Jordan Peterson - How to Know You're Being Authentic Or Fake

Summary

In this insightful discussion, the concept of 'subception' by Carl Rogers is explored as a means to detect inauthenticity within oneself. The speaker suggests detaching from one's thoughts and words to identify what is truly 'you.' They propose an exercise where one observes the internal reaction to their speech, using the autonomic nervous system's signals to gauge authenticity. If a statement makes you feel weak or like you've betrayed yourself, it's likely inauthentic. The speaker uses dramatic examples, like from 'The Lord of the Rings,' to illustrate the importance of genuine self-expression over relying on cliches or societal expectations for communication and personal growth.

Takeaways

• 🧠 Carl Rogers introduced the concept of 'subception', which is akin to a sixth sense that allows us to perceive our internal reactions and states.
• 🕴️ The autonomic nervous system plays a crucial role in providing us with information about our body's state, which can indicate authenticity or inauthenticity.
• 🤔 Detaching from our thoughts and words is a method to identify what truly represents us, as much of what we think and say are influenced by external sources.
• 🗣️ Authenticity can be gauged by how our words make us feel; if they make us feel weak or like we're betraying ourselves, they may not be genuine.
• 🔍 A two-week exercise of observing how our statements affect our internal state can help us discern between authentic and inauthentic communication.
• 🤐 The advice is to stop speaking if a statement makes us feel weak, and instead, search for words that resonate more truthfully with our being.
• 🌪️ The script uses the metaphor of a swamp from 'The Lord of the Rings' to illustrate the importance of choosing our words carefully to avoid slipping into chaos or inauthenticity.
• 🧐 Attention is considered a higher-order function than intellect because it shapes and teaches our intellect, highlighting the importance of being mindful of our speech.
• 📚 The use of cliches in communication is criticized as it often represents dead ideas and can serve as a shield to avoid genuine self-expression and potential criticism.
• 🌱 Encouraging original thought and self-expression, even when it's risky, is essential for personal growth and authentic communication.

Q & A

What is subception according to Rogers?

Subception, as described by Rogers, is like a sixth sense or a form of proprioception. It refers to the internal awareness of one's body and reactions, especially as it relates to detecting incongruence or inauthenticity in oneself.

How can one use subception to detect inauthenticity?

By paying close attention to bodily sensations and autonomic responses, one can detect feelings of weakness or internal discord when speaking or thinking inauthentically. These sensations are often experienced in the midsection and signal a form of existential inauthenticity.

What practical method does the speaker suggest for identifying inauthentic thoughts or words?

The speaker suggests detaching from one's thoughts and speech, then observing bodily responses. If something you say makes you feel weak or uncomfortable, it likely indicates inauthenticity. The rule is to stop talking and try to find more authentic words.

How does Nietzsche's idea relate to inauthenticity in speech?

Nietzsche observed that everyone has perjured themselves at least once in an attempt to maintain their good name. This aligns with the concept of inauthenticity, where people say things to impress others, fit into groups, or hide aspects of themselves, thus betraying their true self.

What does the swamp scene in 'The Lord of the Rings' symbolize in this context?

The swamp scene where Gollum and Frodo carefully step across a swamp of dead souls symbolizes the need to tread carefully through life, testing one's words and thoughts to ensure they are solid and authentic, avoiding the chaos of inauthenticity.

Why does the speaker believe attention is a higher-order function than intellect?

The speaker argues that attention teaches intellect. By paying very close attention to what you say and think, you can separate genuine thoughts from inherited or false ones, highlighting the importance of awareness over pure intellect.

What role do cliches play in inauthentic speech and thought?

Cliches are seen as dead ideas or inherited thoughts that aren't truly representative of the speaker's authentic self. They allow people to hide behind familiar phrases, avoiding genuine communication or thought, often as a defense mechanism.

How can using cliches be a form of self-defense?

By relying on cliches, individuals protect themselves from criticism because the criticism applies to the cliche rather than their own original thoughts. This creates a false sense of having 'gotten away' with something.

What happens when someone is brave enough to express an original thought in writing?

When someone expresses an original thought, it may be rare and fragile, like a small green shoot emerging from a layer of cliches. This exposes the person to vulnerability, and criticism of this genuine thought can feel deeply personal, making it difficult for the person to continue.

Why is it important to expose genuine thoughts despite the risk of criticism?

Exposing genuine thoughts is crucial for authentic communication and personal growth. Although it can be painful to face criticism, it is a necessary part of developing original, meaningful ideas and moving away from inauthentic speech and thought.

Outlines

00:00

🔍 Detecting Authenticity Through Subception

The paragraph discusses the concept of 'subception' introduced by Carl Rogers, which is akin to a sixth sense that allows individuals to perceive their own inauthenticity or incongruence. This internal perception is likened to proprioception, the awareness of one's body's state and position. Rogers believed that the autonomic nervous system, which communicates various bodily states, could be utilized to assess one's authenticity. The speaker suggests an exercise where individuals detach from their thoughts and words to identify which of their thoughts and expressions are truly their own. This process involves observing how certain statements make one feel weak or strong, with the former indicating a sense of falsehood or self-betrayal. The speaker emphasizes the importance of paying attention and using this awareness to guide one's speech and actions towards authenticity.

05:00

🧠 Beyond Intellect: The Power of Attention

This paragraph delves into the idea that identifying oneself with one's intellect is a common mistake, especially among intelligent people. The speaker argues that attention is a higher-order function than intellect because it is the foundation upon which intellect is built. By paying careful attention to one's speech without automatically defending it, one can discern that much of what is thought and said is not genuinely one's own but rather borrowed ideas or cliches. The speaker uses the metaphor of 'dead souls' to describe these unoriginal thoughts and emphasizes the importance of originality in communication. The paragraph also touches on the fear of exposing one's true thoughts and the tendency to hide behind cliches to avoid criticism. The speaker encourages embracing original thought and the vulnerability it requires for genuine communication and intellectual growth.

Keywords

💡Inauthenticity

Inauthenticity refers to the state of being false or not genuine. In the context of the video, it is discussed as a condition where one's actions or words do not align with their true self or inner beliefs. The speaker suggests that one can detect inauthenticity by observing internal reactions, such as feeling weak or experiencing a sense of self-betrayal when saying something that isn't true to oneself.

💡Congruence

Congruence is the alignment of one's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors with their true self. The video emphasizes the importance of congruence for genuine communication and personal integrity. The speaker mentions that when one is congruent, they are more likely to feel strong and confident in their expressions, as opposed to feeling weak or disconnected when being inauthentic.

💡Subception

Subception is a concept introduced by Carl Rogers, referring to an intuitive sense or 'sixth sense' that allows individuals to perceive their own internal reactions and states. The video discusses subception as a tool for self-awareness, enabling one to detect when they are being inauthentic by paying attention to how their body and mind respond to their thoughts and words.

💡Autonomic Nervous System

The autonomic nervous system is part of the peripheral nervous system that regulates involuntary functions, such as heartbeat and digestion. In the video, it is mentioned as a mechanism that provides feedback to the individual about their internal state, which can be used to gauge authenticity. The speaker suggests that the autonomic responses can signal whether one is being true to themselves or not.

💡Detachment

Detachment, in this context, means to separate oneself from their thoughts and words to gain a more objective perspective. The speaker recommends detaching from one's thoughts to identify which of them are genuinely one's own and which are influenced by external sources. This process is seen as a way to cultivate authenticity and self-awareness.

💡Intellect

Intellect refers to the faculty of reasoning and understanding. The video discusses how people often identify too closely with their intellect, which can lead to using thoughts as a form of self-defense or to attain status. The speaker suggests that attention, rather than intellect, should be the guiding force in communication, as it is a higher-order function that informs and shapes the intellect.

💡Attention

Attention is the focus of consciousness on certain aspects of the environment. In the video, the speaker argues that attention is a higher-order function than intellect because it is what shapes and teaches the intellect. By paying careful attention to one's own words and thoughts, one can discern what is truly their own and what is not, leading to more authentic self-expression.

💡Clichés

Clichés are overused expressions or ideas that have lost their original meaning or impact due to frequent repetition. The video criticizes the use of clichés in communication and writing, as they represent dead ideas and do not reflect the individual's unique perspective. The speaker uses the example of undergraduate essays filled with clichés to illustrate how they can hinder genuine thought and self-expression.

💡Self-Betrayal

Self-betrayal refers to the act of going against one's own values or principles. In the video, the speaker describes the feeling of self-betrayal as a signal of inauthenticity, where one feels weak or disconnected when saying something that doesn't align with their true self. This concept is used to highlight the importance of staying true to one's own beliefs and values.

💡Existential Inauthenticity

Existential inauthenticity is a term used in the video to describe the state of being unfaithful to one's own existence or essence. It is characterized by a feeling of disconnection or weakness when one is not being true to themselves. The speaker uses this concept to emphasize the importance of authenticity for personal integrity and mental well-being.

Highlights

Rogers' concept of 'subception' is introduced as a form of internal perception similar to proprioception.

Subception helps in detecting inauthenticity or incongruence by listening to the body's autonomic responses.

The exercise of detaching from one's thoughts and speech to identify authentic self-expression is suggested.

Most thoughts and speech are influenced by external sources rather than being a true reflection of self.

Authenticity can be gauged by whether speech makes one feel weak or strong internally.

Nietzsche's view on self-betrayal in speech to maintain a good name is mentioned.

The importance of paying attention to internal reactions when speaking to ensure authenticity is emphasized.

The concept of 'shutting up' when feeling weak from inauthentic speech to find stronger, more genuine words.

The analogy of walking on a swamp in 'The Lord of the Rings' to illustrate the careful selection of thoughts and words.

Attention is posited as a higher-order function than intellect because it teaches and guides intellect.

The tendency of intelligent people to identify too closely with their intellect is critiqued.

The use of cliches in speech and writing as a form of camouflage or self-defense is discussed.

Cliches are likened to dead souls or ideas that do not contribute to genuine self-expression.

The fear of exposing original thoughts due to the risk of criticism and the importance of overcoming this fear.

The necessity of genuine self-expression for authentic communication and thought is highlighted.

The transformation in undergraduate essays from cliches to original thoughts as a measure of personal growth.

Transcripts

now how would you detect your own

inauthenticity or you in your own in

congruence well Rogers had this idea

that he called sub ception which was

maybe something that you might regard as

a sixth sense it's sort of like proprio

centric perception and that's the

perception that you have of your body as

its reacting and localized in time and

space and so it's sort of like touch the

feeling but it's it's it's your sense of

how you're reacting internally and where

you are a lot of that is observed by the

autonomic nervous system which is

reporting to you about various states of

being in your body Rogers believed that

you could use the information that's

being provided to you from your body

sort of bought them up to determine when

you were being inauthentic or no

incongruent and I've thought about this

for a long time and tried to sort it out

in a practical manner and what I've

concluded is this you could try this for

a couple of weeks it's an extremely

interesting exercise so you sort of have

to detach yourself from your thoughts

and your and and what you say so you got

to assume you start by assuming that

what you say in what you think is not

necessarily you and of course that's

just the case because a lot of what you

think in fact most of what you think and

most of what you say are the opinions of

other people there are things you've

read or things people have told you and

you know that that's a benefit in some

ways because you get all those thoughts

that other people have spent a long time

formulating but it's a disadvantage in

that it's not exactly you okay so you

detach yourself from that you're no

longer your thoughts or or or the things

that you say or maybe you're no longer

all of them and now what you're gonna

try to find out is which of your

thoughts and things that you say are you

and maybe so you cannot utilize the rest

or maybe so that you can correct the

rest because they're not representative

of yourself as a as an integrated being

they don't take everything into account

my sense has been that you can tell when

you're saying something that's not

authentic by feeling out whether or not

it makes you weak or strong now you know

sometimes when you're conversing with

people you can say something that

embarrasses yourself now Nietzsche said

for example everyone has perjured

themselves at least once in the attempt

to maintain their good name something

like that it's not an exact quote but

I've got the gist of it right so maybe

you're saying things to impress someone

or you're saying things to remain part

of your political group or your social

group or whatever or maybe you have

attributes personal attributes that

might be positive that you're ashamed of

and so you're not going to speak about

them

so there's a falseness about your self

representation watch for two weeks and

see make a rule that if you start to say

something and it makes you feel weak

it's hard to describe exactly what that

means to to me what it means is that I

can feel things coming apart sort of in

my midsection so I think it's an

autonomic phenomena and the the

subjective sense is of a falsehood it's

like I've just stepped off the solid

ground and onto something that it

doesn't support me well and it it feels

like a self betrayal so that's

existential inauthenticity you can feel

it right away and then the rule is shut

up

if that happens stop talking and then

feel around and see if you can find some

words that you can say in that situation

that don't produce that sensation and

it's like you see this played out in

different forms of drama so there's

there's a scene in The Lord of the Rings

for example where I believe it's Gollum

and Bilbo say it's the Lord of the Rings

it's yeah it's Bilbo it's Lord of the

Rings not The Hobbit because the hobbits

Frodo right so it's Bilbo there I forgot

it wrong it's the other way around

okay so Gollum and Frodo yes are going

across this swamp and the swamp is full

of essentially full of dead souls and

they have to step very carefully in

order to not fall off the track and the

stones are sort of hidden underneath

surface and the implication there is

that in order to follow a trail properly

you have to pick your your ground very

carefully and you have to test it to see

if it's solid or you'll slip off into

this well essentially what it is is

chaos you'll slip off into chaos and

that's a dramatic representation of what

I'm what I'm suggesting to you it's like

all you have to do is notice but and you

have to pay attention and so to some

degree what you're doing in fact is

you're making your capacity to pay

attention super ordinate to your

capacity to think and to speak because

you know you might ask yourself well

exactly what are you well I said you can

identify yourself with your intellect

and that's very very common it's sort of

like the worst sin of intelligent people

but that isn't all you are and there are

lots of reasons for making the

assumption that attention is a higher

order function than intellect because

attention is what teaches intellect so

if by if you pay very very careful

attention to what you say without having

the automatic without bringing the

automatic assumption that what you say

is you to bear on the conversation and

then also to feel like you have to

defend it once you say it you'll find

very rapidly that very much of what you

think and say has absolutely nothing to

do with you it's just it's the dead

souls that are in that little scene that

I described to you sort of manifesting

themselves in your head they're dead

ideas that other people have created and

some of them might be applicable to you

you know you might have the right to

them so to speak but lots of them won't

and you're using the words as camouflage

or self-defense or as an attempt to

attain status in the status hierarchy or

can make yourself look smarter than you

are or there's all sorts of reasons or

to hide what you think from other people

I see this in undergraduate essays all

the time so because the essays are full

of cliches and you know it's not all

that obvious why a cliche is a bad thing

but a cliche is a bad thing in the same

way that being possessed by the dead is

a bad thing it's like a cliche isn't you

it's something else it's like the crowd

it's like the other it's it's not living

it has nothing to do with you and part

of the

that students use cliches is because

it's easier than than using your own

genuine creative formulation so you can

just default to cliche use but there's

something more insidious than that is

that if you write an essay that's

nothing but a string of cliches and you

get criticized then you're not being

criticized what's being criticized is

the cliches and you can hide behind that

and the part of you that's wise but but

but treacherous thinks well the

criticism doesn't really apply to me

because you know I didn't really say

what I thought and then there's this

kind of sense you get that you've gotten

away with something which is a terrible

thing

so when I read undergraduate essays what

I see very frequently is especially the

first essay it's just nothing but

cliches it's awful it's it's dull you

can hardly stand reading it because

there's nothing in it that's gripping or

alive and then maybe the second essay

you can see there's a layer of cliche

and then now and then the person will be

brave enough to poke up a thought of

their own it'll just sort of poke up

somewhere maybe in three pages in it's

like this little green chute that's

barely alive and the person is brave

enough to pop it up in the hope that you

know maybe it won't get walloped down

with a sledge hammer and so one of the

things I try to do is to point that out

it's like look you know this is

something there's a real thought here

it's a real original thought it's

something that you have the right to

because it's derived from your own

experience and your own knowledge and

you've formulated it in an original and

compelling way but the problem with that

is that if you get criticized for that

you're just gonna pull right back into

your shell right because that hurts

because it's actually part of you that

you've exposed and that's a terrifying

thing to expose yourself like that but

it's it's it's an absolute prerequisite

to genuine communication and thought