Hacker News Reader

Comment by munificent | Hacker News Reader

I understand why many people will perceive this article as saying that the workplace is inherentely inauthentic or dishonest, but many sociologists will tell you that all social venues are theatre-like.

As humans, we have many roles that we take on for the different contexts that we live in. Me as "dad" at home with the kids, me as "husband" with my wife after the kids go to bed, and me as "employee" at work are very different roles. I use different language, have different goals, different tone, different energy level.

At the same time, none of those are any less "me". They are all authentic. They're just contextual.

And it is entirely natural that knowledge work requires social skills and performance. You may write the most beautiful efficient code in the world, but if it lands in the repo without anyone noticing, it has no effect. It must be seen and used by other humans to provide value.

View on HN

>I understand why many people will perceive this article as saying that the workplace is inherentely inauthentic or dishonest, but many sociologists will tell you that all social venues are theatre-like.

The sociologists all got this from Kant as many of the 'human sciences' were deeply influenced by him. Auguste Comte, widely viewed as the founder of the discipline, was a notable Kantian.

From Kant's Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View:

"On the whole, the more civilized human beings are, the more they are actors. They adopt the illusion of affection, of respect for others, of modesty, and of unselfishness without deceiving anyone at all, because it is understood by everyone that nothing is meant sincerely by this. And it is also very good that this happens in the world. For when human beings play these roles, eventually the virtues, whose illusion they have merely affected for a considerable length of time, will gradually really be aroused and merge into the disposition."

> Me as "dad" at home with the kids, me as "husband" with my wife after the kids go to bed, and me as "employee" at work are very different roles. I use different language, have different goals, different tone, different energy level.

FYI this type of code-switching is not universally present for everyone though it may be for you. Some people are their "authentic" selves the majority of the time. It is often suboptimal to be that way though.

> FYI this type of code-switching is not universally present for everyone though it may be for you.

There's a difference between overt code-switching like people do when among members of their own race versus others compared to the more basic "I don't tell dirty jokes around grandma but I do around my bros."

> Some people are their "authentic" selves the majority of the time.

I don't think of any of these roles are inauthentic. People contain multitudes.

You're right that some people deliberately collapse their roles and behave mostly the same across all contexts. I think it's usually done as a sort of power play to show that they don't have to behave differently to suit others around them. Trump is a good example.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com