Moral Philosophy: Affectation

It's an old word, "affectation." We would say simply, "fake." Designed to impress.

Don't put up a false front in what you do, what you say, even how you say it. You were created a certain way to fulfill a specific purpose. Your purpose is not to be artificial. Posing gets you nowhere.

Don't try to be brilliant because you really don't know.
Don't try to be popular because you are not.
Don't try to be magnetic or impose yourself on others.

No two people are alike so there is no need to be like someone else. There is something better, with that in mind. God never intended us to be someone else.

" . . . the first and greatest task of the philosopher is to test and separate appearances, and to act on nothing that is untested." (Epictetus)