FREE THOUGHT: Authenticity & Uniqueness

Discussion in 'Human Science' started by Novalis, Nov 24, 2015.

  1. Novalis Registered Member

    Messages:
    55
    Hi Folks!

    Long time, eh?

    Previously I had posted a thread on Originality, now I aim to investigate two other concepts: Authenticity and Uniqueness.

    You know the drill:

    Short bursts, sentences, paragraphs --- all are welcome.

    LET THE DISCUSSION BEGIN.

    ____________________________________________________________________

    Authenticity and uniqueness: The first is rather a redundant and obnoxious concept to begin with and the latter --- even more so.

    Authenticity insists that ideas must be genuine and person specific, which brings us to the whole case against plagiarism. Ideas are not singular; the same idea or concept can exist in two places at once, for ex: you live in Japan and I live in America and one day you come up with a genius marketing plan to sell polka dotted t shirts only to find out I had previously done that years ago. Did I steal your idea? Did I plagiarize your ideas? Was that an authentic thought you had?

    Authenticity can't exist simply because our thoughts, opinions, beliefs, convictions, etc are all determined by what we are exposed to. And if two people are exposed to the same things then eventually their ideas will collide. It is inevitable and natural.

    Uniqueness on the other hand is an inherent quality. When we try to enhance this inner uniqueness outwardly, we risk homogenizing ourselves with the group (who are also trying to do this) and thusly rendering the whole meaning obsolete.

    _____________________________________________________________________

    Questions for you:

    Do you think Authenticity is a fair standard we should uphold? Should we redefine it?

    Can you outwardly express your inner uniqueness without losing some of it?



    Thanks!!!


    Ciao
     
    Last edited: Nov 24, 2015
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  3. Beer w/Straw Transcendental Ignorance! Valued Senior Member

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    Uh... For both, the first thing to come to mind was everybody in the math exam room getting the same answers.

    i.e I don't really understand what you're asking.


    And on the other hand, we are social animals that have to grow up, learn from each other and from the past. It is in our nature.
     
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  5. exchemist Valued Senior Member

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    It looks to me as though you may be confusing authenticity and originality. It is the latter that requires no one else has thought, said, written or done something before, not authenticity. Authenticity means genuineness, certainly. Or acting in good faith, or being real, as opposed to fake, and so on. So the issues you mention that may precondition us to have similar patterns of thought do not preclude authenticity in any way, it seems to me - though they most certainly would make it harder to be original.

    Regarding "outward expression" of uniqueness, you seem to make a tacit assumption that everyone is unique in a way can be somehow "expressed". Clearly it is literally true that no two people can be identical and thus they are, logically speaking, unique. But I think a lot of attempts to express what I would prefer to call "individuality" only go to reinforce how similar many of us are to many of our fellow citizens! I recall this from my time as a student. The vogue then (the 70s) was for long hair to show rebellion against the previous generation.....with the result that everyone had to have long hair or be thought "square" - thus reinforcing a new form of conformity!

    I think myself that the uniqueness of an individual is something that cannot be shouted by that person from the rooftops. It can be appreciated, over time, by those who take the trouble to get to know them. People who want to assert their individuality or uniqueness too strongly generally end up copying someone else and are thus thus doomed to fail! So yes, I rather agree with your conclusion on this point.
     
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  7. Novalis Registered Member

    Messages:
    55
    This is true. But the way we go around advertising the importance of Authenticity, Originality, and Uniqueness is rather contrary to
    human capability. We need to get rid of the stigma attached to being ordinary - because that's what we are: Outwardly generic, ordinary individuals who differ internally in terms of thoughts, dreams, and genetic makeup.
     
  8. Novalis Registered Member

    Messages:
    55

    Thank you so much! A few more question for you, dear Exchemist:
    What's your opinion on being labelled 'ordinary ' or having your thoughts and ideas labelled 'ordinary' ? Does it lower your self esteem? Does it invoke some sort of emotional reaction in you? Would you feel less complied to pursue your ideas after having them called ordinary?
     
  9. exchemist Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    12,451
    That depends. If my ideas were negative, say to do with worries or fears, it might be reassuring to know they were ordinary and shared by many others. For example, when I was rowing competitively it was very powerful to know that the thoughts you get from the physical stress - that you can't go on and that the other guy is going to beat you - are normal physiological responses and can be set to one side while you focus on rowing as effectively as you can. If the ideas in question were things I had hoped were exceptional, then having them called ordinary would be deflating, of course.

    I have a feeling you have some ulterior purpose in asking these questions.
     
  10. Novalis Registered Member

    Messages:
    55
    Oh, no motives lol

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

    Late night thoughts.

    Just trying to get a temperature guage at where society is at, I guess.
     
  11. Spellbound Banned Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,623
    "What is acceptable is not what we create for ourselves, but what everyone else does. Altering this requires you to manipulate the energies (plural) that travel through one's body and skin. There is no stimulus besides what's going on in our own bodies."

    -Bhagavad Gita

    My question is how do we manipulate those energies? The whole point is to flush out the negative energies and revive the positive energies. Isn't this just the nervous system? Does it depend on what we eat, our posture, our beliefs, etc.?
     

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