On Authenticity, what are your claims?
I don’t know where I’ve read it exactly (might have been Seth’s purple cow but I’m not sure) but on the Internet if people perceive you to be an expert in something, you are an expert.
Somehow I find this very dangerous, I’ve been blogging on several topics over the past months and already I have the feeling of people somehow looking up to me. Imagine the influence a blogger has who has been blogging for years.
Take myself for instance. For all you know I might be an elderly lady living in Canada somewhere bored out of my skull and in a flash of insanity decide to impersonate a 26 year old Dutch guy who’s into zen, personal development and lifestyle design.
Think about it, all you’ve seen from me is a single photo, I’ve never done a video blogpost, no podcasts or anything. Even the few people I’ve been talking to through google talk or twitter have never seen anything else than that one picture (no wait, a second picture of me in a suit which was also the picture I used on this blog a while back) and never heard my voice or anything.
How do you know I’m “the real deal”? How do you know I’m who I say I am. For that matter, how do you know who’s real on the Internet, who’s authentic. In most cases you’re limited to blind faith, you might get proof through a video blog, more pictures or other visuals and audio but can you every be certain? This is actually a recurring theme in zen. Only through experiencing for yourself can you be sure to some extent. Reading about it, hearsay, or whatever other channels won’t do it for you. It’s part of beginner’s mind, everything is new and what’s in front of you has never before been nor will it ever be again.
How do you know it’s hard to breathe on top of Mt. Everest, have you ever been there? It’s highly plausible, but you don’t actually know do you… If you start going to college with this attitude you’re in trouble, no textbook could ever teach you something, you’d have to experience everything for yourself.
“Breaking your neck and damaging your spinal cord on the C3 level will paralyze your respiratory muscles and without an iron lung, you will die”
“yeah right, that’s what you’re claiming, but is it true?”
“Allow me to demonstrate….”
-Famous last words of a medical student
Anyone can claim just about anything on the Internet and as soon as someone believes it, it’s true all of a sudden. It’s like the guy in a white coat and a stethoscope in a commercial. Somehow people think he’s a doctor and so what he’s saying is true. Dangerous.
You can’t do anything about it, everyone can claim anything, either you believe them or you don’t. But be sensible about it, if someone has something to gain by making a certain claim alarm bells should go off at the very least.
On the other hand you could trust in the honesty of other humans.
Who’s authentic on the Internet… … I’d like to believe I am but I can’t prove it beyond the shadow of a doubt without us meeting face to face and that would be a bit impractical now wouldn’t it (Traveling isn’t good for my old Canadian bones).
Are you who you claim to be? Are you authentic? How can you prove it?
very very dangerous stuff…. like my dad used to warn me, “don’t believe everything you read” still applies, even if it happens to be on a monitor instead of on paper.
(and incidentally I thought you were Canadian simply because I am!)
The truth of it is, if what you are writing is helping someone lead a better life and reach their goals of simplicity and balance, then you are doing a great service (expert or no).
The other point I’d like to bring up is how many EXPERTS do not live what they are experts in, for example the doctors that smoke or the police that steal! I think anyone that LIVES what they are teaching is the true expert….
Christaan, I don’t care who you are really. I’d like to think you are who you are, but if what you say 1) makes sense with what else I know about the world and 2) works for me, then it really doesn’t matter.
I don’t have a case of guruitis or expertitis. You can be a total fake and still give good advice or tell the truth in your articles. Experts of all kinds totally disagree. It’s up to each person to discover the truth with help from various sources of information. I’m by nature skeptical and I worship nobody.
Thanks!
Hmm interesting point .. but in your case does it matters .. that’s my question to myself ? Say you are an old person writing under the name of Christiaan .. As long your thoughts are clicking and resonating with my logic .. I am fine with what you are .
Regards
Sudeep
That’s what blogs are for. Through all of your writing we can usually tell what kind of person you are and if you are telling the truth. There are many cases on the internet though that it’s hard to tell whether a person is telling the truth or if they are just writing anything they can for money. Usually they don’t last long though so the ones that stick around tend to be trustworthy.
“Authenticity” has been a key theme for me. I love authentic people regardless of their field, interests, occupation, or any other artificial categorization.
Authentic people need to be supported because they are scarce. Support your local bands, artists, authors, bloggers and whoever you think is doing cool things.
I understand that you are using word in a slightly different way. I feel that it is not up to individuals to prove they are “authentic” or not. I believe it is entirely for others to decide. It is too hard to fake being real, so the impostors will be discovered over time.
You could very well be my 89 year old grandmother in a small town in Canada. It doesn’t matter one iota. If you are doing what you believe in and you are choosing your own path in life, then I respect that and will continue to support your efforts. Your Dutch guise doesn’t fool me one bit grandma.