The Death of Keeping It Real

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Is Authenticity Fake?
The growing popularity of reality TV and dominance of social media coincides with a hunger for authenticity, from reality stars, influencers and ourselves. But what’s authentic isn’t always true. Does our focus on realness make us further removed from reality? Let’s find out in this Wisecrack Edition: Is Authenticity Impossible?
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=== Watch More Episodes! ===
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How MrBeast Exposes Our Dystopia ► • How MrBeast Exposes Ou...
How To Manufacture a Moral Panic ► • How to Manufacture a M...
Written by Rachel Van Nes
Hosted by Michael Burns
Directed by Michael Luxemburg
Edited by Henry Arrambide
Produced by Olivia Redden
Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound
#authenticity #philosophy #wisecrack
© 2023 Wisecrack / Omnia Media, Inc. / Enthusiast Gaming

[@crit2074]

The real authenticity was all the panopticons we build along the way.

[@JamesDecker7]

You deserve all the points random internet person! I assume you are not a comedy AI…

[@Gfish17]

Humans are never authentic when in the room with another human.

[@TribuneAquila]

​​@@Gfish17t's only because we are all imposters can we endure each other

[@marksalmoneussorcerersupreme]

Pretty much

[@bradrasmussen7297]

Jeremy Bentham strikes again.

[@SwagbitoUchiha]

I don't think, therefore I'm not.

[@RobGradyVO]

Clever lol

[@MASTERCRAFT938]

lol xD

[@oliverbentley4524]

Just like "The Game" you lose if you don't think about it 😉

[@SpoopySquid]

Mood

[@sebastianoleary2743]

​@oliverbentley4524 how dare you.

[@MCSorry]

I feel like most of Michael's videos these days are about how the Spectacle is ruining our lives, and I'm all for it.

[@rudytabooty8640]

Read The Society of The Spectacle if u havent already it makes these vids so much better!

[@LuisSierra42]

watch Nope

[@silasember7127]

I'm actually from the opposite belief. We perform for ourselves all the time. You can't take off the mask so live it yo.

[@user-si3gu8pm6j]

The Military-Industrial Complex is now the Nihilist-Comedy complex

[@sultanaljuhani1571]

So many countries need that "freedom"

[@leolapulga6784]

can we at least secure the same amount of funding?

[@dem8568]

My favorite Spiderman™ is Spider-Punk™. 🎸🤘

[@ndelano]

I was ashamed of myself when I realized that life was a costume party and I attended with my real face. -Franz Kafka

[@Shinkajo]

Shit, I felt that.

[@FabulousKilljoy917]

Is there anything more poetic than commercial breaks during this video featuring corporations advertising how “real” they are and how “true” we can be to ourselves by using their brand 😂

[@KyleLyle]

There’s no winning.

[@LouKessler]

I noticed they don't have the videos broken up into sections anymore, probably to get more eyes on the ad. Super authentic!

[@michaeltonus3888]

The plight of reality tv stars is to constantly be caught in the scrutinizing gaze of the scrutinizing gays.

[@bbrbbr-on2gd]

This... this is true philosophy.

[@Maxrepfitgm]

Lmao 😆 😂 😆

[@Shaddowkhan]

Is this philosophy? 🫴🏽 🦋

[@Alexus00712]

Peak philosophy right here

[@gregdesouza17]

"Doing you is harder than it sounds and requires some additional clarification" sounds great out of context

[@33up24]

It's funny, i only feel authentic and true to myself when I'm alone, regardless of how close we are as friends i never feel like im being 100% authentic

[@rodylermglez]

It's because if you are putting a performance to yourself only, the only one that is deluded is yourself, so you don't engage in that behaviour. The issue at hand is that performative presentation and authenticity are almost incompatible. The only thing I can think of when they are kinda compatible is the "fake it until you make it" mentality for self-realization.

[@LucasGuillemette]

You can practice keeping a handle on your authenticity around others. I'd like to say it's simple or easy. But at 34 it's just kinda coming into view.

[@LuisSierra42]

@@rodylermglez I do that because i have a visceral self-hatred which only manifests when i am not alone

[@imilic8]

That's mostly why I don't go out anymore. Or hang with friends and family.

[@TheNeoLoneWolf]

I try to be very honest with people, probably because my mom punished me very severely as a kid for lying, but most people seem very suspicious of me because I'm not authoritative, or act like I know what I'm talking about all the time. Never threaten your kids with police action at 4 years old, it will mess them up for life.

[@majorlycunningham5439]

That’s actually really important to know. In physics, they’ve run tests where they observe photon activity and they’ve found even the photons behave a certain way when directly observed. So… inauthenticity is baked into the fabric of our reality? 😳

[@WisecrackEDU]

This is a cool take.

[@sohaila433]

It's actually mind blowing to think about it... Light can exist as a wave and particle... So cool that you mentioned that

[@orrymr]

Well, the photons are authentically interacting with being observed. Like a ball authentically reacting to being kicked. I think.

[@bbrbbr-on2gd]

Leave those poor photons alone!

[@unkownnumber6778]

My bachelor's was in astrophysics and I'm working as an engineer now. That's not exactly what the tests say. The tests say that a photon, while behaving as a wave (not being observed), could be in any number of states, until it interacts with another particle of matter, usually an electron, at which point it is in only one state. That is different than saying it "changes behavior" because it's being observed; it is the way it always behaves. And, it has nothing to do with human consciousness or observation by a sentient being, it's just any time the photon interacts with another particle, observed or not (unless you wanna get really metaphysical about it, which I think is unproductive). The Observer Principle is real but it's a bit of a misnomer. You do present a cool idea and I don't want you to take this long response negatively, you're probably a really smart and cool person, but my personal pet peeve is when people (not you specifically, but people in general) misappropriate ideas from quantum mechanics and use them to "justify" mystical mumbo jumbo without truly understand the idea in the first place.

[@N0tsaved]

I honestly don't understand how we have gotten to the point where we mistrust each other, but we have found product loyalty to be something worth holding on to. That couldn't be any more inauthentic and yet by the sheer nature of actions making us who we are, it becomes authentic after a while.

[@capnbarky2682]

I just miss an internet where everything written online didn't feel like people in this huge house of cards LARP.

[@mauve9266]

I think one problem with the idea of authenticity is that it’s supposed to be (to my knowledge) the truth of your own nature onto yourself but in many ways that’s tied to the way u can perform said truth to others. So there’s this kind of illusion that you can be like subject onto yourself, unconditioned by others.

[@rootkite]

Very good point! It's analogous perhaps to a thought or image in one's mind versus the verbal or visual expression of it; there's often a mismatch or at least a semiotic leap that occurs -- as it did in our human timeline with the invention/development of speech, writing, printing, and global instant messaging & social media successively. At the core somewhere there is language; what is it, exactly, and what can we actually do with it?

[@angiebear8727]

Well put and same to you @rootkite I have nothing to add😊

[@rootkite]

@@angiebear8727 Thanks :) One thing that language certainly is by default is performative, I'm glad you brought that up 👍 So being compassionate, for example, is basically mostly being good at performing certain language acts in good faith. They're called "good games" sometimes 🎯

[@sboinkthelegday3892]

You're idiomizing authenticity, because the entire language is an exercise in not following up genuine meaning, starting WITH the illusory word. "Authenticity" simply means that the SOURCE of your behavior is genuine, authorial, not iterative. Trying to impose what "authentic" SHOULD mean based on examples on how the mob uses the word, is peer pressure. It's just you barking it out as a pavlovian response, to substitute another synonym for religious "truth". Same kind of thing like you don't have a word for moving pictures, so you jsut call it "film" as if the only genuine source of movie making is through the lobby of FILM INDUSTRY, producing those expensive chemical reels in an oligopoly. You fail to author your OWN English language to express the msot basic ideas, adn that's idiomization. Just pointing at things and repeating a sound association. Repeating phrases and not understanding the same thing unless it's an idiom, you're hard-coding your brain to only follow copyrighted permission to think. Like you couldn't follow up the nonsense in Spider-Man Across the Spiderverse without some rando base concept that these people are all "spider-man", which means absolutely nothing. But because it is a neo-religious, identity defining thing to be "real" Scotsman, womb man, or spiderman, there can be this vacuous plot about challenign it. And horrifyingly people call that tautology good film writing.

[@cofeman347]

I always find it interesting how the authenticity debate is framed in the clash between oneself and whatever role we are socially expected to perform in any given time. I don't necesarily think it's wrong, but it's just part of the picture. And putting the existential dread of uncertanty that permeates every aspect of existance we can percieve, it's fascinating we get to do this lifelong excercise of building ourselves

[@oisindowling7085]

🙌 just trying to get through a conversation without thinking about how pointless and insignificant it all might be before having a nihilistic breakdown á la Network

[@reverendblind]

As someone who has always masked in public, it's been weird for me to watch more and more people masking up around me these last 10 years. I was always curious what was spurring that change, but you raise a good point in regards to the internet and surveillance of our lives likely being one of the primary drivers.

[@FizzleFX]

"Be yourself, because everyone else is taken!" I take it.

[@dennisvandermeij9779]

Real authenticity comes from living in a house with a philosopher, an anthlete and a billionaire.

[@WisecrackEDU]

amazing comment. thank you for your service.

[@Somebodyherefornow]

i dont get the joke?

[@iandonnelly6684]

​@@Somebodyherefornow its like a reality tv show set up

[@ballman2010]

​@@SomebodyherefornowEh it's been a few days so literally no one will ever read this, but it's a reference to something an influencer recently said about how to succeed in life. It was laughable and tone-deaf, and irrelevant to the extent that I've already forgotten who it was.

[@dennisvandermeij9779]

@@Somebodyherefornow All I can say is this: tune in for Wisecrack Live sometimes!

[@wynnefox]

I am reminded of Serial Expirments: Lain. One of my interpretations of what happens at a part where there are different versions of her running around is that she, being a manifestation of people's thoughts, have other manifestations running around because it's how different people view who she is. It takes her taking ownership of herself and realizing the actions of these different versions of her are hurting her and her friends to eliminate them. After that point, she is her own person and not what everyone thinks her to be. SE:Lain is complex and it's been years since I had a rewatch of it so I'm going by memory.

[@user-wy7mc6km7v]

The anime Oshi no Ko had a quite insightful arc about reality TV, the role of media in determining perceptions, and online bullying. Worth a watch!

[@LeonMRr]

Remember kids, TLC used to be known as The Learning Channel

[@WisecrackEDU]

Very, very wild.

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

​@@WisecrackEDUYessir

[@K1ng1995]

I honestly used to think it meant Tender Love and Care.

[@apophis2129]

It truly is awful what happened. That damn channel went chasing waterfalls and got in with a bunch of scrubs...

[@BaldingClamydia]

@@apophis2129 I love this comment >.

[@cdp440]

You talk about Epistemology, I hit the like button. It's that simple.

[@wierdwisdoms2366]

Blinkist is the app version of that kid who actually read the book that all the other kids would ask what happened. How many kids are just using that?

[@dannycrowley9630]

As an English teacher, I know zero kids who have looked into Blinkist.

[@majorlycunningham5439]

I’ve thought about using blinkist for years but the problem with third-party go-betweens as that… I really prefer my own analysis of written works over someone else’s. The problem of course, is that it takes a lot more time. But a good book is worth the deep reading and I’m all for it

[@umbomb]

1:41: I can't thank you enough for saying, "-one of those wayses-"

[@crayonmythos]

There was a movie called Shock Treatment that came out before the Truman Show. It was praised for having predicted reality TV and I highly recommend the movie especially if you love RHPS

[@Immudzen]

It makes me feel better that I have very little interaction with social media or reality tv. I got on youtube to learn interesting things. Social media just doesn't look important to me. If it all shut down tomorrow I don't think it would impact my life. I have also not seen people just recording everything around them all the time. That would be really weird.

[@truthisland56]

We've reached a point, where we are frightened by true authenticity, as personalities manufactured in falseness are predictable and allow us to feel safe.

[@Mr.Coffee576]

I think a better example of "authenticity is fake" would be reaction channels and twitch streamers.

[@isamekailmahmud9302]

i really hope your wrong about the reaction channels

[@lilwombat]

@@isamekailmahmud9302 not at all a lot of channels have to play up their reaction because it gets views. they might like something but acting like its greatest thing this year gets views

[@xcx3572]

@@lilwombat sollumanti is real

[@iandonnelly6684]

​@@isamekailmahmud9302somebody needs to rexamine their parasocial relationships lol.

[@thebigdawgj]

As someone who streams on Twitch, no. Though that would explain why I don't have an audience, because I'm not playing shit up for people, I'm just me.

[@lorihicks340]

Scandoval!! I never thought this would be mentioned on Wisecrack. I love it! 💖

[@thinkingofthings5593]

In an atomitised indiviualistic society people tend to become authentic in exactly the same way, making each person interchangeable with another. It is only in tranformative communities our unique humanities may florish.

[@johnwhite2836]

Love this!, especially considering we might be watching a whole lot more reality tv here soon! Also wanted to say my favorite corporation is The Container Store because I too am an empty container waiting to be filled.

[@the_yungchubbz]

I like that quote! “Be yourself, because everyone else is taken.” - Ms. Estes.

[@m.guedes]

Awesome video. It reverberated a lot with me. I am struggling to find a way to express myself in the current reality, online and offline. Talking in person has been a ballet about not touching on any particular subject that would trigger some adverse reaction from someone about something. Sometimes I feel like walking in a minefield, where a tinkle toe in the wrong place could trigger an explosion. Online, people are more engaged with the spectacle and the performance of personas than engage in meaningful conversations or exchanges of valuable experiences themselves. Now all is brand online, even the profile pictures.

[@claytonthechemist]

Another threat to authenticity is rejection, whether it's dating, social situations, or creative pursuits, we may then overcompensate by suppressing an aspect of ourself we think brought the rejection.

[@ethankillion786]

Fake people have an image to maintain. Real people just don’t care.” - Hikaru Utada

[@kassyyar97]

I got so bullied as a kid that I kinda stopped caring anymore. Anything anyone can tell me I’ve thought it myself, to hell with what everyone else thinks. Imma be myself and be happy while doing so.

[@butnot8303]

Yeah, if you don't lie to yourself about your own nature, you have this crazy armor against how being negatively valued by others affects you. You also really begin to see that other people are just people who are trying to survive too, and that what type of survival is valued by any given person is largely what determines their behavior.

[@kassyyar97]

@@butnot8303 exactly bro! Nothing can affect you if you live true to yourself ✌🏼

[@jimgsewell]

Keep on Truckin'

[@davidsykes6584]

Man, that one frame at 3:50 you need to be a hummingbird to see it properly. I was almost expecting a Fight Club 'moment'.🤣

[@MrMash-mh9dy]

I think it still ends up being one of those things like, if you want to be cool, don't try to be cool. Authenticity comes far more when not trying to be anything.

[@ccj2]

I think I have a whole lot I can explore on this topic of being real, and how much value it truly has. I think I could make the argument that always being real isn't even ideal. Dave Chapelle had a few famous skits called "When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong" that can sum this up perfectly as well. Personally, I've grown to feel that being real is a bit overrated. I've learned that sometimes, you need to have that mask on, and you need to hide your true personality. Sometimes, you may be around people who don't even deserve to see the real you. It's something that should be at your discretion. The goal in life should be to always be in places or with people where you can always be yourself, but the reality is that this isn't always the case, and for some people, it's rarely the case. But, if you believe that's what's necessary, you have to do what you believe is best, because everywhere is not safe for everyone.

[@IdealisticDog]

And so the key becomes the /conscious/ participation in that act, the honest observation of whether to wear a mask. The necessity of limiting ourselves seems baked into our foundations for socialization; a priori and outside of labeling it right or wrong.

[@ccj2]

@@IdealisticDog Yep exactly.

[@Hyperian]

Real and authenticity dont exist when money is involved.

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

Love your content guys! You rock!🎉🎉🎉🎉😊😊😊😊

[@lordJUDE10]

Amazing algorithm. Halfway through this KZbin advert was for beer which kept harping on "authenticity" & "originality"!

[@user-dn8zv9gj1y]

i’m not sure there ever was some underlying “self” to be authentic to in the first place. how could there be when “it” is a culmination of its past changes that is still subject to future change?

[@IllD.]

Great video Wisecrack. I noticed people were getting more and more fake since quarentine and wondered the psychology behind it.

[@keywolf23]

"We are watching each other and are being watched." Ah so we return to Foucault from the Blinkist ad...

[@Silverblood113]

One thing that makes this and other wisecrack videos a little insulated from the “fake realness” phenomenon is the way that michael clearly enjoys his work, teaching and talking about philosophy, but clearly resents the circumstances that dictate many of the day-to-day practical implementations of that work (churning away in the “content mines,” complying with platform content restrictions, reading copy from sponsors (thanks sponsors) and trying to make philosophy SEO-optimized.) This same thing - love of work, disgust with implementation - is something I experience in healthcare, and something that all my friends, in fields from customer service to engineering to artwork, talk about being a daily drag on their lives. Thanks for keeping it as real as possible, guys.

[@bryantgrove6199]

Love Wisecrack.

[@lintaobohan]

"Under a curious delusion, the one cries out incessantly that he has surpassed the other, just as the Copenhageners, with philosophic visage, go out to Dyrehaugen 'in order to see and observe,' without remembering that they themselves become objects for the others, who have also gone out simply to see and observe." - Søren Kierkegaard

[@muttgooch]

Once someone on Facebook asked who I was. I responded, Since we'll never meet offline, I'm whoever you believe I am.

[@Matty002]

the life online was always gonna end up like this. so the obvious strategy would be to never use your real anything. im on my 3rd online identity. i get to be myself without being myself

[@allengordon6929]

Every relationship starts parasocial, and most stay that way. Loving a shadow crosses the line, but not trusting, befriending, helping, working with, paying, or commanding one?

[@SeamusCameron]

Genuinely must be difficult to run a successful KZbin channel when hell is other people.

[@kevpo9990]

I always laugh during these videos, but as soon as they're over, it's back to sadness 😔

[@kibiz0r]

COPS was the first reality TV show. It was okay to record someone having the worst day of their life and memorialize it in a public broadcast, cuz -- yaknow -- they're criminals! But now we do it to ourselves, and we do it because it's... "fun"? To paraphrase Cory Doctorow: "If you want a preview of how you'll be surveilled in 10 years, look at criminals and immigrants. It used to be that if you were on CCTV, it's because you were in prison. Now it's because you splurged on some 'Smart Home' products."

[@sapphichazard]

I admit that I initially kneejerked and almost clicked away when you mentioned Reality TV. It isn't my thing, in more or less any form. But I stuck around, and I'm glad I did. Any day in which I get to hear good Foucault discourse is a day that I can call a good day. Great video. :)

[@oopsy444]

Oh fk did I feel and miss that perspective for a small friend group just relaxing and chatting casually without judgment but with really good snacks and drinks

[@jhmaloney]

"Attaching your authenticity, your perception of yourself, to an online persona, is just as dangerous as identifying as just an American, or just a Gemini..." To me this brings up a really difficult balance that especially people today have to grapple with. How do you experiment with your identity and sense of self without getting lost? I think it's easy to say that the key to authenticity is to be self reflective and thoughtful about which masks you do and do not identify with, but entirely different to actually do it. Especially in a world where getting lost in an identity that something else has created is often to the economic benefit of someone.

[@N0tsaved]

I swear to God it all started with us arguing over THE DRESS™. Once it bled into the collective conscience that your black and blue is not my white and gold, we lost the plot harder than a D&D one shot turning into a planet-saving 3-year campaign.

[@pb_and_nutella]

I like that "good snacks" is part of your most authentic self

[@GNARGNARHEAD]

I'd have to go with that Heraclitus quote, "no man ever steps in the same river twice, "

[@obviouslyPSM]

You’re a bold man for opening that Sandoval drama lol

[@timmyroust]

(Googling "Plausibility Structures" ) : Some sociologists refer to the concept of "plausibility structure" when describing the sociocultural context or "base" for meaning systems. Societywide structures were likely the norm in earlier historical periods. But in a modern, pluralistic society characterized by rapid social change, many diverse groups, each with its own somewhat distinctive plausibility structure, are forced to coexist. For religious groups especially, the very presence of other denominations, sects, and cults carries with it the implication that alternative truth claims are now available to members. As the relativization of meaning systems continues, each group's confidence in the plausibility or certainty of its shared beliefs may become weakened. Sociological research into this phenomenon, particularly among scholars interested in the development and career stages of new religious movements, has examined the factors influencing the strength or relative "firmness" of a given religious plausibility structure (see Snow 1982). Some studies have directed attention to the strategies employed by specific religions in protecting the plausibility of their meaning system from the effects of pluralism and social change. Researchers also have applied the concept to theory construction regarding conversion and defection dynamics as well as the process by which some defectors from religious communities become reintegrated within other groups. hirr.hartsem.edu/ency/Plausibility.htm en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plausibility_structure

[@JC-ex3gp]

Does the hatetred of Mondays make the time go by faster or is it just a wisecrack video?

[@TAKOHUMU]

The line from his teacher is so good

[@guidocampostrini]

it's a complex topic, even with friends the smallest change on what you are supposed to do or be is totally out of place.

[@bgiv2010]

Michael: Check out the link if Blinkist sounds like a good way to spend your limited time..." Me: Because one day we will all die? Michael: ... Because you're very busy... What is wrong with you? Me: I learned too much about philosophy because of your awesome videos!

[@WisecrackEDU]

I mean, would've said that if I could've

[@bgiv2010]

@@WisecrackEDU I am humbled by your reply. Thank you and may you never be replaced by AI. I will notice and I will be sad.

[@TreesPlease42]

thanks for this, hard to stay grounded in this fantasy world

[@gdshMajestic8705]

Our authentic selves are who we are in nature -- i.e. devoid of all the masters, ghosts, and other mechanisms of control imposed upon us by the asylum of society. Anything other than this is absurd because how can anything external to ourselves be part of our authentic selves? Was I inauthentic when this thing external to myself was unknown to me? Am I only authentic now that I have it? Will I become inauthentic if I somehow misplace this thing external to me and beyond my control? How can my true/authentic self contain any element that is external to myself at all? To the question posed, however, can we be authentic? Of course. Be as you are in nature for this is the authentic self. There will, of course, be consequences for living authentically - both positive and negative that may or may not be worth the cost of admission...but one can definitely be authentic if one chooses to be.

[@danny1959]

I'm also a Fender guy. I don't even really know what that means, but I will fight you on it.

[@yelixir]

feels like we're finally getting out of something stupid. this is the edit, I saw smosh in my recommend and it feels like we're going back to something realer

[@jmanj3917]

18:42 I'll do it. You're right about the only thing that is constant is change, but I don't see that as a loss of authenticity provided a person is honest and open to constructive criticism.

[@NormenHansen]

In the past it was way more common to "play a role" when you are interacting with society. Thats why people from the 1800s or early 1900s seem so "stiff" or even eloquent compared to today. But they knew they were doing it. Maybe we could re-discover that for the current times of playing roles on insta and tiktok?

[@fauberkaupfmann982]

Not possible, the "uncultured" or ignorant people would drag you down to their level quickly. Crabs in a bucket is now, society unfortunately.

[@JP-ve7or]

If you're calling for a return to good manners, I think I agree. But it's easy to get caught in a trap. There's a lot of things people didn't allow themselves to do back then because it wasn't "respectable." I'd rather not go back to such limitation.

[@NormenHansen]

@@JP-ve7or I'm more talking about there being awareness about what you present to the public being a role and that you're allowed to embellish that role - all while not pretending that this is who you are when you're in the shower or with your family and friends. That wouldn't require you to hold back on anything but it would require you to fit what you want to say into your chosen role - which might probably come across more well-mannered, yes.

[@meinbherpieg4723]

I think the good faith version of the struggle between authenticity and inauthenticity is the struggle to refine one's mind in order to work toward and achieve a state of "progress". Learning depends on admitting one's initial state of being to be inadequate in relation to achieving either a physical goal, or a mental function. In the act of learning we must shed the idea of who we are, and embrace the idea of who we are becoming. Any number of pitfalls and obstacles are going to be faced when we honestly evaluate our progress toward whatever goal we seek, such as wrestling with our sense of self worth, or our sense of intelligence, or our sense of fallibility. In these states we may feel in authentic because of the stress and anxiety of being in a vulnerable condition where others may presently surpass our abilities. In this state we may forfeit the pursuit of progress in an effort to save our ego's sense of identity and in such a state of conflict question whether we are being authentic to our true selves, or "faking it till we make it". I believe a truly wise person will allow him or herself the self love and compassion we require to assuage our anxieties and build upon our innate preferences while destroying the aspect our psyche's that don't serve our wellbeing, even if those aspects of ego's represent a part of what we think of as our "authentic self". It is as you said in the video, our authentic self is not one state of mind, and is not static, but represents how we move and change in a world that is moving and changing faster than it has ever done so before. We are all in the pit, and good faith effort combined with compassion and empathy are the only ways out.

[@thesimplicitylifestyle]

Could you imagine future people seeing an episode of The Real Housewives without any context? Great episode, as always!

[@PaulThronson]

My wife says Apple I have to go with Google and now my wife says but she likes Oprah a lot too. Don't be evil was a high bar to last

[@javerikr]

Thanks, @WisecrackEDU

[@mateoatehortua3716]

Reading Foucault is hard, I had to do it in my first semester of college and it was quite a challenge.

[@bigmanbighouse1922]

Ermen & Engels Textile Mills was pretty goated

[@getnohappy]

Am I the only person who hasn't worried about my own authenticity? I don't mean this as a luddite brag, just genuine confusion about why it clearly occupies so much of some people's day 😅 just feels like narcissism with a degree 🤷

[@dondevice8182]

“ The most important thing is sincerity, once you can fake that, you’ve got it made” Groucho, IIRC

[@shwnc]

I also share an unrequited love with Fender guitars, what a coincidence. Vox amps for guitar though.

[@SLFKimosabae]

I'm sure this channel knows all about how the Foucauldian Panopticon intersects with Goffmanian Dramaturgy. The concept of shame influencing roles and behaviors shouldn't be anything surprising.

[@OLD.GREASE]

I was actually hoping for nothing but lies, and now I feel cheated.

[@DThron]

Hence our addiction to moralism throughout all points of the political spectrum; this is the result of a the hall of mirrors that is social media. We must appear to be the most unjudgeable version by projecting judgment outward at a wild intensity, creating impossible standards not only for everyone else, but ourselves. The least authentic self we can be.

[@r.g.thesecond]

This might be your best video in 2023 so far. Also didn't know Oscar Wilde was your 3rd grade teacher.

[@parkerballentine9416]

I also had a 3rd grade teacher named Ms. Estes, Michael. It probably wasn’t the same person,but just wanted you to know that I’m a 31 years old with practically no social media presence and this minor coincidence motivated me to make my first KZbin comment ever. Can’t think of a much more authentic reaction than that.

[@Hotshot2k4]

I've been wearing pretty much nothing but Nikes for 10-15 years. When I went to the store to get some new shoes last November, I didn't like the designs that were available in the store, so I decided to try another brand. Surprisingly, my identity did not shatter into a million pieces when I bought them. I like Nike shoes, but I am not a Nike guy - I'm a guy who likes nice shoes - same as most people, I imagine. If there's one thing that can be described as being part of my identity, it's hating advertising in all its forms, and automatically distrusting any and all claims made in advertisements. I am the worst consumer; the more ads I see for something, the less likely I am to buy it or otherwise engage with it.

[@theblckpool]

Thank YOU !

[@sebastianhollmichel9566]

I wonder that Adorno was not mentioned with that conclusion in the end. :D

[@MrCOLBSTAH]

I'm not really sure how I grew up differently than everyone else but I've just never been concerned with reality TV and saw it is all just drama and people like screaming at each other. And i don't try to be other people...

[@larswalsleben3489]

Erwing Goffman might be interesting to read about this subject. "The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life"

[@me0101001000]

There's a phenomenon in Taoism called Wu Wei. It literally means no action, but it more accurately means no forced action. Go with the flow, and let things play out. If you have to force it, it isn't meant to be. I don't think about my authenticity, because the moment I do, I know it's not there. In a world that asks more and more of us each and every day, we don't really need to rise to every occasion. Sometimes it's best to live and let live. If you really want to rise up and act, do it. If not, that's fine as well. Don't concern yourself with your perception. Just act as you will, and let the rest play out. Also, here's an interesting parallel from physics. It's called the double slit experiment. If you shoot light through two slits, you'll get a patterned grating, demonstrating that light is a wave. With alpha particles, you get two straight lines through the slit, demonstrating that they are particles. With an electron, you get the grating when no close observation is carried out. But when you closely observe the electron, the two lines come about. It's like the electron is behaving like a particle when we look, but a wave when we aren't. Spooky, right?

[@BrianKoontz]

The popularization of the Manabe/Wetherald atmospheric model in 1968 started Postmodernity, the belief in approaching human extinction. At that point "nothing really matters, to me" because there is no purpose to society or our lives. We are purely existential agents - everything is a matter of maintaining and supporting the well being of our own consciousness. Under this condition, what unifies us is that belief itself. Previous to Postmodernity, various cultures around the world had their own purposes. Western culture's purpose during Modernity was to reach the center of the universe, a goal absolutely not shared by most other people. During Postmodernity, everyone everywhere believes in approaching human extinction, and that belief acts as a black hole toward every other purpose. So we are "all together" now, but in the way that everyone trapped in a building on fire is unified - a unity in approaching death. The "Brotherhood of Man" has turned very dire. Because we are all traumatized, our culture is dominated by positivity and pretend conflict. Games, sports, virtual competitions stand alongside "treating each other well", the way that nurses and doctors make sure to treat their patients well - we need to give each other good memories to take to the grave. We enjoy complaining about nihilism, to maintain the illusion that there's a positive meaning that nihilism contrasts against. But the Manabe/Wetherald atmospheric model ended the meaning of Nihilism, which requires a positivist opponent to exist at all. After 1968, there is no more Nihilism. It's not that we are Fake exactly, but that none of us have any positive meaning or purpose. We are an existential sludge unable to meaningfully differentiate. Hence the phrase "he's just built different" indicating a faith-based hope to escape the sludge, not meant seriously in any scientific sense, the way that "Superman" is not meant straightforwardly - it's meaning is to demonstrate how pathetic humanity is that we no longer believe in ourselves. Authenticity requires a living world - when the world became Undead, a living death prior to the unliving death of human extinction, authenticity became impossible.

[@andrewbenbow9257]

I work with people and they work me. Almost everyone i work with has assumed an 'authentic' personality we use as a means of social interaction within the acceptable personas we think are allowed. As an adaptive social creature we can recognize what is accepted and those behaviors which alienate us from the structure we exist within. It seems that the afoption of these personas alleviates the necessity to react in a place of the authentic-vulnerable self, thereby creating a 'self' that, though is inauthentic in approach happens to be authentic in a reactionary place. It is easier to be inauthentic in or reaction to our environment and 'survive' than it i as to be who we think we should be. As long as the expectation is that we do not disrupt the medium, are thoughts can at least be our own. If we speak or act against the norm... Well... You know...

[@isamekailmahmud9302]

i mean i can't question everything i do or try out something new all the time but a healthy amount of it would be pretty good

[@sebastianluna4608]

Authenticity can be discovered through reflection and constructed through thoughtful and deliberate choices. Even in an idyllic society we would still have to put on a performance of courtesy and consideration, but it's okay. Performance is a part of interaction in society. Bad faith is not the result if performing in and of itself but of the disconnect between our individual values and the values we present to each other for acceptance. A little reality tv is fun, but if you are fully obsessed with the performance of others, you are cheating yourself out of the opportunity to get to know yourself or actively running away from the assignment.

[@dragonturtle2703]

I think a huge part of the problem is that people are expected to fit in, if not stand out in a good way (which is mostly just exemplifying the normal things better than others), and average isn’t good enough. And these sorts of things have real world consequences, such as austricization and targeting. So even before makeup, plastic surgery, social media, deceptive clothing, etc was invented, you had people lying about their life, their mood, their relationships, their opinions, etc, prioritizing certain luxuries over important things to appear wealthier, attending events that they hate and pretending to love it because that is what the group did and you want to be part of the group right? Etc. It’s the social pressure used since the dawn of humanity to keep each other in line or treat the deviants as enemies because some practices could seriously hurt the group while others are good or neutral and we still seem to have trouble as a species differentiating, so the idea evolutionarily was “if it ain’t broke”, with rebels there to challenge it and lead a revolution when it is indeed broke. None the less, this neither means it is the most effective way to do things, not oppression, nor that is is fully comparable with a society so detached from day to day survival and lacking in immediacy for the consequences of its actions.

[@roaldpage]

I have never been able to stomach most reality tv. Beyond just that the "authenticity" is false, reality tv personalities are shallow caricatures of the worst aspects of human psychology. Not only are their personalities curated for the camera as the video points out, but the aspects most rewarded by the cameras attention are the most petty, selfish and negative, or sensational. Jealousy, suspicion, deceit, plotting, conspiring, and betrayal. The genre feeds off of the social dysfunction inherent in competition, or the conflict of social cliques, encouraging them, while in turn discouraging any true displays of intelligence, empathy, situational awareness, philosophization, or existentential awareness; in either the participant or the viewer.

[@sauravthegreat]

Like how the past few weeks or so, wisecrack be leaning towards extreme dystopian nihilism

[@Delmworks]

Seems like everyone is TBH. We’re overdue for a cultural reckoning one way or another.

[@VeneDrummer]

I moved away from the US because I felt this so much. Everyone always talked about authenticity but it just didn't feel right. Of course it's everywhere but I just couldn't get away from it there

[@Lonesurvivor256]

Where did you go? And is it markedly better? I’ve never been able to travel abroad, unfortunately…

[@VeneDrummer]

@@Lonesurvivor256 hope you get to travel. I live in Mexico now. They have it here too but I think its more humble in a way. I've been in many places around the world. They all have this of course because we live in societies and end up being conformed. But in the US there was this obsession about authenticity.

[@K1ng1995]

I honestly think it's because people want you to be "Their" version of authentic meaning a carbon copy of them.