Bonus Sample: How the Self is Made...and Unmade

Summary

CONSPIRITUALITY – BONUS SAMPLE: HOW THE SELF IS MADE...AND UNMADE
April 20, 2026
Hosts: Derek Beres, Matthew Remski, Julian Walker

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Overview

This bonus episode delves into the malleable nature of selfhood, examining how environments—especially high-pressure professions and wealth—profoundly shape not only our values and behaviors, but our psychological well-being. Using recent behavioral psychology research and contemporary journalism as anchors, Derek Beres draws parallels between legal and financial elites and Buddhist notions of anatta (the doctrine of non-self). The central question: Is the sense of “self” stable, or is it constantly rewritten by our social and material contexts?

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

The Law School Identity Crisis (00:03–01:47)

• Lawrence Krieger’s Study: Derek Beres introduces a landmark behavioral economics paper by Lawrence Krieger, who observed that law students underwent profound personal changes during their schooling.

  • Initial well-being among law students matches or surpasses undergraduates
  • After one year, well-being drops significantly and remains low through subsequent years
  • Shift from intrinsic values (community, service) to extrinsic, image-based values (status, appearance)
  • Culture of law schools actively promotes materialistic, external rewards as markers of success

• Insight: "Students were not just becoming unhappier, they were actually becoming different people." (Derek Beres, 01:17)

Wealth and the Brain – Lane Brown’s Article (01:50–02:47)

• Comparison with Billionaires: Derek connects this identity transformation to another sphere: the ultra-wealthy. Citing Lane Brown’s New York Magazine article “What Does Extreme Wealth Do to the Brain Now?”:

  • Brown interviews billionaires about changes in their values post-wealth
  • Mark Cuban is the most forthcoming; most others are cagey or anonymous
  • Again, profound changes in perception, motivation, and worldview are reported

• Cultural Specificity, Universal Process: While the studies focus on elite subcultures (lawyers, billionaires), the underlying identity shifts are universal—though often more pronounced at the extremes. “But the shifts in identity are not reserved for them, those people, or those occupations.” (Derek Beres, 02:07)

The Nature of Self – Societal, Psychological, Spiritual (02:47–03:48)

• From Marc Andreessen to Buddhism: Derek references a recent discussion critiquing Marc Andreessen’s claim that “introspection is bullshit,” pivoting to Buddhism’s doctrine of anatta (non-self).

  • Personal identities can be radically mutable, altered by societal position and geographic location
  • Behavioral economics and psychology corroborate this, showing self-concepts are recurrently remade by context
  • Buddhist thought anticipated this idea: the self is not an unchanging core, but an impermanent, contingent process

• Key Question: “How fixed is [the self] really, or how quickly can it change?” (Derek Beres, 02:54)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Law Students’ Transformation:
  “They were measurably different people. Not their skills as lawyers, but their values, motivations, and their relationships to the world.”
  – Derek Beres (00:15)

• On the Universality of Identity Change:
  “This change of identity is common across occupations and classes, though obviously more extreme in certain situations than in others.”
  – Derek Beres (02:23)

• Connecting to Buddhist Non-Self:
  “How does it relate to the doctrine of anatthe— the millennia-old idea that the self is not fixed, but constantly in flux depending on environment and circumstance?”
  – Derek Beres (03:24)

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Timestamps of Key Segments

• 00:03–01:47: Overview of Krieger’s law student study & findings
• 01:47–02:47: Link to Lane Brown’s billionaire interviews on value transformation
• 02:47–03:48: Explorations of identity, societal/cultural forces, and the Buddhist concept of non-self
• 03:48–04:01: Brief mention of bonus episode availability and call to listeners

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Tone and Presentation

The tone is reflective, inquisitive, and grounded in both scholarship and personal observation. Derek Beres draws on empirical studies, journalistic investigation, and spiritual philosophy to weave a cross-disciplinary meditation on how fluid our sense of self really is.

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Takeaway

This episode sample insightfully sketches the spectrum of how the “self” is constructed, deconstructed, and reconstructed by our environments—be it law school, wealth, or broader societal context. Returning to both psychological science and ancient spiritual traditions, the hosts invite listeners to question the very idea of a fixed, unchanging self.

Transcript

[Derek Barras]

Nearly 30 years ago, Florida State University clinical professor of law Lawrence Krieger published what would become a foundational paper in behavioral economics about his students. He noticed something odd happening to their personalities well beyond their academic growth. By the end of their three years of legal training, they were measurably different people. Not their skills as lawyers, but their values, motivations, and their relationships to the world. Krieger suspected it was the university experience, and so he created an empirical test. Alongside psychologist Kenan Sheldon, the pair conducted

[Co-host]

a longitudinal study of law students at Florida State University.

[Derek Barras]

They found students entering law school reported levels of well being comparable to or higher than those of undergraduate students. Yet within a single year, their well being plummeted. That decline persisted through years two and three. Outside of well being, they tracked values shifts. Students were not just becoming unhappier, they were actually becoming different people. They started caring about many different things. Community service values and intrinsic motivation tanked. Appearance values such as concern with image status and the external markers of success took over. The researchers concluded that law school culture promotes the adoption of material and image based values, especially in those who thrive within that culture. I read about this study years ago

[Co-host]

in a book about behavioral psychology and

[Derek Barras]

was reminded of it recently while reading Lane Brown's New York magazine article, what Does Extreme wealth do to the Brain Now? For that piece, Brown cold called dozens of billionaires to interview them about how their values have changed since becoming ultra wealthy. He was surprised that a number of them were willing to even talk to him, even if many would not let their names be published. One who called the same day that Brown reached out was Mark Cuban, who had no problem discussing the topic. Now these are very specific categories of people. Lawyers in the first instance, a range of billionaires in the second. But the shifts in identity are not reserved for them, those people, or those occupations. Two weeks ago, Julian and I recorded a brief about Marc Andreessen's belief that introspection is bullshit. And it got me thinking about the concept of self again. I spent a year and a half researching and writing about behavioral economics and psychology for a former job, and I knew from a wide breadth of research that this change of identity is common across occupations and classes, though obviously more extreme in certain situations than in others. So for today's bonus episode, I want to dig back into some of that research, using Brown's article as a North Star what can our place in society and our geographical location in space teach us about the self? How fixed is it really, or how quickly can it change? And to go back to my earlier studies in Buddhism. How does it relate to the doctrine of anatthe millennia old idea that the self is not fixed but constantly in flux depending on environment and circumstance? Derek I'm Derek Barras and you're listening

[Co-host]

to a Conspirituality Bonus Episode.

[Derek Barras]

If you're hearing this on Patreon or

[Co-host]

via the Apple Podcast bonus feed, thank you for supporting us as independent media creators.

[Derek Barras]

And if you'd like to hear the full episode, there's a link in the

[Co-host]

Show Notes that will allow you to do so. All right, let's get into it. You've been listening to a Conspirituality Bonus Episode sample. To continue listening, please head over to patreon.com conspirituality where you can access all of our main feed episodes ad free, as well as four years of bonus content that we've been producing. You can also subscribe to our bonus episodes via Apple subscriptions. As independent media creators, we really appreciate your support.

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