This is far simpler than the author makes it out to be. "Authentic" means you believe in it. "Inauthentic" means you think I believe in it, and you're condescendingly pandering to my tastes to make a buck. From the article:
- Shaken caffeine-guzzlers told the Guardian that they felt “duped” and “upset” because they’d thought it was an “independent” coffee shop. A rival coffee hawker sneered that Tesco was “trying to make money” out of “artisan values” – although, presumably, so was he.
Authentic: You believe in your $5 pour-over.
Inauthentic: You believe I'll buy a $5 pour-over because you don't respect me.
- Today’s heroically “independent” baristas are profiting from a market that, in the UK, wouldn’t exist without the trail blazed in the 1990s by the now-despised big chains, such as Starbucks.
Authentic: You, the coffee shop I've never heard of before in 1989, using "Tall" "Grande" and "Venti" because... something.
Inauthentic: You, the coffee shop I can't get away from in 2016, using "Tall" "Grande" and "Venti" because they're your brand.
- Even Marks & Spencer’s men’s underwear is branded “authentic”, posing the nice question of what an inauthentic pair of boxer shorts or trunks would look like.
Authentic: underwear branded as some name that has value only for the name.
Inauthentic: underwear branded as some name that does not have value in its name.
(an "inauthentic" pair of boxer shorts would say, for example, DKNY. And yes, I know they make boxer shorts. But having 'DKNY' on a pair of boxer shorts doesn't have the same weight as Marks & Spencer, at least not for people who shop at Marks & Spencer)
It gets even simpler:
- When it turned out that James Frey’s “memoir” A Million Little Pieces was fictionalised, the author was pilloried for having exploited so deftly the way we venerate real emotion and experience.
Authentic: Based on a true story.
Inauthentic: Pretending to be based on a true story.
This is one of my favorite Hubski conversations of all time.
I'm not feeling your explanation for inauthenticity here. In the coffee/Starbucks example, are you suggesting that "my" decision that X is inauthentic is based on a belief that "you" think it's authentic? Moreover I assume you believe so because I don't respect you? Im interested but not following.
To me this is as simple as the emotional response of disillusionment, when something that connects with how much we value authenticity- a "real" cup of coffee or book- all of a sudden is false and emotionally void. That realization turns the neutral, inauthentic thing and makes it a negative thing to your emotional perspective, because at one point you may have treasured it quite highly-- whether you should've or not.
If I, a purveyor of coffee, sell you a $5 pour-over because I legitimately believe that the pour-over is the apex of coffee appreciation and worth all the artisanal flourish and attention to detail, I am authentic.
If I, a purveyor of coffee, sell you a $5 pour-over because I read in a food service magazine that it was the latest hip thing that my customers would soon demand, I am inauthentic.
If I, a purveyor of coffee, set out on a global quest to increase the availability of good coffee because I believe that the world deserves better than Dunkin' Donuts, I'm authentic.
If I, a purveyor of coffee, rebrand a milkshake as a white chocolate mocha frappuccino because I believe you'll pay more for it than a milkshake, I'm inauthentic.
Fundamentally, we are fragile and self-conscious about our values. When we find someone we approve of with a greater stake in our values, they are reinforced. When we find someone we disapprove of attempting to pander to our values, they are further reinforced through opposition to the other. "I like good coffee" so "I buy it at Stumptown because they believe in good coffee." "I like good coffee" so "I look down my nose at Starbuck's because they're just trying to make a buck." "I like good coffee" so "my self-image suffers when Peet's buys Stumptown."
There's a brewery up here. Elysian. When I left, they had three restaurants and you could buy their beer at like two markets. They were obnoxious; I wish I still had my "Elysian AK-47 Malt Liquor" shirt. They're famous for this.
Wanna see Redditors lose their shit?
https://www.reddit.com/r/Seattle/comments/2tfa52/elysian_confirms_anheuserbusch_rumor_is_true/
BAM - "authentic" to "inauthentic" through one shift of values, complete with heinous backlash because of the "betrayal" of their audience's core values.
Roger that, I agree with all of this. I most likely just mistook your initial post. Thx k-bb