There’s a whole lot of faking going on. So much, in fact, that I feel less confident about our future.

And yet, “fake it until you make it” is supposed to boost confidence, not reduce it.

Research has showed that if you act as if you are confident, then you will begin to feel more confident. But now some people believe that this applies to actual skills as well. For example, if I fake it about my skills to be mayor of your city, then I will make it.

No! Faking upwards only works if you have the foundation but lack the self-belief. It does not work if you have loads of self-belief but no grounding in reality.

Here’s the sad thing. Fake it until you make it is a corruption of Aristotle’s idea that by acting virtuous, you will become virtuous.

Am I the only one who knows that virtue and faking are opposites?

Welcome to my side of the nonsense divide.