Trust you to bring up such a head-fark topic DB.
I have never thought about this much but since you have brought it up its got me thinking. Your opening post is the most impressive piece. Once I thought back across times I have realised that i have been in this position and I wondered how i acted and if it was "right" in that circumstance.
It very tricky. I tend to be pretty naive with all this side of life and just tend to react and act accordingly. I do see that it goes on in places and especially in music. But, like I said if anything isnt genuine it usually catches up with itself and comes out stinking. This concept works against itself and generally ony lasts for a short period before it destroys itself due to lack of foundation.