You Are a Social Creation (with Dr. Brian Lowery)

The Mark Divine Show

You can expand yourself and your sense of the world in ways that will be surprising to you, stay curious, and take the time to understand the depth of those around you.

Walter Kenneth Kilpatrick Professor of Organizational Behavior at Stanford University Dr. Brian Lowery (@Dr. Brian Lowery) is a social psychologist whose new book, Selfless: The Social Creation of You, presents a provocative, powerful theory of identity, arguing that there is no essential "self"—our selves are social creations of those with whom we interact. He is passionate about the global discussion of equity and how each individual perceives life through the lens of having advantages vs. disadvantages. His work is one of inquiry where he asks you, the student, skeptic, or reader, to come to your own conclusions after entertaining his research, ideas, and assertions.

Advocate, social psychologist, and author Dr. Brian Lowery(@ Dr. Brian Lowery) is Walter Kenneth Kilpatrick Professor of Organizational Behavior at Stanford University. He has been an important voice in discussing white privilege and investigating social, institutional, and personal bias from learned or lived experience. His new book, Selfless: The Social Creation of You, is based on empirical science that reads with unintentional notes of Buddhism.

“The self is kind of like a time machine. You can think about the past through the self of who are you right now!”

- Dr. Brian Lowery

Key Takeaways:

• Engaging with People: We are the center of our own world and our life regarding our experiences. Your experiences are deep, interesting, and broad. All people on this planet's experiences are deep, interesting, and broad. Engaging with people with this mindset will enrich your life.

• Consider Who You Are: The Self is flexible, fluid, and changing over time. Consider what that means. How does the Self change? Also, how do you want the Self to change? What kind of situations will produce the type of change you'd like to have? Notice how your relationships impact the direction you are evolving because relationships are a fundamental part of being human. To be human is to be in relation with other human beings and your environment.

Responsibility as a Leader: As a leader (and we are all leading whether we are aware of this agency or not), what you do or don’t do impacts everyone around you. Being a leader is not something to ignore. All of us are affecting those around us. When you engage with people in various situations, as a leader, pay attention to your and their desires. This attention will help you be responsible for those people and the outcomes you are co-creating together.

• Small Interactions are Meaningful: The brief conversation you have in line at the grocery store can and does have meaning. You can expand yourself and your sense of the world in ways that will be surprising to you if you take the small interactions you have day to day more seriously. When you talk with people, ask them real questions, and listen to what they say. You don't have to agree with it, and you don't have to like them even. But if you listen, you will find something there for you in that brief moment or their answer.

• The Sameness in Everybody: You get to know and develop more self-awareness through meditation. When you go deep within yourself, you understand that there is a sameness and synchronicity with everyone you meet. That's the essence of spiritual practices to touch into what makes us alive and creates us.

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Links for Dr. Brian Lowery:

Website

Twitter

Selfless