"Our world is obsessed with authenticity. As I illustrate in my latest book, we want authentic brands, authentic leaders, authentic influencers, and authentic products. "Authenticity" is slapped on labels from organic food to handmade soap to political campaigns. On social media, being "raw" or "real" is the ultimate currency. Even at work, organizations urge us to "bring our whole selves" to the office, as though that were always desirable for anyone involved."
"And now, with AI producing eerily convincing versions of anything we can write, design, or perform, the pressure to prove our human uniqueness has intensified. If ChatGPT can churn out an essay in seconds, then the only way to prove you are "real" is to be louder, quirkier, and more unfiltered than the machine. The more artificial our world becomes, the more fetishized authenticity becomes."
Modern culture fetishizes authenticity across brands, influencers, products, and workplaces. Social media rewards being 'raw' or 'real', and organizations urge employees to 'bring their whole selves' to work. Advances in AI intensify pressure to prove human uniqueness by appearing louder or more unfiltered. Philosophical and historical currents elevated self-expression as a source of meaning after the Enlightenment. Literal 'be yourself' prescriptions can mislead; only those with power can often afford to act without adaptation, and such behavior can backfire. Superior outcomes depend on emotional intelligence—self-control, empathy, and respecting others—rather than maximal authenticity.
Read at Psychology Today
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