The big question driving Episode EF8 is … Can you change your identity? Or the shorter philosophical classic, who are you? Although you know your name, vital statistics, and other necessary information — you likely still ask yourself from time to time ‘who am I?’ What do we mean when we ask this seemingly simple, but infinitely deep, question? And is it possible that the answer could change over time, implying that your identity can evolve?
We question who we are in the moments of doubt or self-disappointment. When nothing seems to go our way, for example, and you project failure into every aspect of your life. Because nothing seems to provide positive feedback to encourage us to feel good about ourselves, it this mental projection can become reality. But instead of discouraging you from taking the next step, should you take it as a warning instead, regardless of how unpleasant the challenge?
dedication
DEDICATION: Episode EF8 is dedicated to Isaac Asimov, a prolific scientist, and writer known for his dedicated work and the ability to create speculative stories of science fiction which continue to become true to this day. Asimov is known as one big three science fiction writers alongside Arthur Clarke and Robert A. Heinlein.
Asimov’s work kickstarted a whole new fictional genre that explores the future from a present point-of-view. It’s incredible that although his work is more than half a century old, it still leaves a lot of food for the thought. Many ideas born from Asimov’s mind and later put on the paper are only now starting to shape in real life.
Unlike with Orwell’s work, where for most of the ideas we hope they don’t become a reality, Asimov’s work is different. It’s hard to say if we want it to happen or not. He’s one of the true original speculative fiction writers to envision global video calls, self-driving cars, and, of course, artificial intelligence with questionable morality.
HOW ISAAC ASIMOV INSPIRES EF8
Although Isaac Asimov doesn’t inspire a particular character in EF8 as a person, if it weren’t for his work, EF8 might have a less interesting premise and name for the episode’s identity-changing drug.
A broken compass is the worst thing that can happen when trying to navigate through rough emotional waters. And is there a more dangerous open water than the ocean of life itself, where the compass of your identity is likely the only thing keeping your ship’s hull together? For the EF8 Episode protagonist, she’s way off course and the compass doesn’t seem to work at all.
I highly suggest you give Asimov’s fiction a read:
You’re the sailor of the ship called you, and yet most people let their boats go into great disrepair and neglect. Feeling moored in the same spot for years with no clear understanding of the direction she needs to go, Lisa gets a unique opportunity to upgrade her identity boat with a chemical compass of sorts—a mysterious drug that will supposedly alter her complete identity—to supposedly better enable her to navigate through life’s rough waters. Could a change in your identity actually turn your entire life around for the better? Or are we destined to live with constant susceptibility to being lost in a sea of meaningless actions and emotions without any sort of compass to steer our ship?
What defines our identity? John Locke thought it is our consciousness and the daily actions that shape who we are. Similarly, Erik and Joan Erickson created a step-by-step description of the phases individuals go through. Finally, recent neuroscientific research manages to make a hard connection between various emotions we experience and our brain. Is there anything we can do to navigate the rough emotional waters of life any more effectively?
Erik H. Erikson, Joan M. Erikson, The Life Cycle Completed: Extended Version. 1998, W. W. Norton
John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. 2007, Pomona Press
episode quotes
Any of these quotes make you think? If so, please support the show by sharing…
(EF8) Lisa joked, “well, of course. If your identity has 10 heads, you’re probably doing something wrong, right?” — The Evolve Faster Podcast (Season One, Episode Six)
(EF8) As humans are the only species that experience a variety of nuanced and conflicting emotions, they also respond to them in nuanced and conflicting ways. — The Evolve Faster Podcast (Season One, Episode Six)
(EF8) Fear is what that keeps the head on your shoulders and rage is the emotion that might take the head off your shoulders — The Evolve Faster Podcast (Season One, Episode Six)
(EF8) Emotions trigger our actions; through actions, we gather new experience; and our experience then recalibrates our emotions — The Evolve Faster Podcast (Season One, Episode Six)
Season One, Episode Six: The ship that is our identity never floats on the same water twice. But if you could upgrade yours with a compass telling you exactly how to navigate life’s rough emotional waters, would you be better off? And would this help you better understand who you are?
Season One: The journey begins as we embark on 11 episodes on big questions relating to MIND. What is the truth? Can we trust reason? Why do we have emotions? Does happiness define the good? What is identity? What is creativity?
(EF1) Trailer: The Evolve Faster Podcast (Extended) Trailer
(EF2) Intro: Life is a Near Death Experience: Welcome to The Evolve Faster Podcast
(EF3) S1-E1: All Aboard the Experience Machine: Destination…Unknown (Season One, Episode One)
(EF4) S1-E2: The Decapitation of Reason: A Skeptic’s Guide (Season One, Episode Two)
(EF5) S1-E3: The Truth is Clay in the Hands of a Sculptor (Season One, Episode Three)
(EF6) S1-E4: Information Mainlining and the Folly of Modern Wisdom (Season One, Episode Four)
(EF7) S1-E5: Sleight of Mind: The Black Magic of Rhetoric (Season One, Episode Five)
(EF8) S1-E6: Without a Compass: All Who Sail the Seas of Identity Are Not Lost (Season One, Episode Six)
(EF9) S1-E7: I Feel Therefore I am: Capsized by the River Emotion (Season One, Episode Seven)
(EF10) S1-E8: The Road to Happiness is Inked in Suffering (Season One, Episode Eight)
(EF11) S1-E9: When the Lights Go Out: The Blinding Light of an Artificial Future (Season One, Episode Nine)
(EF12) S1-E10: Wired to Fail: Leveling Up in the Game of Life (Season One, Episode Ten)
(EF13) S1-E11: The Bloody Fingerprint of Creativity (Season One, Episode Eleven)
(EF14) BTP: Behind the Evolve Faster Podcast - The Making of a Speculative Fiction Meets Philosophical Nonfiction Podcast
(EF15) AMA: Ask Me Anything: About Scott Ely and Evolving a Philosophy for Life
(EF16) BTP: On Creative Writing, Video Games and the Future of the Evolve Faster Podcast (About Antonio Rozich)
(EF17) BTP-EF3: What Am I Supposed To Do Free Will and Other Everyday Problems Behind the Podcast of Episode EF3
(EF18) AMA-EF3: The Mystical Allure of Converting to Buddhism and Speculating about Quantum Mechanics Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3
(EF19) BTP-EF4: Head Transplantation and Finding Inspiration for Speculative Fiction - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF4
(EF20) AMA-EF4: The Declining Value of Information and Taking Risks to Determine What is the Truth Ask Me Anything of Episode EF4
(EF21) BTP-EF5: Should Lying be Made Illegal and the Importance of Figuring Out Why You Believe What you Believe --Behind the Podcast of Episode EF5
(EF22) AMA-EF5: Defeating Fake News and Critical Thinking as the Superpower the World Needs Most Ask Me Anything of Episode EF5
(EF23) BTP-EF6: Scaling Mount Wisdom Without Suffocating Under an Avalanche of Ego Behind The Podcast of Episode EF6
(EF24) AMA-EF6: Is Less Really More When it Comes to the Pursuit of Wisdom or is Ignorance Bliss - Ask Me Anything of Episode EF6
(EF25) BTP-EF7: The Power of Propaganda and Rhetoric to Divide Us and the Quest for a Better World - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF7
(EF26) AMA-EF7: The Impossibility of Honest Politicians and Protecting Our Kids from The Most Insidious Fake News Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3
(EF27) BTP-EF8: Who are You and is it Possible to Upgrade Your Identity as an Adult? - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF8
(EF28) AMA-EF8: Drugs, Consciousness Manipulation and Cheating Your Way To a Better You - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF8
(EF29) BTP-EF9: Waging War Between Reason and Emotions and the Importance of Leaving Things Unresolved Behind the Podcast of Episode EF9
(EF30) AMA-EF9: Emotional Manipulation Tribalism and Using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to Think Before you Feel - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF9
(EF31) BTP-EF10: Dharma Modifying Negative Thinking and the Never-Ending Pursuit of Happiness by Embracing Suffering - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF10
(EF32) AMA-EF10: Mind Control Through a Well Chosen Tattoo and the Unlikely Case of Being Happy Enough - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF3
(EF33) BTP-EF11: The Evolution of Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Creativity - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF11
(EF34) AMA-EF11: On Perfection, the AI Alignment Problem, and the Possibility of Quantum Leaps of Creativity - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF11
(EF35) BTP-EF12: Cryptocurrencies Gaming and Leveraging Failure to Help Us Define Who We Are - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF12
(EF36) AMA-EF12: Pyrrhic Victory and Finding the 10% of Your Mind that Defines Who You Are - Ask Me Anything for Episode EF12
(EF37) BTP-EF13: Where Creativity Comes From and How to Find Your Uniquely Bloody Fingerprint - Behind the Podcast of Episode EF13
(EF38) AMA-EF13: Flow, Creative Improvisation and Other Altered States of Consciousness Ask Me Anything for Episode EF13
(EF39) S2-E0: LIFE, UPGRADED: Welcome to Season Two of the Evolve Faster Podcast
(EF40) S2-E1: Dehumanized: The Search for Self in the Devil’s Looking Glass
(EF41) S2-E2: Transhuman Fallibility: The Existential Risk of a Superhuman Future
(EF42) S2-E3: Civil Individualism: Loneliness Atop Mount Empowerment
(EF43) S2-E4: Evil Urges: The Fiery Duality of Human Nature
(EF44) S2-E5: Reality Unchained: Smashing the Icons of Social Delusion
(EF45) S2-E6: Weaving Society’s Web: Purpose in a Future Without Work
(EF46) S2-E7: Empathetic Distortion: Rigging the Scales of Justice
(EF47) S2-E8: Infinite Regress: Drawing Back The Veil of Perception
(EF48) S2-E9: Checkmate: A Child’s Guide to the Good Life
(EF49) S2-E10: The Domino Effect: The Momentum of an Unstoppable Future