Survival Of The Real-est

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By Jay Walljasper - Excerpt of article appearing in Ode issue: 35 http://www.odemagazine.com/article.php?aID=4328

Authenticity is the word on everyone's tongues right now. More than a trend, it's a revolution that is transforming our work, our politics and our lives.

Victoria Beckham, also known to the world as Posh of the Spice Girls, was giving a performance for fans in Birmingham, England, and accidentally dropped the microphone. Her voice, however, continued ringing out of the speakers as if by magic. But it wasn’t magic; Posh was lip-synching to a pre-recorded track. As if that weren't insincere enough, the lip ring she wore also turned out to be fake. Posh hadn’t really pierced herself like so many of her young fans - she just wanted them to think so.

It's difficult to know what's real anymore. Politicians deceive us. Corporations cover up misdeeds with frothy PR. Photoshop makes it simple to fake photographs. Breast implants and facelifts are as common as Band-Aids.

This is nothing new. The pages of history are filled with stories of fraud going back at least as far as the Trojan Horse. The difference today is that high-powered technology can manipulate reality and disseminate falsehoods on a scale never before seen.

In response to this onslaught, it's easy to become cynical about almost everything. Yet rather than throwing up our hands and accepting a world that feels faux, many of us are rolling up our sleeves to maintain what's honest in our lives. Social scientist Paul Ray sees this as an historic social development. "Authenticity is so much in demand today," he declares.

Ray became fascinated by the subject through his research on "cultural creatives" - a sizable segment of the population who share common values about the environment, social justice, creative expression and personal growth. After extensive interviews with numbers of them, Ray uncovered another trait cultural creatives hold in common: a drive for authenticity. This means living in a way that "your inner self matches your outer self," he says.

Veteran British journalist and trendspotter David Boyle also sees the emergence of a new social sensibility based upon &qout;a determined rejection of the fake, the virtual, the spun and the mass-produced".

"There is an obsession on all levels about what is real and what is fake," he notes in a recent interview. "At its core it is a search for what's still human in business, in politics, in culture and in our own lives."

Boyle sees our growing yearning for authenticity as a factor in the recent boom of organic and local food, holistic medicine and socially responsible business. He believes that these are just the precursors of a coming "authenticity revolution".

In his book Authenticity: Brands, Fakes, Spin and the Lust for Real Life, Boyle describes nine kinds of values that inspire us to seek out what's genuine in the world: ethical, natural, honest, simple, unspun, sustainable, beautiful, rooted and human.

You see people everywhere making choices that once would have seemed surprising: forgoing a fancy holiday to embark on an eco-travel adventure or a volunteer vacation helping out in a poor community; skipping the mall in favor of funky furnishings and fashions from thrift stores or handicraft shops; deciding against a new house on the edge of town to take part in revitalising an older neighbourhood; steering clear of the high-flying corporate track for a lower-paying career with more satisfaction.

"People feel contradictions more sharply than a generation ago," Boyle explains. "They are less willing to work for a company they dislike, or invest their pensions there, or buy their products. Businesses know this, but it's hard for a company to actually be authentic when it is big, globalised and virtual".

"Who said business has to be ruthless and competitive and corrupt?" he asks. "Business exists to serve the needs of society. And this is not some kind of new message. It is part of the perennial philosophy of humanity. Look at Buddha. Look at Christ".

The resurgent movements for human rights, global justice and ecological restoration are all inspired by people no longer willing to hide their feelings about what's going on in the world.

"Humanity's continuing evolution," is how Ray explains the rising interest in authenticity throughout the modern world. "You have people now who want to keep developing through their whole lives. For most people through history the idea that you keep growing emotionally through your whole life was not known. Authenticity is showing up now because we are ready for it".

Neil Crofts sees this growing quest for authenticity as a new form of spiritual expression. "For many there is a huge spiritual vacuum going on in our society, a crisis of meaning." This leads some people to throw themselves headfirst into consumerism. Others seek clarity and comfort in fundamentalism - which gropes for a sense of authenticity by holding up the Bible, Koran or other all-encompassing philosophy as the supreme truth".

"But true authenticity is not based on dogma," Crofts says, "it's based on what's meaningful to you. It's based on our intuition. We know when we are doing the wrong thing. That's what guides us on our authentic journey."