STREET DOGS

There is an authentic me” inside all of us. This self contains our true thoughts and feelings, our personality, our wishes, dreams and fears, everything that makes us. The true self is genuinely present, unmuffled, and visible to anyone who cares to look. However, according to the teachings of the Danish existentialist Søren Kierkegaard, most of us outwardly live as an unauthentic me, a facade.

“Unauthentic me” is “me” plus layers of social convention added on the outside, like a coating, to make the outside appearance appealing to others and ourselves. For example, that fake smile that you put on to greet the colleague you don’t like? According to Kierkegaard and other existentialists, this smile corrupts you. Here’s the catch: a true smile engages the face muscles in a different way than if we try to smile at will ... and our brain catches these subtle changes very efficiently!

Our body language reflects our authentic self, too. Studies have shown that children and adults distinguish very well between genuine and staged bodily expressions of emotions. In short, someone might be saying positive words while their body language communicates an entirely different story to our brain. Much research shows that we make split-second judgments about people, and we’re often right with these hunches. Something feels off about that person? That’s probably your brain telling you that something might not be quite genuine about their expression.

Life in society mandates certain conventions, rules and laws that enable us to live together peacefully, so that my freedom doesn’t intrude on yours. However, sometimes these rules and conventions take over, and our behaviour becomes a performance that never stops, a pretence that has little to do with our true thoughts and feelings.