Be authentic is something we hear, but how many of us actually live this way and how many are portraying or trying to portray themselves as something they are not? What is "being authentic" and is it hard to be authentic in a world that encourages and rewards us to be what is expected, what is popular, what gets likes? The problem in the world of the internet is that there is a massive amount of selection bias, as there are billions of people adding their branding to the collection and pretty much, only the best makes it into the public eye-line. The rest is shares of the content, the popular - someone else's authentic.
How can we be authentically ourselves when so much of the information we generate is someone else's, our "funny" is a meme or gif created by another, a clip from a movie we didn't create. I think that this is part of the issue when it comes to being a high volume consumer, we lose who we are as we become a summation of our consumption habits, replicators and repeaters of other people's skills and talents.
In some way it is like glory by association in the same sense that people want to feel close to the rich and famous so buy products with labels they might wear, call stars they have never met by their first names as if they are going to meet down the pub later and identify and talk about sporting teams and players as if they themselves can play the game. Perhaps rather than glory though, this is actually the inverse, death by association.
Rather than discovering who we actually are away from the influence of the popular, we kill ourselves in order to be like others or, other adjacent. We all want to feel some level of relevance and if we don't have whatever talent flavor of the month is in vogue, we attach and identify ourselves with those who do, popularity through product consumption - the latest car, gadget, experience. We become a representation of the current trends, even if it is not a representation of who we actually are or who we could be, if the space and time is taken to discover just who that authentic us may be.
But if we don't spend this time, when we are repetition of consumption, are we acting in conflict with who we would be otherwise and, is it this that is driving our own irrelevance, since we have made ourselves irrelevant to ourselves. "I cannot be as good as he, so I will share them and repress myself" - I can take credit for "discovering" someone else's talent and get a little bit of the social wash for the introduction, even though I did not produce anything myself. It is akin to rent-seeking behavior, where instead of the gain being financial, the gain is the social points scored, the little bit of social capital built on being among the first to spread the latest trend.
Is our consumption authentically ours, or are we ourselves being manipulated into having the preferences we do, choosing the content we share and getting behind the causes we support? How many of our consumer decisions are ours and, are we making decisions that facilitate us to be our best?
I think a good quote to illustrate this comes from "The Bourne Identity"
I can tell you the license plate numbers of all six cars outside. I can tell you that our waitress is left-handed and the guy sitting up at the counter weighs two hundred fifteen pounds and knows how to handle himself. I know the best place to look for a gun is the cab of the gray truck outside, and at this altitude, I can run flat out for a half mile before my hands start shaking. Now why would I know that? How can I know that and not know who I am?
_Jason Bourne
These are things he can do, that he knows
I can tell you the track list of all six Justin Bieber albums. I can tell you that our waitress is wearing a Michael Kors belt from last season and the guy sitting up at the counter should lose weight and get a haircut. I know the best place to look for a friend is on Tinder, and at this price, I can spend my food and rent money to get the latest iPhone. Now why would I know that? How can I know that and not know who I am?
_Society
It is a "mystery" as to why we feel so irrelevant in the world when so much of what we do is based on us expanding our consumptive habits in order to be better accepted socially. The thing with purchasing social points is, anyone with money can do it. Skills can't be purchased, they can only be rented from others, outsourced - it is this that gives skills value and why buying social support will only last as long as the ability to buy does - and pockets aren't very deep, but there is always a line of credit available.
How can we spend so much of our available resources, yet struggle to understand ourselves, to find out what we are good at and what makes us who we are? A small scratch to on the surface is all that is needed to get a picture of what is beneath, but that surface seems impenetrable to us and every time we get a glimpse, something comes to draw our attention away again, something "pressing" that needs our focus - and we never have time to look in the mirror and reflect. Why is it with all of the luxuries we consume, knowing ourselves is seen as a luxury we cannot afford?
If our only relevance to the world is our ability to buy, we will bankrupt ourselves without ever knowing who we when stripped of all the layers of irrelevance, our authentic selves.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
