Authenticity and the Robot Test

by | May 24, 2024 | Dream Therapy

The internet often asks you to prove your authenticity. You know—read the letters and numbers in a mish-mash of fonts and sizes, and type it in the little box. There. You are not a robot.

But when it comes to reading blogs, do you get to say to the writer, “Prove that you are not a robot”?

When I started updating my website and initiating this blog page recently, I looked for a digital marketing company that could help. I was surprised how many assumed they would write my blog posts, or they would use AI to write posts, or the posts would come from who-knows-where through white label marketing. I learned that white label marketing enables the producer of a product to sell it to someone else, who might sell it to someone else, who might offer it to the public under their brand. I’m getting dizzy thinking about this. I feel like Dorothy in the classic MGM film, The Wizard of Oz, when she mutters to herself, “There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home,” but I’m muttering, “I am not a robot. I am not a robot . . .”
Initial blog post states position about authenticity and the robot test.

Trust is important in psychotherapy. It’s important for blogging. It can happen on the internet. I found a wonderful digital technology company, Birdhouse Web Design (https://birdhousewebsites.com), in St. Paul, MN, across the Mississippi River from my home base of Minneapolis. In our collaborative relationship, they are the experts in design, security, and SEO, and I provide the content.

Here are some further thoughts about how you’ll know you’re not reading a robot here:

  • I won’t edit the quirkiness out.
  • I won’t be using AI for posts, and I believe you’ll be able to tell because I have more than 26 years of experience in my field.
  • The kind of mistakes I’ll make will be different than the kind of mistakes AI or a stand-in writer would make (I’m already planning to make mistakes, and robots are not).

This contemplation of blogs and bots led me to recognize a parallel in the field of psychology.

The objectives of different brands of psychology vary a lot. Some aim to help you fit in. Some help you pursue goals. Some give you a label that helps you understand your behavior or feel more comfortable with yourself.

Jungian psychology aims for deep authenticity. https://dreamtherapyminneapolis.com/jungian-psychotherapy/ This includes your conscious viewpoint, and also what’s in your unconscious mind. It’s an effort to know yourself more fully, and to claim the aspects of yourself that got put on a shelf at some point. Most people conform to the expectations of family, school, and society during childhood. But that means we lose a lot of ourselves as children.

Authenticity and self-actualization go well together. They generate integrity, creativity, and the ability to give our best gifts. This makes life meaningful.

It seems to intersect with a current societal focus on authenticity. As Charlotte Trecartin explained in her article at Medium.com

(https://medium.com/@chartrecar/why-does-gen-z-crave-authenticity-over-everything-else-6143b2653dd7), an effort to weed-out online phoniness also uplifts meaningful relationships and purposeful endeavors. Jungian psychotherapy does this in the arena of psychology.

Jung’s way of saying it was:
“Do not compare, do not measure. No other way is like yours. All other ways deceive and tempt you. You must fulfill the way that is in you.”

My way of saying it is: “No one else can become who you can.”

On this blog page, I’ll write about topics that foster inner work and psychological growth. I’ll explain concepts of depth psychology and Jungian psychotherapy. I’ll spell out what it means to work with dreams and transformative symbols.

Thanks for reading. Please feel free to let me know your reactions to my posts.