Authenticity (psychology): Underrated, Overrated?

[Rishabh R]

@Natasha Tori Maru Yup feeling of fulfillment is a side effect of acting with healthy values. 

Giving a recent example : I acted in alignment with my values of resilience and guess what conquering that obstacle generated a feeling of fulfillment in me from inside which no self-help technique can manufacture.

[aurum]

2 hours ago, Natasha Tori Maru said:

I can see why you put so much emphasis on that topic.

I see "authenticity", just be "authentic" etc thrown around commonly in dating and romance advice.

But I feel like very little care has gone into explaining what is meant.

And from my dialogues with others on this topic, overlap in definitions presents as a rarity. I didn't even really think about how the concept could be filtered through gender roles - which people would commonly load up the term with.

Yup.

It isn't defined well in these conversations because it actually can't be well-defined.  The definitions are necessarily functional and not philosophically rigorous.

Gender roles are perfect for showcasing this ambiguity. Can gender roles be authentic? That's a whole can of worms.

[Natasha Tori Maru]

1 hour ago, aurum said:

Gender roles are perfect for showcasing this ambiguity. Can gender roles be authentic? That's a whole can of worms.

Absolutely. The term can be Frankenstein'd into whatever we may want to serve a frame. And it often is! 

Authenticity is framework-neutral at the abstract level (or I want my definition to be closest to it), but any ideology can sort of... Pollute or (maybe colonize it) in a way that serves its own assumptions. But authenticity has a legitimate distinct concept within each framework. 

I think it starts to reveal a philosophical issue; the disagreement is about what counts as the deeper self. 

I was thinking through how ideologies grab onto the concept. Red Pill could be "stop suppressing your biological/sexual nature to satisfy social expectations". Feminism could be "Stop suppressing yourself to satisfy patriarchal gender expectations". Individualism "Live according to your own chosen values rather than collective expectations". And even Spirituality "Stop identifying with constructed ego/personality and discover what you fundamentally are". I could go on... 

I could go into gender roles with it.

I think in any case I will never be able to hear the word "authenticity" being used without asking "Authentic to what? And according to who's epistemology? "

Edited 4 hours ago by Natasha Tori Maru

[Natasha Tori Maru]

If the typical laypersons definition/conception of authenticity is interpreted through some epistemic framework, is there actually a framework-independent authenticity (am I always smuggling in assumptions)?

Is authenticity always a subjective concept between a person and whatever idea they have of themselves, or take themselves to be? 

Edited 4 hours ago by Natasha Tori Maru

[Ulax]

Most authenticity is so performative these days.

[AION]

Having different kind of persona is as important as being authentic. I compare authenticity to being naked. Especially if you just know each other being too authentic is not savvy. Authenticity is only sweet if it is a slow tease.

Edited 1 hour ago by AION

[integration journey]

2 hours ago, Ulax said:

Most authenticity is so performative these days.

Unless you live in authenti-city 😁