We live in a time when being “authentic” has become its own kind of performance. In this lecture, Professor RJ Starr explores how the modern self is shaped by imitation, validation, and attention — and what psychology reveals about the struggle to feel real in a performative age. Drawing on theories of individuation, emotional development, and identity formation, Starr examines how we confuse visibility with worth, and why recovering an inner life may be the most radical act of selfhood left.

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