Authentic

Why do we value authenticity and what really is “authentic”? I really don’t have answers to these questions and the purpose of this posting is to see what others have to say about these interesting questions.

First---the value we put on authenticity. Let me cite an example.

The other day, I was looking at the images of a fake Piazza of San Marco (the central part of Venice) created in Macau. It was in a TV program, on one of the travel channels. It looked quite real, with buildings that resemble those in the real thing.

Now, most of us would much rather go to the real Piazza in Venice than the fake one in Macau—or for that matter the one in Las Vegas, even though they all look somewhat similar.

Why would we insist on going to the real thing, when it is much more expensive and time consuming, not to mention inconvenient, as compared to an imitation? Now if your answer is---because these imitations look fake and the experience is not all that realistic. OK, then would our behavior be the same when technology is able to provide completely realistic experience of such a visit without leaving our chair? Would we still prefer to go do the real thing?

Is our snobbery at work here or is there something else?

That brings me to the next question…that of what is authentic or real?

Is today’s Venice (the real one) really real? I don’t think today’s Venice, with its hoards of tourists and streets filled with expensive shops---no different than those found in most other large cities---resembles “real” Venice of our imagination. In that case, wouldn’t a virtual reality tour of real Venice be more real than visiting actual Venice?