📖 Blog Tour ~ The Future of The Self by Joanna Nadin

Melville House
4 July 2024

Thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book
and the invitation to the blog tour

Exploring the changing nature of ‘self’ through the lens of popular culture and how changes in science, philosophy, technology, and society might impact our sense of self in the future.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.

📖 My Review

Coming in at just over a hundred pages this is a quick read however, it's not light on content. In exploring the concept of 'self' the author examines just what it is which makes us who we are and poses the question that as we get swept further and further into the maelstrom of social media and popular culture, are we are in danger of losing ourselves forever as we seek to be the perfect self?

I enjoyed the informal way in which the author presents her findings which makes it a very thought provoking little book, posing questions which made me stop to consider whilst at the same time the author shares her own personal reflections. What struck a chord right at the start of the book was the author being told that 'There are pretty girls, and there are clever girls' . I recall at my all-girls grammar school, in the seventies, being made aware that clever was preferable over pretty but like the author, I wanted to be both. I like to think that  I have succeeded at both...

This well written little book has given me a different perspective and one I had not really thought before especially in the way in which popular culture can alter our perspective. I have learned that we all have very different versions of self, some are entirely independent, some are obsessive or narcissistic, whilst others converge into whatever role in life we are playing, but I think what's comes across is that, in the end, we can be whoever we want to be.

The Future of the Self is one of those absorbing little books which will remain on my book shelf, to pick up whenever the mood takes me..

About the Author

Joanna Nadin is an English author of juvenile fiction best known for the Rachel Riley series of teenage novels Based on Nadin's own childhood, the series follows the comedic narration of a 13-year-old girl. Nadin has also written several books of juvenile fiction. These include two books for the Oxford University Press "Project X" series designed to encourage boys to read. Nadin previously worked as a policy writer for the Labour Party (UK).In 2001, she became a special adviser to Tony Blair.

Social Media

X @joannanadin #TheFutureoftheSelf #Futures

X @melvillehouse

The new FUTURES series from Melville House presents imaginative future visions on a wide range of subjects, written by experts, academics, journalists and leading pop-culture figures. Seeking to publish a rich array of opinions, covering as wide-ranging a view as possible on our potential futures, we ask our authors to experiment with the kinds of daring ideas that can help change public conversation. As a series we hope the FUTURES books will inspire readers to imagine what might lie ahead, to figure out how they might like the future to look, and think about how, collectively, we might get there.

Melville House