That sounds about right.
So, to answer your question, yes, I do think we're all suffering from a dire lack of authenticity. We
live in a fairly superficial world, full of synthetic happiness and
plastic distractions. Junk food, junk news, junk politics, junk ideas,
junk religion, junk junk, and junk junk junk.
Let's face it: We're addicted to fantasy and escape. We see it in the promises of advertisers and politicians. Our entertainment is all about slipping away from this (the real) world into a "better," created one. We so desperately want to believe things that can't possibly be real because when we look at how our world actually operates our first reaction is "This can't possibly be real." Our stories, our religions, our consumer fantasies, they all promise some version of transcendence and ascension, some way out, a Stairway to Heaven, so to speak. (Solo!)
Now of course, the folks who want to sell us things have picked up on this need of ours and so this word is all over the ad copy. Not only are you getting artisanal whole grain flavor, you're getting authentic artisanal whole grain flavor. Like so many other perfectly useful words, this one is just more sales talk to fool you into buying. As a result, Authenticity is also sold as a commodity unto itself. We're told that one of the attractive features of our disaster presidents was "he's so authentic" To which I say I really don't expect anyone to vote for the authentic turd I left in the toilet this morning but then, I may be ignoring the lessons of 2016.
Maybe if CNN runs my poop's rallies all day every day it will have a chance in the primaries. Because believe me, my poop's rallies are really something. (I'll leave you to your own comparisons and analogies. I think I've done enough here.)
(Ahem.)
So, perhaps it's not simply authenticity that we're in dire need of. Perhaps it's something like authentic goodness. But what the hell is authentic goodness? McDonald's french fries are authentically good and are made out salted cardboard. So what the F'n D, man?
I lot of my ideals and examples of "goodness" are drawn from art, specifically, guitar music. Part of what I love about super-advanced guitar playing is there's no way to fake it. The first three rows of any guitar concert is populated with super-advanced guitar players (and those who wish to be) and you can read high level players talking about the pressure of having all these eyeballs watching every move. In fact, the first time I went to such a concert, one of the big questions I had was "How is this guy gonna pull off all that impossible stuff he did in the studio?" The answer is simple: They can really play like that. They are authentic virtuosos. And in a world where you find out studio tricks and collaborators and whole hidden industries exist to fool us into thinking we're getting "the real deal," I remember standing there and being deeply happy as I watched this guy tear through these impossible guitar parts live. Tears rolling down my cheeks as I realized the level of execution I was witnessing. Add that this particular player also dances the parts, looks everywhere but the guitar neck, and leads a band of some of the world's top musicians while doing things that literally have to be seen to be believed. That to me is authenticity. Being able to pull it off at will because you really can. Having the facility at your fingertips because you've put in the hours.
And in working through this little thought blot, I'm put back in touch with the knowledge that I have no big answers and I still don't really know anything. But I want to. And that desire is authentic.
[Out joke goes here!]
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