Learning to Doubt Yourself

What happens when we learn, from an early age, that our own bodies cannot be trusted?

In Episode 6 of Wild Child Summer, we explore the experience of distrusting sensation—and what it takes to reconnect with the body as a source of information.

Drawing on neuroscientist Antonio Damasio’s work, we examine why emotion and decision-making cannot be separated neatly from the body. His research on somatic markers demonstrates how bodily signals contribute essential information to our choices, challenging the idea that rational thought operates independently from physical experience.

We then explore interoception: our ability to sense and interpret what is happening inside the body, including hunger, thirst, breathing, heart rate, and muscle tension. When we repeatedly learn t ...