EF28 (AMA-EF8): Drugs, Consciousness Manipulation and Cheating Your Way To a Better You — Ask Me Anything for Episode EF8

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(EF28) AMA-EF8: Drugs, Consciousness Manipulation and Cheating Your Way To a Better You Ask Me Anything for Episode EF8

(EF28) AMA-EF8: Drugs, Consciousness Manipulation and Cheating Your Way To a Better You — Ask Me Anything for Episode EF8

PLAY | DOWNLOAD You're the sailor of the ship called you, and yet most people let their boats go into great disrepair and neglect. 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? More...

EPISODE EF28 SUMMARY

Spoiler alert: You’re about to listen to an Ask Me Anything  (AMA) of Episode EF8, which was Season 1, Episode 6 of the Evolve Faster Podcast titled Without a Compass: All Who Sail the Seas of Identity Are Not Lost. The driving question of this episode (and this AMA) for you to think through is … Who Am I? It’s a fascinating question that actually has surprisingly little research or philosophical investigation.

As a reminder about Episode EF8: 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?

The sixth episode of the first season of the Evolve Faster Podcast Episode is driven by the big question Who Am I. Many people use drugs to make quick “fixes” to their identity. But if there was a drug that could instantly change you once and for all?

To peek behind the curtain of Episode EF8, we’ll dissect the following submitted questions:

  • Are there any identity-changing drugs planned?
  • Could a drug really change your identity?
  • The metaphor seems to be that if you have a compass (a plan for your life) then you can navigate the rough emotional waters of life, is what the episode is implying?
  • Who originally posed the Theseus Ship thought experiment?
  • Hasn’t the Theseus paradox been “solved” and/or re-posed as a more important paradox?
  • How does the insanity defense work in the context of Locke’s theory?
  • Characters talk about research that says the more intelligent a being is, the more choices it has, but that also comes with more problems. So does this imply that being intelligent is worse or just hard?
  • If I’m swayed by my emotions like Lisa, how can I get some control?
  • And more…

Can You Change Your Identity?

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?

Into The Rabbit Hole

SHOW NOTES: This episode is dedicated to Isaac Asimov. See the EF28 Show Notes for details of the dedication, inspirations, references, selected quotes and more.

ABOUT THE EVOLVE FASTER PODCAST: Everything is changing, yet the questions that drive us remain the same. Will humanity face the absurdity of our collective existential crisis in time? Join Scott Ely as he takes us deep into the rabbit hole with philosophical tales to reboot your mind, upgrade your life and explore your soul. To Evolve Faster is to see the fact that you will die someday as a formidable challenge, instead of a source of immense fear. Create your reality…before it creates you. Isn’t it time for an upgrade? More episodes…

SUBSCRIBE: The Evolve Faster Podcast is written, performed and produced by Scott Ely. Writing and production of each episode of the podcast is a significant undertaking spanning many months—it’s a labor of love, but it needs your help to survive. To help ensure the creation of more episodes, please learn about ways you can support the podcast (register, share, review and subscribe) on the Support Evolve Faster page. Your help is much appreciated.

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