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What, if anything, are the benefits of being authentic?
- Thread starter Sunstone
- Start date
Erebus
Well-Known Member
I think that would depend entirely on who we're talking about and what we'd consider a benefit.
If somebody naturally lacks empathy, then being true to themselves may help them make their way in a cut-throat industry, but may prevent them from maintaining a successful relationship. If somebody is naturally cowardly, they may miss out on much that life has to offer, but are perhaps more likely to avoid injuries and untimely death. Somebody generous may be well liked, but also prone to being used. Swings and roundabouts really.
Now, whether or not authenticity is it's own reward is an interesting question. Certainly it's easier to be yourself than to try and maintain a façade. Perhaps in that sense it can be considered it's own reward. However, given the differing natures of humanity, I would be hard pressed to call authenticity inherently rewarding or punishing.
Aren't you always being yourself? Can one help being oneself? Even the things a certain person wouldn't otherwise do, he still did them, so it must be in a part of his nature right? If you keep up a façade that means the authentic you is a you that puts up a façade. Wow.
I sleep well.
Deathbydefault
Apistevist Asexual Atheist
There are likely more bad things that go along with being authentic, but. for the sake of self reflection, I would list dignity as a benefit.
As badly as I may see myself, staying true to who I am has shown me that I have some sense of dignity from not hiding who I am, no matter the treatment received.
I have way too bad a memory to live a lie.
How do we know you're not lying about your bad memory?
Single celled critters aren't known for their veracity.
whether we are authentic in life, we all become organic when we are compost.
we can't escape the truth of who we are and our mortality. that is a basis for our priorities and its up to us to decide what to do with the time we have. when we live a lie we live as if we are already dead because we have become indifferent to ourselves. life demands authenticity if we are to flourish. without authenticity, we will never be truly happy, nor will we ever be able to deal with loss, nor will we learn to forgive or heal because we will only repress our own anger, nor express that hurt and pain that makes us so angry. we will forever be alone for no-one will know who we are, nor know how to love us or who it is who is being loved, nor will we be able to love others because we cannot love ourselves. it is easier to suffer defeat being authentic for those things we value than to enjoy success by perpetrating a fraud out of our existence as lurking in our unconscious is the fear that the lie will be exposed and that the monuments to our existence will crumble to dust. being selfish for things we don't want isn't selfish; being selfless when we place no value on the self is not a question of values, nor meaning or purpose because we have no self to sacrifice and so have given nothing. death necessitates authenticity because it is the only way to face it without fear that we have meant nothing to others, by living a life in which we meant nothing to ourselves. why live in fear of ourselves when the darkness will find us soon enough? there will be the rest of eternity to be nothing.
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Pudding
Well-Known Member
Depends on situation.
In the situation of being authentic to oneself as homosexual and out of the closet into the public, there are benefits and disadvantages in itself.
The benefits can be to see who're your true friends and who're not, who you should spend your time on, be true to yourself and don't have to constantly lie to others or have fake marriage to have an identity cover.
The disadvantages can be some/many people include friends or family will be look down and discriminating upon you, the family brings the young people to conversion camp which often result in harming the young people, the family stop care for the young people or adult and treat them discriminatingly, job prejudice, social prejudice, dangers if one's religion will persecute oneself according to the religion's moral/law. ("you" doesn't necessarily means to direct at anyone or the op, so don't take it personally)
Same can also apply to misogyny if the majority people in society or any group oneself is in embrace it and one'll openly oppose it which can leads to trouble for oneself.
Pudding
Well-Known Member
Be authentic to somethings like one is being authentic being himself a criminal/terrorist can also have benefits and disadvantages about it.
The benefits will be he may have risky chance to gain what his goal for being a criminal/terrorist through his action.
The disadvantages will be many people/police/country will oppose his criminal/terrorism acts, he will probably receive bad consequences for his action.
The benefits will be he may have risky chance to gain what his goal for being a criminal/terrorist through his action.
The disadvantages will be many people/police/country will oppose his criminal/terrorism acts, he will probably receive bad consequences for his action.
That's a very interesting take on authenticity. But it would seem to rest on the notion that there is no such thing as one's nature apart from anything and everything one does. Yet, we know, for instance, that people have varying talents for different things. Some people seem to have a talent for languages, others for mathematics, others for athletics, and so on. Again, genetics tells us that many -- perhaps all -- individual character traits have a genetic component to them. Sometimes that component is estimated to be, say, 20% responsible for the trait in question, sometimes 85% responsible, and so forth. For those and other reasons, I think it's a reasonably safe bet that humans do indeed have individual natures -- along with their collective nature as humans, and not, say, as ducks.
But if that's the case, if humans do indeed have individual natures, then it is conceivable that not all actions or behaviors are equally in line with one's individual nature. Put differently, not all behaviors are equally authentic or equally true to oneself.
To a degree. Authenticity opposes other people's manipulations and give one back a lot of his or her own joy. But it can also be rather lonely.
BSM1
What? Me worry?
When (or if) I ever reach authenticity (and realize it) I'll let you know.
Papoon
Active Member
Authenticity means you save yourself a lot of work. The alternative is high maintenance.
I'm not in a position to do a study but my gut senses that authenticity would correlate with self esteem.
Another benefit is the freedom to speak and behave spontaneously - no cover to blow, or intrigue to second guess.
And it's nice and quiet in here
Being truthful, being authentic means conflict free relationship between one's mind and intellect -- that leads to infinite benefits.
Kilgore Trout
Misanthropic Humanist
It seems to me that people who are actually authentic, as few as there are, aren't really capable of being otherwise - and, people who aren't authentic, aren't really capable of being authentic.