Bad Faith

This week we discussed Sartre’s three patterns of bad faith. I thought these were really interesting ideas. We tend to lie to ourselves and attempt to transcend situations so as not to deal with what is in front of us. It’s interesting how often we lie to ourselves so that we do not have to be responsible. I began asking myself what it was that I lied to myself about. One thing I tell myself is a fact is that I have to graduate college. Obviously, I am free to drop out and do anything else. There are an infinite number of options. But this idea of having to choose between everything else available is terrifying. It lacks any kind of security or clear picture of the future. I think this is why we lie to ourselves. We tell ourselves that we have to be a certain thing or do a certain thing so that we do not have to face uncertainty. Making decisions beyond the basics of what we know could lead to the unknown. We latch ourselves to these titles (student, teacher, parent) and tell ourselves that is all we are. Otherwise we have to accept the fact that this is simply what we choose because we are too lazy or afraid to pursue something greater. Leaving college and pursuing something different would terrify most of us. So we say our parents would never let us drop out or that this is what we really want to do. It’s scary to wonder how many of our decisions are based on this desire to give up our freedom and our responsibility just so we don’t have to make any choices about our lives. How much of what we want for ourselves is what is expected of us rather than what we truly want? And how much of that freedom to chase what we want are we happy to give up?