a hard ‘pearl’, a kernel of truth called ‘me’. And it’s big business uncovering that ‘authentic’ kernel. It’s also a fool’s errand, because that ‘true self’? It doesn’t exist.Self is no more than a story we tell ourselves. It’s mutable, pliable as Plasticine. Worse, it’s not even strictly autobiographical, but co-authored with those around us. And as such, there is no one version, but myriad, and the number is growing as we are exposed to ever more connections.We are already seeing the effects travel, television, and celebrity culture can have on the formation of self, but as digital and social media exposure grows, and in the advent of AI, what will happen to our sense of self? Can we become ever more multiple and adapt better to our globalised world? Or will we dissolve into narcissitic, detached ‘nobodies’?The Future of the Self will explore our current understanding of self in both philosophical and neuroscientific terms and through the lens of popular culture. It will ask what might happen to it in the coming years, and what a ‘useful self’ might look like in the future.

Avg Rating

3.61

Number of Ratings

5 STARS

21%

4 STARS

33%

3 STARS

30%

2 STARS

15%

1 STARS

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Author

Joanna Nadin

Author · 33 books

Joanna Nadin is an English author of juvenile fiction best known for the Rachel Riley series of teenage novels Based on Nadin's own childhood, the series follows the comedic narration of a 13-year-old girl. Nadin has also written several books of juvenile fiction. These include two books for the Oxford University Press "Project X" series designed to encourage boys to read. Nadin previously worked as a policy writer for the Labour Party (UK).In 2001, she became a special adviser to Tony Blair. As a child I buried myself in books both at home in Essex and at my grandparents’ houses in Cornwall, where I spent a large part of my time, and where many of my stories are now set. Books and later films were an escape not just from where I was but who I was, which, as I saw it, was pretty much a geek. They gave me the freedom to become someone else, from George in the Famous Five to Velvet Brown winning the Grand National to Baby dancing the Chachacha with Johnny Castle.