We are living in an age of heightened individualism. Success is a personal responsibility. Our culture tells us that to succeed is to be slim, rich, happy, extroverted, popular – flawless.

The pressure to conform to this ideal has changed who we are. We have become self-obsessed. And our expectation of perfection comes at a cost. Millions are suffering under the torture of this impossible fantasy.

It was not always like this. To explain how we got here, Will Storr will take us on a journey across continents and centuries. Full of thrilling and unexpected connections between history, psychology, economics, neuroscience and more, this talk will help you make sense of who you are, where you come from, and the origins of some of our most basic assumptions about the world.

Will Storr is an award-winning writer. He’s the author of five critically acclaimed books, including the novel The Hunger and The Howling of Killian Lone. His journalism has appeared in The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The New Yorker and The New York Times. His prizes include a National Press Club award for excellence and the AFM award for Best Investigative Journalism. His work on sexual violence against men earned the Amnesty International Award and a One World Press Award. He’s also been presented with the AIB Award for Best Investigative Documentary for his BBC radio series.

He teaches popular storytelling classes in London and has been invited to present his Science of Storytelling workshop all over the world, from Bangkok to Istanbul to the European Parliament. Will is also an in-demand ghostwriter whose books have spent months at the top of The Sunday Times bestseller chart. You can follow him on twitter @wstorr.

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