Belonging Without Conforming: The Path From Pseudo Self to Solid Self

We all want two things that can seem at odds with each other: to be our own person and to belong. We want to stand apart from the crowd, but we also want to be connected to it. When that balance gets out of whack, we either lose ourselves in tribalism or drift into isolation.

My guest today says many of the problems in modern life stem from our inability to hold these two impulses in tension. His name is Luke Burgis, and he’s the author of The One and the 99: Forging Identity in the Age of Social Contagion. Today on the show, Luke explains how becoming a true individual can give you the strength to be a part of a community. We discuss the difference between a solid self and a pseudo self — and what role families and rites of passage can play in moving us toward one or the other — why modern politics feels like a dysfunctional family, the dangers of performative religion, and much more.

• Resources Related to the PodcastLuke’s previous appearances on the AoM podcast:
• Episode #714: Why Do We Want What We Want?
• Episode #910: Thick Desires, Political Atheism, and Living an Anti-Mimetic Life
• The True Believer by Eric Hoffer
• Education of a Wandering Man by Louis L’Amour
• AoM Podcast #1,025: The Life and Legacy of Louis L’Amour
• AoM article with L’Amour’s weekly to-do lists
• AoM article and podcast about C.S. Lewis’ The Abolition of Man and the idea of objective value
• The Courage to Be by Paul Tillich
• The Quest for Community by Robert Nisbet
• AoM Podcast #847: Overdoing Democracy
• AoM Podcast #1,010: How to Resist Group Anxiety and Become a Differentiated Self
• AoM Article: Becoming a Well-Differentiated Leader
• Dying Breed article: A New Kind of Monasticism — The Power of Community to Shape the Soul
• The Rule of St. Benedict

Connect With Luke Burgis

• Luke’s website

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Timestamps

0:00 Introduction

0:54 Guest Intro: Luke Burgis & The One and the 99

4:48 The Parable of the Lost Sheep & the Book's Framework

10:17 Defining the Self (vs. Identity & Soul)

14:37 The Pseudo Self Explained

19:40 How to Develop a Solid Self

25:35 Louis L'Amour & Education for a Solid Self

28:18 Curiositas vs. Studiositas (Ordered vs. Disordered Knowledge)

44:30 Tribalism, Politics, & the Pseudo Self

45:08 How Undifferentiation Fuels Political Dysfunction

51:13 Religion, Performative Piety & the Digital World

54:15 What Monasteries Teach Us About Community & Solid Selves

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