This post is a short one.
On a recent trip to Canada, I witnessed constant advertisement for companies that do family tree/ancestry exploration based on DNA samples. Apparently, it is a booming business. I guess this means that people are now interested in their roots and origins, which is heartwarming, given the alienation our society, especially the north American one, is going through.
But at the same time, I hear and read about how people, especially the younger generation, create these artificial, or even fake, lives for themselves on social media, to project a different person and a different lifestyle illusion for themselves and others. So, I see now a paradox between the trendy thing about finding out your roots vs the fake lifestyle many people want to project in social media.
I am not sure how prevalent is the fake-life phenomenon on social media, and maybe it is just a micro-fraction, but the other day I was wondering what societal phenomenon explains this paradox? Have we become so alienated that we try to get some comfort in finding out our roots? And we are so depressed with our life that we create fake ones? Or maybe it is just the symptom of a society that is living a superfluous life?
Paris, May 6, 2021,
Zeejay