The Problem With Uploading Your Brain to the Cloud

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I am fascinated by this idea because I also think it would not be you. But there's these interesting philosophical games where you're like, what if you upload your brain, but you don't die. You still exist also physically. Is there a good reason why I tend to think that I live literally in my head? If I'm going to locate myself, is that pain cultural? Does every human being think that there is a self that lives somewhere else?

There is an image, especially in Western cultures, of the rugged, authentic, self-made individual choosing how to navigate the intricacies of the social world. But there is no mystical soul within us, manifesting as the immutable essence of self. What we think of as our "self" is shaped by our environment and our genes, and most of all by our interactions with other people. Psychologist Brian Lowery argues for a strong version of this thesis, positing that our sense of self is largely a social construct. We talk about the implications of this idea, and what it means for shifting notions of personal identity.

Post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2023/06/12/239-brian-lowery-on-the-social-self/

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Brian Lowery received his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of California Los Angeles. He is currently Walter Kenneth Kilpatrick Professor of Organizational Behavior at Stanford University Graduate School of Business. His new book is Selfless: The Social Creation of "You."

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