DE Weekly: Bad Faith, Sartre’s Waiter, & Who Are We?
I have mentioned Jean-Paul Sartre's idea of mauvaise foi––“bad faith”––in countless newsletters over the years, as it is a crucial concept to understand when discussing such Existentialist ideas as the burden of choice, authenticity, and radical freedom. But, what does bad faith actually look like in action? And, what are its consequences?
Sartre defines bad faith as a self-deception whereby we either convince ourselves or allow ourselves to be convinced that we lack the freedom necessary to escape the anxiety of being through exercising our personal responsibility to do so.
DE Weekly: Regret, Sunk Cost, & The Wrong Train Theory
There is a metaphor for life often attributed to a Japanese proverb which is called the “Wrong Train Theory.” The proverb goes something like this: “If you get on the wrong train, get off at the nearest station. The longer it takes you to get off, the more expensive the return trip will be.”
The Wrong Train Theory suggests that if you are on a train that you thought was taking you where you needed to go or wanted to be, but you realize after a time that you’ve boarded the wrong one, you should get out at the very next stop.