The Rubber Hand Illusion

2min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

We don't need drugs or sensory deprivation tank. You can just induce the feeling that you're located somewhere other than inside your brain. It's our brains giving us the impression that we're not inside our bodies. So it suggests that there's a way in which we come to understand our physical body, ourselves being in the body or our body being ours through these perceptual experiences. That is something that our minds have to learn.

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/

Support Mindscape on Patreon.

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."

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.