Radiolab – "Who Am I?" (May 7, 2007)

Episode Overview

In this thought-provoking episode, Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich explore the enduring mysteries of selfhood, consciousness, and identity. Taking listeners on a journey from cutting-edge neuroscience labs to personal stories of brain injury and even into the peculiar landscape of dreams, the show interrogates what makes us who we are. With a blend of storytelling and scientific inquiry, “Who Am I?” examines whether the self is an immutable core, a story, a function of brain architecture, or something more mysterious and plural than we imagine.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Biological Mirror: The Self, the Brain, and Feedback

• Steven Johnson’s Biofeedback Experiment ([01:47]–[03:33])
  • Author Steven Johnson recounts how a biofeedback session revealed “spikes” of adrenaline whenever he told a joke, prompting deep reflection on compulsive behaviors and his own identity.
  • “Somehow, years ago, I set up this little circuit in my head that guaranteed me this little jolt of adrenaline every time I made a joke. And I felt kind of like a drug addict more than a funny guy.” – Steven Johnson ([03:17])

2. Looking for the Self in the Brain

• Brain Imaging and the Search for the Soul ([03:45]–[07:18])

  • The hosts describe new technologies that let us “see” the brain in action, paralleling the birth of mirrors as a turning point for self-awareness in Western culture.
  • The question is posed: Where is the self, really?

• Historical and Scientific Views ([07:18]–[08:57])

  • Early theories placed the soul in the heart; scientific consensus now points to the astonishing complexities of neurons in the brain.
  • “It’s the activities of these neurons, the flux of ions across them, the passage of current, that is life.” – Robert Krulwich ([07:53])

3. Animal Self-Recognition and the “Right Brain”

• The Mark Test with Chimps ([08:37]–[11:42])

  • Julian Keenan describes the classic “mark test” demonstrating that chimpanzees can recognize themselves, forming the basis for debates on animal consciousness and rights.
  • “This was a major discovery because it revealed that the chimpanzee has some sense of self-awareness. Now, what that may sort of mean is that…it might have a soul or a self, a lot like humans have.” – Julian Keenan ([11:12])

• Self-Recognition & Hemispheric Specialization ([12:02]–[15:28])

  • Keenan details his “morph test,” blending images of people and celebrities (e.g., Bill Clinton) to study self-recognition. He finds it is the right hemisphere that lets us see ourselves.
  • “Without the right hemisphere, they wouldn’t see themselves. But when they did have the right hemisphere, they always saw themselves.” – Julian Keenan ([14:19])
  • The notion: self-awareness is “lopsided,” heavily reliant on the right hemisphere.

4. The Self, Memory, and Narrative—What Happens When It Changes?

• A Brain Aneurysm and Identity Transformation
  • A deeply moving segment by Hannah Palin about her mother’s aneurysm ([15:49]–[24:07]):
    • After her mother’s brain injury, Palin encounters a transformed parent: “The mother I grew up with died that day and was replaced by an entirely different person…” ([19:18])
    • The story explores radical shifts in personality, likes/dislikes, and how those left behind adapt.
    • “I love sex now. I didn’t…wasn’t too crazy about it before. I don’t know what the difference is, but I’m just more open to that kind of thing.” – Hannah’s Mother ([21:08])
    • Palin reflects on the importance of presence, acceptance, and the ephemerality of self.
  • Neuropsychologist Paul Broks weighs in: “We are all just a car crash or a slip away from being a different person.” ([24:31])
    • He argues our sense of self is fragile and underpinned by brain function, rather than an immaterial soul.
    • “Essentially what I tell you if you ask me about myself is I tell you a story.” – Paul Broks ([27:49])

5. The Self as Story—Human Uniqueness

• A Story-Making Brain ([31:40]–[38:20])
  • Building on the idea that the self is a narrative, Robert Krulwich and V.S. Ramachandran discuss how humans uniquely construct, manipulate, and abstract images and symbolic concepts—something no other species can do.
  • “An idea of self is really a story that we tell ourselves. It can change from day to day…” – Robert Krulwich ([38:00])
  • Humans, unlike worms or monkeys, can imagine things—like a purple-striped red canary—that don’t exist.

6. Dreams: The “Little People” Within

• Dreaming and Multiplicity ([38:40]–[49:09])
  • Asleep, the “self” splinters. Robert Louis Stevenson’s essay “A Chapter on Dreams” inspires a rich radio play exploring how we seem to have “little people” creating stories inside us, separate from our waking ego.
  • “The little people are substantive inventors and performers… it was not his tale. It was the little people’s.” – Robert Louis Stevenson, performed ([48:32])
  • Paul Broks and the hosts question: where is the seat of agency in the brain if these “characters” can operate autonomously?

7. The Plural Self

• Neurological and Literary Perspectives ([50:50]–[53:26])
  • The hosts argue that what we perceive as a unitary “one” is really the concerted action of many: “You are always plural.” ([52:04])
  • Brain cells act together to produce the illusion of unity.

8. Porous Boundaries: The Self Extending Beyond the Skull

• Family, Memory, and Identity Transmission ([53:40]–[60:45])
  • Biologist Robert Sapolsky tells a personal story about his father’s memory disorder, showing how their autobiographical stories blended as his father’s illness progressed.
    • His own behaviors (“wearing his shirts,” “keeping his nitroglycerin bottle”) mirror his father’s, a literal merging of self and other.
    • “It is a perfectly normal non-pathological state to feel at times of extreme emotional challenge that interconnected with another person, that in some ways the boundaries slip a little bit.” – Robert Sapolsky ([59:20])
  • Krulwich notes, “Our borders are full of leaks”; the self is porous.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On biofeedback and self-understanding:

  • “I felt kind of like a drug addict more than a funny guy.” – Steven Johnson ([03:17])

• On the brain as the seat of self:

  • “What we call our mental life, our thoughts, our ideas, our ambitions, our passions, our fear of death, our love life, everything, even what you think of as your own intimate self… is the activity of these little specks of jelly.” – Robert Krulwich ([07:53])

• On self as story:

  • “If I’m understanding you correctly, ourselves are simply a narrative, a sort of narrative center.” – Jad Abumrad ([27:49])
  • “An idea of self is really a story that we tell ourselves.” – Robert Krulwich ([38:00])

• On identity’s fragility:

  • “We are all just a car crash or a slip away from being a different person.” – Paul Broks ([24:47])

• On the plurality of the self:

  • “You are always plural.” – Robert Krulwich ([52:04])

• On porous personal boundaries:

  • “It can only come as an echo, a hint in our armored individuated world, that a bit of confusion as to ego boundaries can be an act of health, of homage and love. … if in the end someone mistakes you for him.” – Robert Krulwich ([59:36])

Segment Timestamps

• Biofeedback & Steven Johnson’s Story: [01:47]–[03:38]
• Brain Imaging & Mirror Metaphor: [03:45]–[07:18]
• Self in Neurons & Evolution: [07:18]–[08:57]
• Chimp Mark Test & Right Hemisphere: [08:57]–[15:28]
• Hannah Palin’s Story (Identity After Brain Injury): [15:49]–[24:07]
• Paul Broks on Memory, Narrative & the Soul: [24:13]–[28:08]
• The Self as Narrative (with V.S. Ramachandran): [31:40]–[38:20]
• Dreams & Stevenson’s “Little People”: [38:40]–[49:09]
• The Plural Self: [50:50]–[53:26]
• Robert Sapolsky, Family, Identity Blending: [53:40]–[60:45]

Tone & Language

The episode blends personal anecdote, accessible science, literary excerpts, and signature Radiolab sound design for a warm, curious, and compassionate rumination on one of the biggest questions of all: Who am I? The show is playful but never glib, navigating the boundaries of scientific knowledge and human experience with humility and awe.

For Further Exploration

• Paul Broks, Into the Silent Land
• Robert Sapolsky, The Trouble with Testosterone
• Steven Johnson, Writer & Science Communicator

(Visit Radiolab.org for additional resources and links.)