the self

But forget the closeness of a tightly-knit community to soothe our aching hearts. Most of us will settle for something far more basic: evidence of our existence. Talking about ourselves is one way to prove we exist. Nowhere is this phenomenon more apparent than in the parasocial pseudo-intimacy of the influencer economy. When I see an influencer... See more

authenticity is a slippery thing. Although most people would define authenticity as acting in accordance with your idiosyncratic set of values and qualities, research has shown that people feel most authentic when they conform to a particular set of socially approved qualities, such as being extroverted, emotionally stable, conscientious,... See more

They say that social situations will reveal who you are because personality is relative and you don’t have anybody to compare yourself to when you’re alone. I like how the poet John O’Donohue put it when he wrote: “In the presence of the other, you begin to see who you are in how they reflect you back to yourself.”