The key to living an authentic life

The “meme” word was first introduced by evolutionary biologist, Richard Dawkins, in 1976. “Meme” comes from the Greek word “mimema” (meaning “something imitated”, American Heritage Dictionary). Dawkins described memes as a being a form of cultural propagation, which is a way for people to transmit social memories and cultural ideas to each other.

And they can drive me nuts. The one at the top of my irritation list until very recently is “authentic” and all it’s variations and uses. Everyone has to be “authentic”, the “experience was so authentic” and “she’s so authentic”.

But just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you. Which is another way of saying that even cliches — or overused memes — can still be true.

So what is this “authentic” thing?

“Authentic” and all it’s variations has become a major meme. Why and how it became so important I don’t know for sure, but I have a theory. It goes something like this:

We live in a world of hype, instant expertise and instant gratification. We’re bombarded with calculated advertising, how to lose 15 pounds in 15 days and how to become an expert with a 5-day email course. We’re all happy and successful and things are going just great, thank you very much.