#authenticity-debate

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fromLGBTQ Nation
2 hours ago

These 10 banned LGBTQ+ books for teens and young adults teach resilience & authenticity - LGBTQ Nation

In his 'memoir-manifesto', Johnson writes personal essays about navigating homophobia, their supportive family, and their first sexual experiences while growing up Black and queer in the South. Johnson ultimately encourages readers to shed society's toxic masculinity and embrace themselves fully.
LGBT
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
1 day ago

I'm 34 and I just noticed that I've been describing my own life to friends in the same tone I'd use to describe someone else's, and that distance turned out to be the actual problem, not the events I was describing - Silicon Canals

Self-distancing can help manage emotions, but relying on it too much can create a disconnect from one's own life experiences.
fromA Philosopher's Blog
1 week ago

Success, Failure & Chance

Sorting out the role of chance in success is both interesting and important. One reason it is important to sort out chance is to provide a rational basis for praise or blame (and any accompanying reward or punishment).
Philosophy
fromWIRED
1 day ago

The Online Civil War About 'Michael' Is a Battle Over Truth

Musically, Jackson was in a class all his own. He remains, even in death, one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with 13 number one singles and countless awards.
Independent films
fromThe New Yorker
3 days ago

Why Earnestness Is Everywhere

"We've just seen too much awful stuff, and it's impossible to ironize. The only sane response to that is to kind of sober up and say, 'All right, what resources do humans still have?'"
Humor
Arts
fromHyperallergic
4 days ago

Can an Artwork Have Personhood?

Contemporary artists are blurring the lines between human and nonhuman, raising questions about personhood and the implications of art interactions.
#authenticity
Fashion & style
fromSilicon Canals
2 days ago

Nobody tells you that the most attractive version of yourself might not arrive until your late 40s - after you've stopped dressing for approval and started dressing like someone who already knows who they are - Silicon Canals

Authenticity and comfort in one's own skin are more attractive than trying to conform to societal expectations.
Mental health
fromSilicon Canals
3 weeks ago

I'm 37 and the friendships in my life that have lasted are the ones where we stopped pretending - stopped curating what we showed each other, stopped performing the version of our lives that made sense on paper - and what replaced the pretending is the best thing I have built in the last decade - Silicon Canals

Authentic friendships emerge when individuals drop their facades and share their true struggles with each other.
Fashion & style
fromSilicon Canals
2 days ago

Nobody tells you that the most attractive version of yourself might not arrive until your late 40s - after you've stopped dressing for approval and started dressing like someone who already knows who they are - Silicon Canals

Authenticity and comfort in one's own skin are more attractive than trying to conform to societal expectations.
Mental health
fromSilicon Canals
3 weeks ago

I'm 37 and the friendships in my life that have lasted are the ones where we stopped pretending - stopped curating what we showed each other, stopped performing the version of our lives that made sense on paper - and what replaced the pretending is the best thing I have built in the last decade - Silicon Canals

Authentic friendships emerge when individuals drop their facades and share their true struggles with each other.
fromThe Atlantic
3 days ago

Since When Is Looting a Form of Virtue Signaling?

"I think that stealing from a big box store-I'll just state my platform-it's neither very significant as a moral wrong, nor is it significant in any way as protest or direct action."
Social justice
Careers
fromEntrepreneur
4 days ago

Polished Personas Are Out - People Want Authenticity Instead

Great leadership requires clear communication, self-confidence, authenticity, and the ability to connect with diverse audiences.
Retirement
fromSilicon Canals
4 days ago

Psychology says the real reason being over 60 is so hard isn't aging itself its that modern culture has no framework for dignity without productivity and once you stop producing economic value, you're left to privately work out whether you still matter, in a culture that quietly keeps telling you that you don't - Silicon Canals

Retirement often leads to an identity crisis as individuals struggle with the loss of purpose and societal expectations of productivity.
Social media marketing
fromSilicon Canals
4 days ago

Psychology says the people who look the wealthiest on Instagram often aren't the ones with money, they're the ones who got trapped in a performance they can't figure out how to stop without admitting who they've quietly become - Silicon Canals

Instagram serves as a stage for performance rather than a window into real lives, often trapping users in a cycle of impression management.
Books
fromThe Atlantic
4 days ago

Eight Biographies That Really Bring Their Subjects to Life

Literary biography requires a delicate balance of reverence and creativity to portray a subject's life authentically and humanely.
Relationships
fromSilicon Canals
6 days ago

Most people don't realize that the sharpest loneliness in midlife isn't having no friends - it's having friends who knew an earlier version of you and have no interest in meeting who you've become - Silicon Canals

Loneliness in midlife often stems from friends not updating their understanding of each other, rather than a lack of social connections.
Mindfulness
fromSilicon Canals
6 days ago

I just realized I've never once made a major life decision based on what I wanted - every single one was based on what seemed reasonable to the people watching - Silicon Canals

Living a reasonable life based on others' expectations can lead to feelings of emptiness and disconnection from one's true desires.
UX design
fromMedium
1 week ago

Are we makers by nature-or consumers by design?

The relationship between creation and consumption is strained, impacting designers' creativity and cognitive processes.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
20 hours ago

Psychology says the people described as having a strong personality aren't dominant or difficult, they're the ones who stopped softening themselves to make every room comfortable, and what reads as intensity from the outside is just the absence of the apology most people are still adding to every sentence - Silicon Canals

People often misinterpret strong personalities as difficult, but they may simply be unafraid to express themselves without apology.
Philosophy
Society grapples with accepting mortality while simultaneously resisting control over death, creating a tension in attitudes toward life extension and end-of-life choices.
#loneliness
Mental health
fromSilicon Canals
1 week ago

Psychology says the most dangerous form of loneliness isn't being alone. It's being surrounded by people while performing a version of yourself that none of them would recognize if they saw you at home on a Sunday afternoon. - Silicon Canals

The gap between one's public persona and private self creates a profound sense of loneliness.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
5 days ago

Psychology says the loneliest form of love isn't being unloved its being adored for a version of yourself you've been performing so long that the real you has started to feel like the imposter - Silicon Canals

The worst loneliness is being loved for a false self that no longer exists.
Mental health
fromSilicon Canals
1 week ago

Psychology says the most dangerous form of loneliness isn't being alone. It's being surrounded by people while performing a version of yourself that none of them would recognize if they saw you at home on a Sunday afternoon. - Silicon Canals

The gap between one's public persona and private self creates a profound sense of loneliness.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
5 days ago

Psychology says the loneliest form of love isn't being unloved its being adored for a version of yourself you've been performing so long that the real you has started to feel like the imposter - Silicon Canals

The worst loneliness is being loved for a false self that no longer exists.
#art
Arts
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 week ago

Art, sex, nature: why is everything sold to us as a means to an end, rather than an end in itself?

Art should be valued for its own sake, not merely for its utilitarian benefits or health claims.
Arts
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 week ago

Art, sex, nature: why is everything sold to us as a means to an end, rather than an end in itself?

Art should be valued for its own sake, not merely for its utilitarian benefits or health claims.
#identity
fromSilicon Canals
1 week ago
Bootstrapping

The reason some men never move forward in life has nothing to do with motivation or discipline - it's that they built their entire identity around a version of themselves that stopped being true years ago, and starting over feels like admitting it was all wasted - Silicon Canals

fromSilicon Canals
1 week ago
Psychology

Psychology says people who are warm in public but distant in private aren't being fake in either setting - they've built an entire social identity around the version of themselves that performs well in rooms and they genuinely don't know who shows up when the room is empty - Silicon Canals

Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
2 weeks ago

I realized recently that I've spent years becoming whoever the room needed me to be - and now I honestly can't tell the difference between what I actually enjoy and what I've just been pretending to for so long it stuck - Silicon Canals

Constantly adapting to others' expectations can lead to losing touch with one's authentic self and preferences.
Bootstrapping
fromSilicon Canals
1 week ago

The reason some men never move forward in life has nothing to do with motivation or discipline - it's that they built their entire identity around a version of themselves that stopped being true years ago, and starting over feels like admitting it was all wasted - Silicon Canals

Many individuals struggle to update their identities after past failures, clinging to outdated self-perceptions.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
1 week ago

Psychology says people who are warm in public but distant in private aren't being fake in either setting - they've built an entire social identity around the version of themselves that performs well in rooms and they genuinely don't know who shows up when the room is empty - Silicon Canals

People may develop a polished public persona that overshadows their true self, leading to a disconnect between social performance and personal identity.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
2 weeks ago

I realized recently that I've spent years becoming whoever the room needed me to be - and now I honestly can't tell the difference between what I actually enjoy and what I've just been pretending to for so long it stuck - Silicon Canals

Constantly adapting to others' expectations can lead to losing touch with one's authentic self and preferences.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
2 days ago

Some people who appear completely unbothered by criticism haven't stopped caring what others think. They've just moved the audience inside, and now they answer to a version of themselves that never gives them a day off - Silicon Canals

Internalized criticism often masquerades as resilience, leading to preemptive self-critique before external feedback is received.
Marketing tech
fromForbes
2 weeks ago

4 Ways To Stay Authentic In The Age Of AI

Consumer backlash against AI in advertising stems from a perceived lack of authenticity, not the technology itself.
Psychology
fromPsychology Today
2 days ago

The Freedom of Accepting That Not Everyone Will Accept You

Exhaustion can stem from seeking validation from someone who is emotionally inconsistent and untrustworthy.
#philosophy
Writing
fromThe Atlantic
2 weeks ago

The Feeling of Becoming Less and Less of a Person

The advent of the smartphone marked a significant shift in human perception and relationships, altering the human sensorium since June 2007.
fromThe Atlantic
3 weeks ago

How Some People Became So Averse to Hype

Anna Holmes defines 'hype aversion' as a reflex against being told what to like, suggesting that popularity can create pressure rather than signal quality. This feeling can lead to a deliberate choice to resist mainstream culture.
Media industry
Design
fromDesign Milk
3 weeks ago

OUTSIDERS Investigates the Space Between Society and Solitude

Modern design challenges conventional public seating to enhance social interaction and presence in urban spaces.
Graphic design
fromThe Verge
3 weeks ago

Really, you made this without AI? Prove it

Labeling human-made content is essential as AI-generated works proliferate, creating confusion and skepticism among audiences.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
2 days ago

Psychology says the people who finally meet themselves in their 60s and 70s aren't reinventing anything, they're meeting the original person who got buried under decades of being useful to everyone else, and the relief they feel is recognition, not discovery - Silicon Canals

Retirement can lead to self-discovery, revealing the original self buried under roles and responsibilities.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
3 days ago

Psychology says the hardest truth about aging isn't that your body slows down - it's that you become invisible in rooms you used to command, and most people never acknowledge this shift because it implies something they're not ready to admit about how much of their identity was built on being seen - Silicon Canals

Aging invisibly is a significant issue, where older individuals feel unnoticed and undervalued in social contexts.
Writing
fromSilicon Canals
3 weeks ago

I'm 66 and the most important relationship of my adult life has been with solitude - not as a consolation for the company I didn't have, but as the place where I have always been most honest, most creative, and most recognizably myself, and I spent too many years being embarrassed about that before I understood it was simply how I was built - Silicon Canals

Solitude allows for self-discovery and personal reflection, free from societal expectations and external pressures.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
4 days ago

The quietest kind of exhaustion belongs to people who translate themselves into a different version for every social context in a single day, and by evening they aren't tired from activity, they're tired from the number of identities they had to maintain - Silicon Canals

Identity-switching fatigue is a modern epidemic caused by the need to perform different roles throughout the day.
Books
fromThe Atlantic
3 weeks ago

How Long Can You Live Your Ideals?

Pat Calhoun chooses parenthood over radicalism, paralleling Elsa Haddish's struggle between her militant past and raising her daughter safely.
fromPhilosophynow
3 weeks ago

What do I have to fear, have I ever diminished by dying?

What do I have to fear, have I ever diminished by dying? I died as lifeless matter and became growing vegetation, then I died as a plant and reached animality. I died as an animal and became human.
Psychology
fromPsychology Today
6 days ago

The Cost of Being the Person Everyone Likes

Overly agreeable individuals conceal significant negative feelings while creating a facade of closeness, leading to personal exhaustion and relationship challenges.
Digital life
fromFast Company
1 month ago

Is AI killing the human voice in writing?

Predictive language technologies challenge individual expression by influencing how writers generate and complete their thoughts.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
6 days ago

Psychology says people who are liked by everyone but have no close friends have perfected the art of being liked without ever being known - and the distance between those two things is where their loneliness actually lives, invisible to everyone who enjoys their company and unbearable to the person providing it - Silicon Canals

Mastering likability can lead to isolation, as it prevents genuine connections and vulnerability with others.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
1 week ago

There's a specific kind of person who volunteers the embarrassing story about themselves before anyone else can bring it up, and it isn't self-deprecation. It's copyright. If they tell it first, they get to decide what it means. - Silicon Canals

Claiming the narrative of an embarrassing story prevents others from defining its meaning, rather than demonstrating humility.
Arts
fromHyperallergic
1 month ago

Social Malpractice in the Age of Cultural Compliance

Socially engaged art faces challenges in a world increasingly hostile to independent thought and public expression.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
1 week ago

I'm in my thirties and I finally understand that the friendships I lost weren't lost because I changed. They were lost because I stopped performing the version of me that made the relationship possible, and nobody told me that was what had been holding it together - Silicon Canals

Friendships often end not due to change, but when one person stops the emotional labor that sustains them.
fromPhilosophynow
3 weeks ago

Life Sacrifice

The widespread practice of showing the Eid Al Adha slaughtering to children can desensitize them to violence, as many families take pride in this tradition.
Philosophy
fromFuturism
1 month ago

Novel Pulled From Shelves After Author Is Accused of Using AI

Hachette remains committed to protecting original creative expression and storytelling. The company requires all submissions to be original to the authors and that the authors disclose whether AI is used during the writing process.
Books
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
2 weeks ago

People who stop trying to be liked are often accused of having an attitude - by the people who most benefited from them having none - Silicon Canals

Setting boundaries often leads to others perceiving you as difficult or having an attitude problem, despite unchanged competence.
Miscellaneous
fromPsychology Today
1 month ago

The Authenticity Myth

Authenticity and intentional personal change are compatible; accepting current patterns while working to shift unhelpful traits enables genuine growth without self-rejection.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
2 weeks ago

Nobody warns you that when you stop caring what everyone thinks, you also discover which of your relationships were held together entirely by your willingness to be whoever the other person needed - Silicon Canals

Stopping people-pleasing leads to a necessary audit of relationships, revealing which ones are genuine and which are based on expectations.
Arts
fromArtnet News
1 month ago

Are We Entering a Post-Individual Era of Art? | Artnet News

Artist Christopher Kulendran Thomas explores how technology reshapes human identity through AI-generated imagery, deepfake interviews, and installations examining political systems and future trajectories.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
2 weeks ago

The version of you that exists in your best friend's memory and the version that exists in your own are so different that if they met, they might not recognize each other. And the distance between those two versions is usually the exact shape of whatever you refuse to believe about yourself. - Silicon Canals

Self-perception often conflicts with how others see us, revealing deeper issues of self-deception and internalized beliefs about who we are allowed to be.
Psychology
fromPsychology Today
2 weeks ago

Stop Pretending to Be Happy

Emotional acceptance leads to healthier processing of feelings, while suppression prolongs negative emotions and creates incongruence between feelings and expressions.
Books
fromSlate Magazine
2 months ago

Are We Just Recycling Old Stories, Ideas, and Styles?

21st-century culture is abundant and accessible but suffers an innovation deficit, leaving a "blank space" where original cultural creation should emerge.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
1 month ago

I'm 37 and I realized last year that I've been measuring my worth by how useful I am to people - and I genuinely don't know who I am when no one needs me - Silicon Canals

Identity can be heavily tied to being useful to others, leading to a crisis when that role is absent.
Arts
fromHyperallergic
2 months ago

We Must Do More Than Simply Depict Our Lives

The Bronx Museum biennial spotlights representational works that center urban youth and marginalized identities, challenging mainstream narratives through sincere, everyday portrayals.
Arts
fromHyperallergic
2 months ago

Art Problems: Should I Sell My Work to People Whose Politics I Hate?

Artists can refuse to sell work to MAGA supporters and should prioritize values over financial gain, though consequences vary by financial situation and institutional leverage.
Arts
fromHyperallergic
2 months ago

A Surprisingly Enjoyable Show About Critical Theory

Echo Delay Reverb examines French critical theory's influence on American art, highlighting Francophone thinkers and artworks addressing labor, incarceration, materiality, and formal contrasts.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
1 month ago

The friends who knew you before you became successful, before the career and the curated life, are irreplaceable for a reason nobody talks about. They're the only people who can remind you what you wanted before you learned what you were supposed to want. - Silicon Canals

Old friends preserve memories of your authentic self before success reshaped your identity, serving as cognitive anchors that prevent losing sight of your original values and desires.
Philosophy
fromPsychology Today
1 month ago

Understanding Existential Psychology in a Global Context

Existential psychology was first labeled in the West but does not belong to the West; cultural humility and global dialogue are essential for advancing existential therapy across diverse contexts.
Philosophy
fromThe Philosopher
2 months ago

On Being and Appearing: Social Reproduction and the Family Form

The family operates as the social form of appearance that conceals and shapes unwaged reproductive labour within capitalist value relations.
fromwww.theguardian.com
2 months ago

Move over stoics! Why we should all embrace nihilism and discover what really matters in life | Gemma Parker

I was suspicious, even cynical, about what the world insisted was vital to the life of my unborn child. I was partly sceptical because so much of the advice I was getting was contradictory. But I was also suspicious because I'd spent most of my 20s reading Nietzsche. Nietzsche is not, perhaps, a natural choice for a young mother. But he helps to fuel certain questions about values, and purpose, that are central to questions of care.
Philosophy
Psychology
fromPsychology Today
1 month ago

Why You Don't Have to Choose Just One Version of Yourself

Humans possess multiple self-aspects across different roles and contexts, and greater self-complexity provides psychological resilience against stress and setbacks.
Philosophy
fromApaonline
1 month ago

The Humanities Challenge: Expanding the Circle of Philosophy

Philosophy offers transformative insights and vision into human life, and public humanities must evolve beyond traditional academic formats to make philosophy accessible to broader audiences through innovative, engaging methods.
fromApaonline
2 months ago

Philosophy, Technology, and Mortality

This APA Blog series has broadly explored philosophy and technology with a throughline on the influence of technology and AI on well-being. This month's post brings those themes into focus recounting a vital Washington Post Opinion piece by friend of the APA Blog, Samuel Kimbriel. Samuel is the founding director of the Aspen Institute's Philosophy and Society Initiative and Editor at Large for Wisdom of Crowds. We collaborated on a Substack Newsletter about intellectual ambition, building on his essay, Thinking is Risky.
Philosophy
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
1 month ago

The friends you made before you learned to perform are the ones who feel like home. Not because they're better people, but because they met you before you built the version of yourself that everyone else knows. - Silicon Canals

Childhood friendships feel uniquely comfortable because those friends remember your authentic self before you learned to manage impressions and curate your identity.
Psychology
fromPsychology Today
1 month ago

How to Break Free From Expectations and Live Authentically

A child's self-worth and life choices become distorted when built on a parent's fabricated achievements and false expectations.
fromSilicon Canals
1 month ago

There is a specific kind of loneliness that comes from being surrounded by people who only know the version of you that keeps everything together - Silicon Canals

The better you are at managing your emotions, the less emotional support people offer you. It's not cruelty. It's perceptual bias. People take your composure at face value because it's efficient for them to do so. A study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that people consistently underestimate the emotional needs of those they perceive as high copers.
Psychology
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