THE FUTURE OF THE SELF

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